| BUY | 33.760 | David Baskin | If deal is not done it will re-instate dividend right away. Very little downside. 60% change of deal going through. | 2008-10-06 | |
| DON'T BUY | 34.800 | Ross Healy | Never thought the deal would go through – didn’t think the deal was financable. Still doesn’t think that city-group, the lead financier, can go through with the deal with something on the other side. Wife is a teacher and things teacher is paying way too much. | 2008-10-02 | |
| HOLD | 36.110 | Kevin O'Leary | Thinks deal will close but may be delayed. Impressed with managers. Bullish on this stock. After stabilizing the asset, they may have to build out to convert to GSM. | 2008-10-01 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 36.700 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | (A Top Pick Sept 12/07. Flat) Believes deal will still get done. The banks can still come up with the capital. | 2008-09-30 | |
| N/A | 35.000 | Paul Harris, CFA | Funding coming from different banks and some may re-assess their position or pricing. Deal will probably go through, based on information give to us. | 2008-09-29 | |
| HOLD | 37.360 | Norman Levine | Believe both parties want to do the deal but there are a lot of changes going on. Not a total certainty, which is why it is trading where it is. Would hesitate about buying this. | 2008-09-24 | |
| TOP PICK | 34.650 | Ken McCord | Will close at $42.75 in December. Traditional players are out of the market. Arbitrage players had to sell holdings to cover Shorts so this was a good one because of liquidity. Deal spread has now gone to 24%-25%. If the deal does not go through, the stock is worth $30. 10% to 20% of losing, but an 80% chance of making it. | 2008-09-18 | |
| BUY | 34.050 | Gavin Graham | Deal will close on December 11 at $42.75. Prices come off the stock because of leveraged people having to raise cash. CitiGroup (C-N) will be able to come up with its share of the financing. You will make a 20% return in 3 months. | 2008-09-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 37.180 | David Driscoll | Pressure is certainly on the Teachers Federation if they want to go through with the deal. If they're going to get funding, at what cost and at what price. This is why the stock has been dropping. | 2008-09-16 | |
| HOLD | 37.850 | Benj Gallander | 95% certain that the deal will still go through. He wouldn't Buy at the current price. | 2008-09-15 | |
| Comment | 37.850 | Michael Smedley | Discounted because of concerns of Merrill Lynch (MER-N) being taken out. There is always a risk until the deal is done. Even if it doesn't go through, he is holding his stock because there will be more to come. | 2008-09-15 | |
| Comment | 39.130 | Duncan Stewart | Certainly the numbers make sense that theoretically you should be able to Buy this before the deal closes giving an annual 20% yield. He wouldn't do it. | 2008-09-11 | |
| DON'T BUY | 39.130 | Brian Acker, CA | (Market Call Minute.) This will get taken over at $42.75. An arbitrage play. | 2008-09-11 | |
| HOLD | 39.850 | David Burrows | You could look on this as almost a cash investment. Very high likelihood the deal will get closed. | 2008-09-08 | |
| Comment | 39.880 | Peter Brieger | He has recently been buying preferreds. He has been paying about $24.60 + and they get redeemed at $25.50 in December. This gives you 2 or 3 dividends between now and December. The annualized return is 16% plus. | 2008-09-04 | |
| HOLD | 40.220 | David Baskin | The 6% that you gain by holding the stock until December is pretty much a sure bet. That is almost 20% per year. If the stock got up to $41 or $41.25 he would redeploy the funds. | 2008-09-02 | |
| Comment | 40.230 | Stephen Carlin | If you buy now, you have about $2.75 of upside between now and December. There is no dividend. Not a large enough rate of return for him. | 2008-08-29 | |
| Comment | 39.880 | John Zechner | When this deal goes through, it makes other telecom stocks more attractive. Telecom stocks such as Manitoba Telecom (MBT-T), Telus (T-T) Rogers (RCI.B-T), Bell Aliant (BA.UN-T) etc. will be interesting buys. BCE hasn't disappeared. Teachers paid a lot of money for it. They will restructure it and repackage it in a few years out. | 2008-08-25 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 40.040 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | (A Top Pick Sept 12/07. No change.) Acquisition for $42.75 will go through and Dec 11 will be the latest. | 2008-08-08 | |
| HOLD | 38.830 | Paul Gardner, CFA | It looks like the deal is going through. Trading at a discount because there are no dividends payable. There is still a 5% chance that the deal blows up. He owns the bonds. | 2008-07-24 | |
