Canadian Dollars Blog

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, I intend to be back.  The Personal Finance space in Canada has changed a lot in the last 5 years.  There's been a rise of new robo-advisors and free trading from some places like Wealthsimple.  It's an interesting time to be an investor. Look for more content in the near future.

Is Torstar even cheaper now with the sale of Harelquin ?  Saj Karsan over at Barel Karsan certainly thinks so. There are some remaining concerns we have even with the recently proposed sale: Torstar debt levels are really high Print/Newspaper revenues are in decline  What will management do with the newly acquired cash?  They hinted at paying off the debt but what if they don't use the money wisely?  Hopefully they don't invest more in print! That said, Harlequin will sell for 455 million, Torstar debt is 178 million, some quick math will reveal that 277 million in net cash. Here's some quick numbers: At today's stock price of 7.53, the market cap is approximatey 600 million. Pre-Harlequin announcement, the stock price was around 6.50 which valued the market cap at 517 million. The sale of Harlequin (pending approval) will add 277 million in net cash, yet the market cap of TS has only risen by 85 million. Does the market believe that Torstar

Here's what we're reading over at Canadian Dollars: Albert Eintein's Timeless Advice for Investors :  “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I knew the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” - Albert Einstein Safal Niveshak offers these 5 Things to Avoid in the Current Stock Market .  Extremely humbling and a friendly reminder in a market that contains high valuations. We still believe that Microsoft (MSFT) offers a great margin of safety and are very pleased with their push into the Cloud.  Under the new leadership of the new CEO, we believe that a lot of the ground work is in place to revitalize the company. We highly recommend reading Modern Graham's Microsoft Quarterly Valuation .

Last year I was able to beat the TSX and DOW with my portfolio. The total return was about 25%. Not bad. I treated the portfolio very conservatively last year by purchasing a lot of solid dividend companies like Shaw Communications (SJR.B) and Utilities company Emera (EMA). I expect these companies to be held year over year and indefinitely as they can be easily DRIP'ed. Now that another year has begun, I have another $5000 to play with. At the moment I am focusing on deep value net-net type of companies. With the Canadian dollar currently trading higher than the United States dollar, it makes purchasing stocks on the Nasdaq and NYSE that much more cheaper for me. As there are no restrictions on what stocks can be placed inside a TFSA, I have added a few companies in the portfolio. Without further ado, these are the stocks that I've added since the new year: VVTV (ValueVision Media) GRVY (Gravity Co Ltd) CCME (China Media Express Holdings) SOLR (GT Solar Intern

Here's an interesting business. Last year in May the company offered shareholders the option to tender their shares for $6.25. The stock has since gone on a tear in finishing up around $13-14 a share. The good news is that the company has been actively purchasing shares through a normal course issuer bid. The current normal course issuer bid will expire in May but I suspect the company will probably issue another one in the current year. If this happens, this will be a great catalyst for the stock, and ultimately for shareholders. As of Q1, the company has $9.3 million in cash. The current market cap of the business is $65.9 million. Some of the risks of this company are that the industry is highly cyclical. For example most of the revenue the company makes are in the winter months. Between the April and September months, the cojavascript:void(0)mpany usually operates at a loss. With a P/E of 12.59 it is slightly below the industry ratio of 18.9. I like the fact

On August 2nd, I sold SINA for a decent return . Since then it has been on a wild ride rising to over $45.00 and then with the recent fears of a double dip recession, it has taken a beating. I'm going to patiently wait this one out and have put in a stink bid under $40.00 should it dip. I still view this as a good play long term, but I sold out earlier this month to lock in some gains. Patience is the key word here.