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If you look at what happened to the Animas River and the major delay on issuing warnings in Flint then it is pretty clear to me that the EPA needs a solid kick in the... IMO, agencies don't need to be dismantled but, accountability needs to increase dramatically. There are too many of these life employed people working 35 hours a week and who don't give a .... Cardboard

"Have you considered something like long the pref/short the common?" I would not since the common is yielding about the same distribution as the preferreds and I expect both to move up as uncertainty is lifted. Here it is simply a case of less risk, similar reward with the preferreds. And the borrow, I get from my margin account at prime vs a risky short. What is amazing with these things is that they are pretty illiquid yet, my broker is margining them at 65% vs 70% for a stock like BCE or RY. Cardboard

Other preferreds that look very interesting are AIM.PR.B and AIM.PR.C. And looking at the recent stock price performance and trend and the fact that these have lagged other preferreds, I have a feeling that they are about to go En Fuego! Cardboard

Amazon is a great example Al. Bezos never shows up at conference calls. They also don't seem to care too much about showing profits or meeting some target and the market cap is gigantic. Cardboard

I don't think that there is any rationality to explain the DC.PR.B selloff. It is probably just one or two guys quickly liquidating into a vacuum of buyers. Maybe tax loss selling? I didn't see any similar moves in other preferreds. I have been playing the game of buying floaters, then switching to fixed rate reset and vice versa all year or when the spread between the two was wide enough. For some reasons, they never move in perfect tandem. On this one, the current yield is 10.6% and the reset should be at 9.65% on Sept 30, 2019. That gives you a 5 year yield average of 10.25%. I find that really high to protect you against any reasonable interest rate increase. The floater is currently paying 9.4% and if you add the share appreciation on a switch to the fixed rate reset at current price in Sept 2019, you get roughly 11.7% annualized. So that should be the choice but, there are some IF's. There was even discussion that the Bank of Canada could lower short term rates. So I bought "B's" into this heavy selloff, will collect a higher yield than the "D's" to offset my margin loan and will likely switch back into the "D's" once things normalize. Worst case, I am stuck with a security paying me a very high yield and hopefully that the company figures out a way to unlock value and reduce risk. They still claim over $14/share in net asset value so something should be doable by the family now back in charge full time. Cardboard

10.6% available on DC.PR.B right now. Some weird selloff has occured or see my post on the Dundee thread.

If any of you is interested into obtaining a high yielding security with relatively low risk, the DC.PR.B have experienced a bizarre selloff in recent days or just before the ex-dividend date on the 14. Nothing comparable in DC.PR.D, DC.PR.E or DC.A. It pays roughly 10.6% depending on what price you may get now with an annual distribution of $1.422. Considering that these are marginable at about the same rate as liquid stocks above $2, that is a very good spread to earn on borrowed money. Cardboard

"Socially liberal means that you allow people to do whatever the hell they want (marry someone of the same sex, abort an unborn child, kill themselves etc) as long as it doesn't impose on the freedom of others." I guess this sums up why we need laws and hence a government to make them and to police them. Then after that it is only a matter of balance to keep things in check. Easier said than done. Cardboard

A lot of you sound like sore losers from the election. The Washington Post, which is not known to be part of the Right Wing Conspiracy Group, has reported that $125 billion is wasted in procurement activities at the Pentagon. That is 31 times the figure that Trump has reported regarding the new Air Force One program. So even if his figures are slightly off from the $2.9 billion that has now surfaced, I think it is good that someone in government is finally pointing out this absurd level of spending/waste while so many people are just getting by. The absurd level of delay and cost for the Stealth Fighter program should also be examined and this affects many countries. Cardboard

I am surprised that the author did not address the large number of takeovers which are largely driven by corporate managers wanting to expand the empire to earn larger pay and more pressure from active asset managers. I would think that they have gone up overtime but, I have no data to back that up. Cardboard

We are really clearing up cancer from our society or this Left thing and markets are in full agreement. Next on the agenda is Merkel. Cardboard