| Comment | 39.000 | Robert Floyd | If all goes well, the stock will be taken out at $42.75 in December. There will be no dividends. There is always the potential for something to happen, but given what has transpired over the last several weeks, it looks like the deal has a better chance of completing than it did before. | 2008-07-23 | |
| SELL | 38.590 | Norman Levine | There is still a chance that someone could back out of the deal. Likelihood is not high but that is why the price is down. This is a speculation. | 2008-07-21 | |
| TOP PICK | 38.900 | Laura Wallace | Highly probable that the deal closes at $42.75 in 5 months giving more than a 20% annualized rate of return. | 2008-07-10 | |
| DON'T BUY | 37.550 | Colin Stewart | Thanks in all likelihood the deal will close but there is some risk that it will be re-priced at a lower level. | 2008-06-25 | |
| HOLD | 37.550 | Paul Harris, CFA | Thinks the deal will go through. | 2008-06-25 | |
| Comment | 37.220 | Robert Floyd | Supreme Court of Canada has now said the deal can go through. Because of the state of the financial community, there could be a new deal with the banks. There are still a lot of questions regarding the final price. | 2008-06-24 | |
| SELL | 33.530 | David Burrows | Sold his holdings after the Quebec ruling. Now a coin toss. Telecom sector is having a tough time no matter which company you look at. Other places that will give you better odds. | 2008-06-16 | |
| DON'T BUY | 33.650 | Norman Levine | Right now this is a gamble, not an investment. You are gambling on how the Supreme Court will rule. Also will the banks that are bankrolling this will play ball or not. | 2008-06-13 | |
| Comment | 33.650 | Bruce Campbell | Feels the downside is the low $30’s and it’s basically there and there’s still a chance you still end up in the high $30’s. | 2008-06-13 | |
| SELL | 34.600 | Duncan Stewart | A bet that the Supreme Court overrules the lower court's decision on the bondholders or that the company is able to come to a reasonable settlement with the bondholders. Doesn't think the lower court's decision will be overturned. | 2008-06-03 | |
| SELL ON STRENGTH | 35.050 | Robert Floyd | Few dollars on the upside if things work out, $4-5 on the downside if it is re-priced. Thinks the bondholder position is supported. Sell on strength. Deal could be re-priced in high 30’s. | 2008-05-30 | |
| HOLD | 35.050 | Bill MacLachlan | Thinks deal will close at $42.75 and all will occur as expected. Sit tight, huge breakup fee if deal fails. Paying Bondholders to mitigate their risk would be cheaper. Credit markets are now a little better behaved. | 2008-05-30 | |
| Comment | 34.980 | Michael Sprung | The longer this situation goes on; the more it becomes a speculation. As time goes on, it is less and less likely to deal will go through. | 2008-05-29 | |
| HOLD | 33.760 | Bruce Campbell | Thinks the most likely thing that happens is that they win the appeal but it will take a while. With the delay you may end up with $38/$39 and some dividends. | 2008-05-26 | |
| Comment | 32.640 | David Burrows | Currently trading at fundamental value. At this point, the deal is a coin toss. Can't see a ton of downside. Wire line phone companies in general are not performing very well. There are a bunch of things that could end up making this deal happen but it is under a time gun as banks are committed to November. A lot of stock in the hands of arbitrageurs that are looking for the deal and will not sell their stocks gently. | 2008-05-22 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 32.640 | Paul Harris, CFA | He is a bondholder. Teachers pension will have to deal with bondholders. Could mean cutting the price of the shares from $42.75 to $35-$38 level to meet the requirements of paying off the bondholders. Long route would be to go to the Supreme Court of Canada. Fairly priced at $30-$32. | 2008-05-22 | |
| BUY | 37.120 | Pierre Bernard | He assumes that the deal has a probability of success greater than 50% at $42.75. There could be glitches such as postponements, re-pricing or cancellation. If the latter, price could drop to $26 but would eventually recover to its true value of $32. | 2008-05-21 | |
| BUY | 37.400 | Gavin Graham | A done deal. Maybe the price gets trimmed a little bit but this would remove any uncertainty. | 2008-05-20 | |
| TOP PICK | 37.400 | Bob Stodgell | Thinks the deal will get done at $42.75. If it gets done at a lower price, it still would be higher than the current price and you get a dividend. | 2008-05-20 | |
| BUY | 39.100 | David Baskin | He is a believer that the deal will go through and will not be re-priced. | 2008-05-13 | |
| HOLD | 38.100 | Michael Smedley | There is a take out value of $42.75 on this one. It is very unlikely that the Ontario teachers and their banking supporters will pull out of the deal. | 2008-05-12 | |
