Globeinvestor Problems & Questions

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biker
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Globeinvestor "Star" ratings

Post by biker »

I noticed today that when I go to my Stocklist there is a new column for up to 5 star ratings. Eg RY is a 5 and BCE is a 2 star. Any idea who does the ratings?
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Post by bubbalouie »

Eg RY is a 5 and BCE is a 2 star.
So, you're saying BCE is a buy and RY is a hold? LOL
Anyway, that's how I look at it.
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Globe Investor 5-Star Stock Rating

Post by Lado »

Do any of you use the 5-Star stock rating system that is available on the Globe site. If yes, how useful do you find it? If not, did you track the performance of the rating system and find that it is not useful?

I have gone back to my stock selection strategy that has served me well since 1998. Those of you who followed the friendly stock picking contest that we had here may recall that I changed my strategy part way through the contest. Had I stuck with my tried and true techniques I would have been runner-up for the bronze medal which was much better than my actual performance!

In an effort to improve on my stock selection strategy I am wondering if taking the 5-Star rating into account will improve my results. Your experience would be appreciated.

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AltaRed
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Post by AltaRed »

I think the 5 star ratings are pretty short term, shallow, and focused on price performance. Quote from Globeinvestor definition (my emphasis added):
On a monthly basis, we calculate each stock's price performance, and then subtract the rate of return on a risk-free asset, specifically 90-day Canadian T-bills. Positive returns add to a stock's return score and negative returns to a stock's regret score. We sum up five years of these monthly returns and regrets, with more weighting placed on recent months.

All Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks are then grouped together into industries. Each stock's regret score is adjusted to penalize those that performed poorly, when their industry group had a high expected return. The final score for each stock is computed as its return score minus its regret score.
Nothing seems to be said about underlying fundamentals over the longer term and thus it is simply reinforcing herd mentality of what has been popular. The horse has already left the barn.
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Re: Globe Investor 5-Star Stock Rating

Post by YogiBear »

Lado wrote:I have gone back to my stock selection strategy that has served me well since 1998. Those of you who followed the friendly stock picking contest that we had here may recall that I changed my strategy part way through the contest. Had I stuck with my tried and true techniques I would have been runner-up for the bronze medal which was much better than my actual performance! [emphasis added]
This is important. It emphasizes the need to find a good investing approach that, to paraphrase, "serves you well", then stick with it. Changing approaches in mid-stream is usually a recipe for ultimate disappointment, since such changes tend to reflect typical behavioural (and thus financially maladaptive) responses to what is happening around you (I'm not saying that was the case with Lado specifically, since I do not know how and why he changed his strategy mid-stream).

Added: As AltaRed said, "it is simply reinforcing herd mentality of what has been popular." Is this consistent with finding a good approach and sticking to it, no matter how crazy everyone else is getting?
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Dividend payout ratios in Globeinvestor

Post by skepticus »

I read in Globeinvestor that BFC.UN's divident payout percentage is 286.23. I'd be grateful for an explanation of what that means. Thank you.
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Re: Dividend payout ratios in Globeinvestor

Post by pmj »

skepticus wrote:I read in Globeinvestor that BFC.UN's divident payout percentage is 286.23. I'd be grateful for an explanation of what that means. Thank you.
At the bottom of the Globe page there are links to help topics. See % Dividend Payout
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Post by skepticus »

Thanks pmj. The glossary you directed me to says the payout ratio is the amount of earnings paid out in dividends. However, I don't understand how a company can pay out 286 % of its earnings. I would have thought 100% would be the maximum possible.
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Post by DavidR »

skepticus wrote: However, I don't understand how a company can pay out 286 % of its earnings. I would have thought 100% would be the maximum possible.
There is no rule that prevents a corporation from paying dividends in excess of its earnings for any particular year. Companies may experience a loss or unusually low earnings from time to time yet may still maintain their dividends. As long as dividends paid over the life of the business are less than earnings over the same period, it will be possible to pay dividends in any particular year.

