Hi Pat: What would you think of the Pathfinder Convertible Debenture Fund as an investment? Thanks for all your good advice over the years.

Pathfinder Convertible Debenture Fund, $12.35, symbol PCD.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 10.0 million; Market cap: $124.0 million; www.middlefield.com/path.htm), is a closed-end fund that holds 73.5% of its portfolio in convertible debentures issued by publicly traded Canadian companies. The rest of the fund consists of common… Read More

Aecon invests in Churchill

THE CHURCHILL CORP. $18.02 (Toronto symbol CUQ: SI Rating: Speculative) (780-454-3667; www.churchillcorporation.com; Shares outstanding: 24.5 million; Market cap: $441.8 million; No dividends paid) has completed its $180-million share and debenture issue. The funds will help pay for its $380-million purchase of Seacliff Construction. Seacliff provides… Read More

Hi. Any advice re: Data Group Income Fund? I believe that it paid a generous dividend all through the recent recession. Your thoughts? Thanks.

The Data Group Income Fund, $7.27, symbol DGI.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 23.5 million; Market cap: $170.8 million), sells commercial-printing and related services to a wide variety of customers, including Canada Post, Bell Canada, Manulife Financial Corp., Bank of Montreal, Imperial Oil, Ontario Lottery and… Read More

High Quality Assets Plus a Tax Exemption

When Ottawa moved to put income trusts on an equal footing with corporations, it exempted REITs. We’ve recommended these two REITs for some time, mainly because of the quality of their assets.

We continue to view both as buys.

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25 (Toronto symbol… Read More

Dilution Threat Weighs on Versacold

VERSACOLD INCOME FUND $9.10 (Toronto symbol ICE.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; SI Rating: Extra risk) is one of the world’s leading operators of public refrigerated warehouses. Farmers and food processing companies use these facilities to store perishable foods.

In December 2005, Versacold paid $396.7 million… Read More