| BUY | 36.560 | David Burrows | Believes the deal will get done at $42.75. Doesn't expect there will be a re-pricing. | 2008-05-06 | |
| Comment | 36.860 | Peter Brieger | The chart looks terrible and screams that this is not about a deal that will be completed at $42.75. He wonders if there isn't a re-pricing in the works or something worse. | 2008-05-01 | |
| Comment | 36.150 | Robert Floyd | He is just standing aside on this one. | 2008-04-29 | |
| BUY | 36.780 | John Zechner | The financiers are going to want to continue doing business in the telecom sector and he can't see them pulling out of the deal. He thinks the deal gets done. | 2008-04-28 | |
| HOLD | 37.570 | David Cockfield | Had his doubts about this one, but the cards keep falling in order and they seem to have got past the various hurdles. One concern he still has is the credit situation and whether they are going to get the money out of their US partners or not. | 2008-04-24 | |
| BUY | 38.290 | David Baskin | Thanks the takeover will be completed in the next 8 to 10 weeks at $42.75. This gives you a nice return. | 2008-04-22 | |
| TOP PICK | 37.110 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | (A Top Pick Sept 12/07. Down 7%.) Still believes the deal is going to go through. You are looking at getting $42.75 by the end of June. | 2008-04-17 | |
| TOP PICK | 36.760 | Bruce Campbell | He is betting that the Teachers Pension deal will close. If it doesn't close, it will probably go to $27/$30 and Telus (T-T) will be all over it and giving it 1 year delay you'll probably break even. | 2008-04-11 | |
| TOP PICK | 36.150 | Andrew Guy, CFA | 80% chance that the Teachers Pension deal will go ahead. At the current price, with the takeover at $42.75, this gives you a 17.5 % return over the next 2 months. Annualized that is well over 100% return. | 2008-04-07 | |
| HOLD | 35.070 | Michael Smedley | (Market Call Minute.) It's beginning to look rather uneasy. He sold half his position. | 2008-04-01 | |
| HOLD | 36.940 | Norman Levine | The regulator wont be a problem. It’s not an investment now, it’s a gamble for new players. Keep it to tender if you’re already involved. | 2008-03-27 | |
| HOLD | 36.690 | Benj Gallander | If the deal doesn’t go through, the stock will drop to $30 or lower. You will get a dividend of 4%. Longer term this should work out well. | 2008-03-25 | |
| SELL | 36.860 | Robert Floyd | The debt holders now are appealing, which will delay the whole process. Doesn't think the debt holders are going to win their appeal. They sold in the low 40's. | 2008-03-20 | |
| BUY | 37.670 | David Baskin | Is short term deal risk. Went down yesterday because the bond holders filed an appeal to a court ruling, also what happened over the weekend.
You may get a short term pop on it, because he thinks the deal is going to go through. | 2008-03-18 | |
| Comment | 38.320 | Laura Wallace | Awaiting the final chapter in this saga. The hope is that it will close by the end of April. Have overcome 2 obstacles, the bond suit and the CRTC. She sold 2/3’s of her position. Thinks it is highly probable the deal will go through. | 2008-03-12 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 38.650 | Kenneth P. Norquay, CMT | (A Top Pick Apr 17/07. Up 0.4% including dividends.) This is no longer a technical pick. It is now a fundamental pick. Will takeover go through or not? Had a stoploss and was stopped out of part of his position. | 2008-03-11 | |
| TOP PICK | 38.650 | Derek Webb, CFA | The #1 risk/reward stock out there right now. As far as he knows, the deal is still on. Taking the stock today to where the deal will close it is about 100% return. Bondholders don't have a claim. Trading down because of fear on the street. | 2008-03-11 | |
| DON'T BUY | 37.720 | Norman Levine | There is still the uncertainty of the CRTC, some regulatory things and, one or more of the banks, might pull out. Has inherited some stock from new clients but is not buying. This is a gamble. | 2008-03-10 | |
| BUY | 36.070 | Gavin Graham | (Market Call Minute.) The deal is going to go through, otherwise the teachers union have to pay $1 billion in break fee. | 2008-03-06 | |
| STRONG BUY | 36.360 | Bruce Campbell | Thinks CitiGroup (C-N) would think twice about letting the deal fall through, as they may not get invited into other opportunities in future. | 2008-02-28 | |
| BUY | 35.800 | David Baskin | Thinks the deal is going to happen. Good risk/reward. | 2008-02-19 | |
| BUY | 35.800 | Bill Shaw | Feels the deal will get completed. The biggest issue right now is the bondholders trying to go to court. | 2008-02-19 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 35.900 | Kenneth P. Norquay, CMT | (A Top Pick Apr 17/07. Down 7.7 %.) When he bought it, he didn't know about the takeover. Chart now looks terrible, so wouldn't touch it. | 2008-02-12 | |