BTW BFC.un is not a corporation. Trusts generally make distributions based on some definition of distributable cash flow not earnings. I'm not sure that the ratio of distributions to income is useful for most trusts, since many have cash flows that are very different from earnings. You may want to take a look at BFC's annual report to see how management explains their distribution policy.
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Post by AltaRed »

Another issue (besides the one DavidR mentions) is many (most?) trusts took a lump sum accrual for future income taxes in preparation for trust taxation in 2011. Thus yield will be unduly skewed.

IIRC, Globeinvestor also takes the latest quarterly "dividend" and annualizes it - making the error even worse. If BFC took that writeoff in 4Q, that may explain the situation. One must go to the company's quarterly reports and MD&A analysis to get the correct data.
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Post by skepticus »

Thank you all for your help.

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Globeinvestor Problems & Questions

Post by marcharry »

Does anyone know why my stocklist on the Globe and Mail investment site (free side) diappears. I don't visit it often, but over the years its always been there. Of late it it just gets wiped out - i.e. nothing in the list anymore.

Its a pain to rebuild it.
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Re: Globe stocklist

Post by Jo Anne »

marcharry wrote:Does anyone know why my stocklist on the Globe and Mail investment site (free side) diappears. I don't visit it often, but over the years its always been there. Of late it it just gets wiped out - i.e. nothing in the list anymore.

Its a pain to rebuild it.
It does that for me every once in a while - maybe every 2 months or so. I suspect it has something to do with the expiry date of my cookies, but I'm not sure.

I just live with it and rebuild when necessary.
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Post by marcharry »

thats nuts - but its hard to argue with free
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Post by augustabound »

After the changed their site a year or so ago I lost a watchlist too. I tried to put it back but whenever I went back it was gone. Gone forever.......
For a simple watchlist I use either google finance or yahoo finance.
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Post by Nemo2 »

We use Stockhouse...........no problems. (If we're comparing apples & apples, that is.)
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Post by westinvest »

I use the "pay" version of the Globe Site, because it's actually free to TDWH President's Club members, and have never lost a stock list. Maybe there's a message here?
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Post by AltaRed »

I've never lost a Stocklist on the freebie Globeinvestor site.
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Post by patriot1 »

westinvest wrote:I use the "pay" version of the Globe Site, because it's actually free to TDWH President's Club members, and have never lost a stock list. Maybe there's a message here?
How do you sign up for that?
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Post by Delphi51 »

I lost my stock list at Globe several times . . . in fact every time I choose "delete cookies" in my web browser. Adware and Spyware programs can remove cookies, too.

You can back up your cookies, even transfer them to another computer. Cookies reside in a text file called "cookies.txt" which you can find by searching your "Documents and Settings" folder. There may be several such files on your computer. Open the file and search for "Globe" to see if it is probably the right one.
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Post by westinvest »

patriot1 wrote:
westinvest wrote:I use the "pay" version of the Globe Site, because it's actually free to TDWH President's Club members, and have never lost a stock list. Maybe there's a message here?
How do you sign up for that?

Normally when you reach President's Club status they send you an invitation and a logon. TDWH calls it "WebBroker Select" but it's essentially GlobeInvestor Gold. If you qualify but didn't get an invitation I'd call TDWH.
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Post by AltaRed »

Delphi51 wrote:I lost my stock list at Globe several times . . . in fact every time I choose "delete cookies" in my web browser. Adware and Spyware programs can remove cookies, too.
Why would you blanket delete cookies? That is the only way I know of that a website will remember you. I have yet to delete cookies on a 5 yr old PC. None of the Adware and Spyware programs I use would delete cookies unless I specifically tell them to.
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Post by skepticus »

I had the same problem this week (stockwatch selections missing) after I had set up a list through my Firefox browser. Prior to that my Safari browser crashed whenever I clicked a stock on my G&M stocklist. Has anyone encountered that problem ?
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Globeinvestor stocklist wiped out?

Post by marcharry »

My stocklist on globeinvestor repeatedly disappears on me. Its a pain to rebuild it.

Any one know why this happens. How to prevent it. OR, an alternative source to easily build a canadian portfolio online? One that will stay there indefinitely.

(Naturally i am not going to start paying for globeinvestor premium)
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