The Alberta government has mis-managed its finances for years, no doubt about that. And now to reduce the blow from the oil bust, they are going to spend a lot of money on infrastructure. The fast elimination of coal powered production will also cost some dough. Taxes will go up a lot. Unlike you, I think that the people of Alberta are learning quickly about the dangers of relying too much on oil development going forward. And regarding mis-management of its finances, so is Quebec who has gladly taken dirty oil money from Alberta for years to finance its lavish lifestyle or well beyond its means. Then there is Bombardier... Cardboard

Canada is the 5th or 6th producer worldwide alternating with Iran at almost 4 million barrels/day vs a global production of 97 million barrels/day. So that is only 4.1% of global production from one of the countries that has some of the toughest regulations on oil extraction: no flaring of natural gas, tough spill laws and cleanup procedures, regulation around decommissioning liabilities so that the private is fully responsible to absorb that cost (no stranded asset here), etc. I think that makes it one of the key places in the world where you want your oil to come from. And since we already produce more than we consume, I think it is totally fair for the country to look for markets where people will pay a reasonable, international price for it. Hence it is a very smart decision to expand shipping capacity to the Pacific where oil is scarce and in demand instead of shipping everything to the U.S. where they do not pay us for what it is worth. This should also reduce the need to ship by train which is dangerous and irresponsible and these guys do not follow as stringent regulations as pipelines. For example pipelines will refuse oil that has not been treated to remove certain dangerous and explosive chemicals while almost anything was good for tank cars. It is changing but, they are still not there. Regarding global warming, and please let's call it for what it is, the phenomenon is so slow to develop that it is not a good way to entice people to make rapid changes or unlike the ozone layer depletion for example where humanity took rapid action to eliminate CFC's. Unfortunately, it was replaced with HFC's or a molecule that is 1,600 times more active in terms of GHG than CO2... They are now looking for a revised chemical formula which will greatly reduce its atmospheric life and activity. So the right approach should be to reduce pollution and this anyone can understand and see. The Chinese in Beijing didn't need to think about global warming to start reducing their coal usage. Nor British citizens 150 years ago. In turn, this is pushing them hard to use more hydro, nuclear and develop cheaper and more efficient solar panels which will make them competitive with all fossil fuels. So the transition will come. I also believe that solar panels that will produce hydrogen directly (not via electrolysis) are coming too and this will solve the battery problem which is a huge one due to the need for rare metals and recycling. But, to simply put out of work now a lot of our Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and B.C. energy workers without any job replacement alternative for global warming is not a fair, nor a responsible strategy. That is why I have profound dislike for well fed environmentalists and Natives leaders who try to block everything but, often get their own money from a permanent government job or subsidies. Where is their morality? Cardboard

"Before you showed up on this thread we were merely discussing things. If you were my child, you'd be pouting in a corner right now (come to think of it you probably are...)" I started that thread talking about newly approved Canadian pipelines. If you want to quietly discuss shows and movies, start your own thread. Cardboard

RichardGibbons: "This 2 minute scene--so beautiful in such an unusual way--was enough to persuade me to watch the entire show." RB: "Brilliant scene. I may watch some myself." Disturbing, disgusting would be more the terms that have come to my mind. I have watched the Holocaust as well and seen many documentaries on attrocities committed by humans on other human beings and I could never describe such scene in the way you are even, if this show is fictive. Heck, I can't describe horrors in the Godfather that way either and it is fictive. You are sick! Cardboard

Anyone who enjoys a show talking about slicing the troat of an innocent child in the name of saving CO2 emission is a deranged individual. Period! Cardboard

Some CCZ-T Forgotten cloud software provider to the oil & gas industry (mostly gas) with many of the largest producers. Pipeline monitoring: guess what just got approved in Canada? Trades at EV/(depressed sales) of $0.56/$1 and 1/3 of book value. Natural gas has done pretty well since the lows this year and La Nina seems to have its effects on the East Coast. The company is showing improved numbers since the beginning of the year but, still more improvement required and I would say to come. Cardboard

Looks like a great show :o I am sure that you guys would give raving reviews of a documentary on the life of Pol Pot! Impoverishing, depriving current human beings of a better life in the name of saving future generations based on static extrapolation of an incomplete scientific model. Obviously, for everyone else but, yourself and close friends or just like that dear old Al Gore. I will predict here that artificial intelligence has a much greater probability to wipe us out clean before the atmosphere temperature rises by just 1 degree. And regarding Fermi, let's pray that we don't meet the AI that may have developed on other distant planets just a few years before our own as the rate of learning of these machines is exponential. Cardboard