| Comment | 35.900 | Kenneth P. Norquay, CMT | As a market technician, he can't help very much on this one as it is trading on its fundamentals. Will the takeover go or not. There are all kinds of interesting fundamental things. | 2008-02-12 | |
| Comment | 35.620 | Michael Decter | A lot of money out there not willing to take $6 of easy money because of fear the deal will not close. 1) Everyone close to it thinks it will close. 2) A lot of smart money on the street thinks it will close. 3) A lot of debt is going to need to be placed out of this deal. The big risk is if there is no deal, it will drop back into the $20's. | 2008-02-11 | |
| BUY | 34.720 | Bob Stodgell | The head of the Teachers Ontario Pension says the deal is going to go through. Some of the financiers giving their loans are causing the concerns. The market is telling you that it does have risks. If this is part of several of your holdings the odds are pretty good and could be worth the risk. | 2008-02-07 | |
| Comment | 34.720 | Brian Acker, CA | (Market Call Minute.) He has a model price of $25.11, a -28% differential. | 2008-02-07 | |
| TOP PICK | 34.900 | Andrew Guy, CFA | Latest earnings report suggests that the deal is going to go through. Gives about a 20% annualized return to the $42.75 target. There is also a dividend in the near term. | 2008-02-06 | |
| Comment | 34.550 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Debt holders are saying the deal is on as they are hoping the post merger balance sheet will be very leveraged and the credit quality will drop significantly. Equity guys are saying the deal is off because of someone pulling out of the agreement. There is a judicial decision coming for the bondholders. Thinks the break-up value is around $28 so the risk/reward is in favor of the deal going through. | 2008-02-05 | |
| Comment | 35.740 | Alex Ruus | The market is acting like the deal will not go through. Historically, the market is usually smarter about these things. If the deal does go through, it's a very compelling short term opportunity. | 2008-02-04 | |
| Comment | 35.740 | David Baskin | There is a lawsuit pending by the bondholders. Smart money says that lawsuit is not a winner, but you never know. There is also a question of whether they can raise the finances. He is still buying for clients. Under the worst circumstances, the stock is worth $20-$30 anyway. | 2008-02-04 | |
| DON'T BUY | 36.000 | Brendan Caldwell | Has been the subject of a takeover offer By the Ontario Teachers Pension. The market is clearly saying that the deal is not going to go through. As a publicly held company, fair market is probably in the low $30's. | 2008-02-01 | |
| DON'T BUY | 34.910 | Peter Hodson | With the uncertainty, time delays and the investor fears and any headlines will send the stock down sharply. If the deal fell apart, you could have a $10 drop. | 2008-01-31 | |
| HOLD | 34.000 | Laura Wallace | Thinks Ontario Teachers would not break the deal, as it would negatively affect future deals. Because of scarcity to back the deal, the market is showing it as a high-risk investment. If you are confident, it is a great short-term rate of return. It's the deal breaks, she thinks the stock will return to $28. | 2008-01-30 | |
| Comment | 34.440 | Norman Levine | Stock price is acting like the deal will not happen. The company and the buyers are saying it will happen. If the deal does happen, it is a huge return. If it doesn't go through, it will probably end up in the upper $20's. Bondholders are taking them to court. | 2008-01-29 | |
| BUY | 34.950 | David Burrows | There is a very high probability that this deal does get done. There seems to be a will on both sides to get it done. Arbitrators are underwater on this and it is causing them problems. | 2008-01-28 | |
| TOP PICK | 36.290 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | (A Top Pick Sept 12/07. Down 10.7%.) Still likes it. The Teachers Pension announced they are still committed. Takeout price is $42.75 and you will get 1 more dividend. Still a Buy. | 2008-01-25 | |
| BUY | 35.350 | Bruce Campbell | Would be a lot of egg on their face for a long time if the Teachers were to pull out. Obvious scepticism would be on problems with financing. Internal rate of return would still be about 17%. Risk/reward is starting to be pretty compelling. | 2008-01-23 | |
| BUY | 34.420 | Ben Cheng | To be acquired by Ontario Teachers at $42.75. Takeout date is speculated as May 1st. This would amount to a very generous rate of return. There would be serious consequences if they were to back out of the deal. Risk/reward is good. | 2008-01-21 | |
