investment

We advise you to limit investing in gold to gold mining stocks, but if you wish to hold gold or silver in your RRSP, here’s the best way.

This past week, after Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the race for the Republican Presidential nomination, the media began referring to the “Trump ascendancy.” Use of the phrase has since exploded. Google comes up with 374,000 hits for it. (In contrast, Google only finds 289 results in a search for “Romney ascendancy.”) The term seems to reflect a widely shared, negative point of view. “Ascendancy” started out as a reference to the rise to power in Ireland by a coalition of Protestant landowners, clergy and professionals, starting in the 1600s. Most historians would agree that the “Protestant Ascendancy” helped bring on a long stretch of poverty, mass emigration and intermittent starvation for the Irish. Judging by results of the Google search, the widely shared view about the Trump ascendancy is that it could be an awful thing for the economy and stock market. I bring this up because I see it as one more example of an orthodoxy that can cost you money by warping your stock-market decisions....

WEIGHT WATCHERS INTERNATIONAL, $12.35, symbol WTW on New York, offers weight-loss services in 23 countries. The company promotes a program of lifestyle changes through 36,000 weekly meetings and its website. Oprah Winfrey bought 10% of the company in October 2015. She also joined its board of directors. Her goal has been to promote the company and help it reverse a steady decline over the last few years. Weight Watchers reported a lower-than-expected loss in the latest quarter—and increased its membership for the first time in four years. The number of active subscribers stood at 3.06 million on April 2, 2016. That’s a 4.8% rise from 2.92 million a year ago....

BONAVISTA ENERGY $2.76 (Toronto symbol BNP; Shares outstanding: 214.0 million; Market cap: $626.1 million; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. Its output is 68% gas and 32% oil. In the quarter ended December 31, 2015, Bonavista’s cash flow per share fell 30.2%, to $0.44 from $0.63 a year earlier. Most of that drop came from lower oil and gas prices, but also because of falling output. It declined 6.9%, to 79,862 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 85,810 barrels. Like many producers, the company will cut its exploration and development. In 2016, it plans to spend $145 million to $190 million. That’s a reduction from Bonavista’s initial announcement of $210 million, which is down from the $283.4 million it spent in 2015. It spent $639.6 million in 2014....

PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $30.95 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 159.2 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta. Its average daily production of 97,028 barrels of oil equivalent is 93% gas and 7% oil. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Peyto’s cash flow fell 15.9%, to $0.95 a share from $1.13 a year ago. It raised its production by 16.5%, but that was offset by lower oil and gas prices. Its realized oil price year over year fell 28.1%, and natural gas prices fell 20.9%. The company has cut it’s original 2016 capital spending of $600 million to $650 million down to between $500 million and $550 million. It spent $594 million in 2015....

APPLE INC., $93.74, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, gets about two-thirds of its revenue from its iPhone smartphone. The remaining third comes from sales of its Mac computers, iPad tablets, iPod music players and Apple watches as well as the software, movies and music sold through its iTunes online store. The company sold 51.2 million iPhones in its fiscal 2016 second quarter, which ended March 26, 2016. That’s down 16.3% from 61.2 million a year earlier. However, the year-earlier quarter benefited from strong demand for the recently released iPhone 6 model. iPhone sales will likely remain weak until Apple launches the iPhone 7 later this year. Sales of Mac computers and iPads also fell during the quarter. As a result, Apple’s overall sales declined 12.8%, to $50.6 billion from $58.0 billion a year earlier. That missed the consensus forecast of $51.9 billion....

In the 1980s, the Vancouver Stock Exchange was a world centre for trading speculative stocks. I used to advise buying some Vancouver stocks that seemed like they had a chance of success, and recommend selling or avoiding others. I noted a recurring pattern: when I advised selling a stock, the company hardly ever responded in any way. Assuming they knew about the sell recommendation, it seemed they just wanted to avoid any unfavourable attention. The rare exceptions were companies that were particularly successful in promoting their stock, but seemed to have the least likelihood of success as a business. Rather than ignoring our sell advice, promoters of these successful-promotions/doomed business ventures would send incredibly long, detailed, indignant letters. They would insist that I explain how I came to such a ridiculous conclusion, and demand a retraction. Sometimes I would print an update or clarification about the company’s business. But I never did find reason to change any of these recommendations. So I’d add at the end of the piece, “We still think it’s a sell.”...

A: Loral Space & Communications Ltd., $36.51 symbol LORL on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 30.9 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion, www.loral.com), is a holding company with interests in two satellite communication providers: Loral holds 62.8% of Ottawa-based Telesat. (Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board owns the remaining 37.2%.) This business owns 15 satellites that distribute video signals for broadcasters, cable networks and satellite TV providers. Its clients include major broadcasters in Canada and the U.S. as well as satellite TV providers such as Bell TV in Canada and EchoStar/DISH Network in the U.S. In Addition, Telesat provides data and voice transmission services to businesses and government departments. Loral also owns 56.0% of XTAR, a joint venture with a group of Spanish telecommunications providers. XTAR provides satellite communication services to U.S. and European military and diplomatic clients....

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP., $91.81, symbol IFC on Toronto, continues to announce innovative insurance policies aimed at new—but growing—markets. The company has reached an agreement with peer-to-peer car rental company Turo to provide insurance in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Turo started up in 2009 and now operates in 2,500 cities around the world. Car owners in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec can now register with the website to rent out their vehicles to other Turo members....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $60.43 New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 118.8 million; Market cap: $7.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.0%) serves the investment industry in two main areas: investor communications, and securities processing and transaction clearing. It processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada. Excluding one-time items, Broadridge earned $46.5 million in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2015. That’s up 16.5% from $39.9 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 18.8%, to $0.38 from $0.32, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 11.1%, to $638.9 million from $574.6 million. Investor communications makes up 72% of Broadridge’s revenues. Back-office securities processing and transaction clearing make up the remaining 28%; they also provide the company with strong long-term growth prospects in the U.S. and globally....