Surprised he did something right... Or when someone is all bent on pleasing these extremist environmentalists, praising Castro and taxing more Canadians with a carbon tax. Maybe that he realized that the country is about to enter a free fall with housing and that we need some growth, jobs and less control from Americans over how we ship our energy? Approved Enbridge Line 3 expansion (expected) and Kinder Morgan TransMountain (surprise) but, rejected Northern Gateway (expected). Not yet enough but, a start. Cardboard

They took it down just below 20%. Was it equity accounted? I don't even want to look it up since their MD&A and financial statements give me a headache every time I look at them! And hard to find anything profitable in there. They may have wanted to raise some cash since they are getting tight on their revolver with a recent reduction and they invested recently into that Blue Goose. I still own DC.PR.B and DC.PR.D due to their great yield and with more than enough net assets to cover them. Cardboard

Since the election of Trump, the move in the stock market, treasury market, USD, copper and some other commodities is huge. I have a really hard time explaining all of this purely based on the election of one guy who is not even in office yet and some campaign promises. The stock market will go into weird gyrations sometimes but, the bond market tends to be led by more cautious people. The TLT ETF is down 16% since its peak in July and 7.5% since Trump election. So I would think that there is something at work that is bigger than Trump (or Hillary) and that was already in place since the peak. I see no real change in economic growth rate since July. Do you? As value investors with our reversal to the mean thinking we often brush aside things like that by saying that the bond market simply returned to the level of a year ago. However, we can't dismiss that this was a really big and sharp move with $100's of billions of losses indicating possibly something very different in the not too distant future. Cardboard

"We need these turnaround experts to reboost the US economy, rather than career politicians who know nothing and do nothing." Well I disagree, they know how to line up their pockets. ;D Good old lawyers. I mentioned before that Trump would try to surround himself with a terrific team. He knows that you need a good CEO for every one of these government departments. People that will cut costs and make the right calls. The Left hate Trump but, he still built an empire which is still standing and that undoubtedly requires some organizational skills. You have to delegate and pick the right people. One of the problems is that the best people for the jobs, do not want them. They earn too much in the private sector, have much less scrutiny and a private life. They can only do it as a charitable gesture for the country and/or for glory. Cardboard

"No real way to defend Trump's comments on the Khan family, but even poor Wilbur gives it a go!" By the way Sanjeev, that is from the thread that you started on Wilbur Ross... So the friends of your enemies are no longer your enemies? LOL Before you all get too excited, there were rumours also about Dimon and they ended up false. Is Wilbur really being considered and will he accept? Furthermore, the guy made his fortune mostly by restructuring part of the U.S. steel industry. I would expect that he would be quite in favour of some protectionism. Cardboard

Don't forget the possibility of mixing a) and b). It would make a lot of sense to keep some of this long term financing in place. Another asset that is lost in the panic is $129 million of NOL's. These are not of the exploration type but, the regular tax carry forward. So a profitable company like Imperial Oil could buy this thing for say $1.50/share (big premium from here), settle the converts at par or spend a grand sum of $104 million. Cash in the $24.5 million in cash, deduct $129 million from its 2016 taxable income and fire sale the oil business for $50 million. So net proceeds of $204 million for an investment of $104 million. Even if they were to give away the oil assets for $1 it would still make a lot of sense to do. Cardboard

Regarding the converts, what is your risk? If they ever were to convert the debentures into shares (worst case scenario, last option IMO), you would end up with a debt free company with $24.5 million of cash on the balance sheet. Annual interest payments of $3.5 million would be gone or directly adding up to FFO. An oil weighted, debt free company with 11% corporate decline rate should easily trade for 7 times FFO. So that is 7 x $11.5 million + $24.5 million or $105 million. For perspective, par for the convertible is $57.5 million. Current EV is $57.5 - $24.5 + $20 or $53 million. There are many ways to slice it but, it does not seem like a complicated exercise of financial engineering to make value surface. Cardboard