| BUY | 36.370 | David Burrows | Clearly there is a ton of concern about the ability to fund the deal. He thinks the deal is going to get done. There is enough evidence that there is enough will on both sides to get it done. A Buy, but wait until the smoke clears. | 2008-01-18 | |
| BUY | 36.370 | Charles Dillingham | His guess is that even if the deal did not go through, someone else would pick it up for a similar price. If you can afford a little bit of stall, he would be tempted to buy it. | 2008-01-18 | |
| Comment | 36.530 | Brian Acker, CA | The streets as they will do the deal even if they have to choke it down as that's the Canadian way. His model price is $24.82, a 33% negative differential. Seeing deterioration all over in the Telcos. | 2008-01-17 | |
| Comment | 37.010 | Don Vialoux | Seems to be trading in a range. The current consensus is that the stock will be taken over after April. The longer it takes the more likely the stock will go lower. | 2008-01-16 | |
| BUY | 37.010 | Don Lato | He thinks the drop in the stock price is just a bit of panic selling. The whole arbitrage area has been quite volatile right now. Commitments from the buyers are pretty strong that the deal is going to happen. | 2008-01-16 | |
| BUY | 38.530 | David Baskin | The only question is, will the takeover take place. If the deal goes through, this is a no-brainer. You gain 10% on the stock plus a dividend. On the other hand, if the funding falls apart, then the stock probably goes down to $32. | 2008-01-14 | |
| BUY | 38.850 | Laura Wallace | Would be very surprised to see the deal renegotiated. The big risk is a regulatory one. | 2008-01-11 | |
| SELL | 38.290 | Bill Carrigan | The market seems worried about this one and when it worries, he worries. His attitude is, reduce. Take some profits. | 2008-01-09 | |
| BUY | 38.360 | Michael Sprung | Doesn't feel the deal is likely to fall apart and will probably be completed in the 1st half of this year. Teachers have said that they will stand behind it. | 2008-01-08 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 39.030 | Kenneth P. Norquay, CMT | (A Top Pick Dec 15/06. Up 30.7%.) Now starting to get a little nervous. | 2008-01-04 | |
| BUY | 39.420 | Gavin Graham | Will be taken over at $42.50 whenever the deal closes plus you get a dividend. | 2008-01-02 | |
| Comment | 39.500 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Arbitrages play based on it being taken out at $42.75. Two risks. 1) Bondholders have been hard done by and are in the courts now trying to redeem their bonds. 2) Have to go through regulatory authorities. Chances are, it will go through and return would be about 8%-9%, which annualized would be about 30%. | 2007-12-28 | |
| TOP PICK | 39.370 | Andrew Guy, CFA | Very high probability that the deal wit the Ontario Teachers Pension gets done in February. Risk/reward for getting the $42.75 by the end of April is very good and gives a 9% to 10% return. | 2007-12-27 | |
| BUY | 38.550 | David Baskin | Thinks the deal with Ontario Teachers Pension will go through. If this is true, you are looking at a 12% pickup plus one dividend in a fairly short period of time. | 2007-12-18 | |
| DON'T BUY | 39.490 | Robert Floyd | There is a potential that the deal with the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan may not go. He would prefer the money rather than taking a risk. | 2007-12-11 | |
| BUY | 39.650 | David Cockfield | To be taken over by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. He is treating this as a short-term investment and has made the assumption that the deal is going to go ahead. Not totally risk free. | 2007-12-07 | |
| BUY | 38.880 | David Burrows | There is some concern that if the credit crisis where to worsen, it might be difficult for the Ontario teachers pension to finance the purchase. This is why the price is less than the takeover price of $42.75. He feels that ultimately this deal is going to get financed. | 2007-12-04 | |
| Comment | 39.030 | Norman Levine | The stock is not trading on the company's fundamentals, but on the cash takeover. Not trading at the takeover price as there is a time value on money and no one is certain when that date will be. Still some regulatory approvals needed. | 2007-12-03 | |
| BUY | 39.200 | David Baskin | This will give you about 10% yield in 3 or 4 months. You will also get one dividend, possibly two. The only risk is if for some reason they purchase falls apart. The odds of that happening are not very high. | 2007-11-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 39.500 | Fred Ketchen | Being acquired in the late 1st quarter or the early 2nd quarter by the Ontario Teachers Pension plan at $42.75. There will be 2 dividends paid during that period. The yield over all will be about 9%. | 2007-11-27 | |
Experts that have talked about BCE Inc.
Rss Top Picks Feed
