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HCG.TO: Without Any More “Cookies in the Closet” at CFF Bank, It Appears HCG is On Track to Miss Earnings Yet Again

March 14th, 2016

On some level you have to simply admire the recklessness of HCG’s management team.  After all, over the past three months, the company: 1) reported earnings that fell well short of...

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CSGP: The Core IS Slowing, While the Returns on CSGP’s Massive Advertising Investment in Rentals Remain in Doubt

February 26th, 2016

In the 45-50 minutes of prepared remarks from CSGP’s management on the company’s 4Q15 earnings conference call, it was quite clear Andy Florance and co. were hoping to accomplish the...

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NA.TO: Hope Is Not a Risk Management Strategy

February 24th, 2016

"So let's talk about oil and gas. So, earlier Marianne mentioned our intention to increase our reserves for 2016 to reflect current market fundamentals. So, at the end of 2015 for the Commercial Bank, we held a 6% allowance as part of that effort we are going to – we...

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Z/ZG: It’s Strange

February 12th, 2016

Things have been quite different in Internet TAM-land for the past 3-6 months.  Seemingly overnight investors have held companies in the space to a higher standard of operating metrics, profitability and cash flow (do not confuse the relative “higher” with the absolute “high”). In a shock...

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HCG.TO: Earnings Have Nowhere to Go but Down, Even with “Profits Before Expenses” Accounting HCG’s Core EPS Power...

February 11th, 2016

In case you were wondering what business looks like on the ground, or in this particular case the “air” in Alberta, here’s an important comment from the CEO of Westjet (Canada’s second...

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Z/ZG: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures – The Implications of Eliminating “Featured Listings” & Other Changes...

February 5th, 2016

It’s one of the more laborious, mind-numbing, and tedious exercises we have conducted on any investment idea, but it has proven to be the most revealing. Of course, we’re talking about the task...

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RON.TO: The Irrational Bid Is Alive and Well in Canada, Closing Out Short Idea with a (-49%) Loss Following Acquisition...

February 3rd, 2016

This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last (unfortunately) that the stock of a company that we have recommended going short has been acquired. It happened with OPEN, MCRS, and now RON. ...

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DV: FTC and Dept. of Ed. Actions Confirm What We’ve Known All Along, There’s No Way DVU Has a 90% Job Placement...

January 27th, 2016

For once, it appears that DV management might has gotten something right in their “fearless” forecasting – the FTC investigation from our perspective has come to its “logical close”.  We...

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HCG.TO: OSFI Data Suggests Origination Weakness Continued in 4Q15, EPS Could Miss Consensus, Lowering Target to $16

January 20th, 2016

Well, now we know why Martin Reid abruptly changed HCG’s outlook for loan originations in 4Q15. As a reminder, just five weeks after HCG’s CEO insinuated that the company could generate origination...

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NA.TO: Taking a Closer Look at NA’s Commercial Loan Book as the Pitfalls of Recency Bias Come Front and Center;...

January 13th, 2016

Do you remember the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in Canada? It was a dark period in the country’s economic history as a combination of a collapse in crude oil prices in the mid-1980’s,...

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