STOCKCHASE

One of the few legacy income trusts so it still has a tax advantage. Also, the chemical commodity in which it deals is still rising. 8.5% yield.

2011-12-01

TOP PICK

13.160

Don Lato

Industrial chemicals, mainly sulphuric acid and its by-products. Have grown about 14% a year. Yield of about 9%. 60%-70% payout ratio.

2011-11-02

TOP PICK

13.490

Colin Stewart

Chemicals and they recently acquired an environmental services company. Good place to hide in a choppy market. Still structured as an income trust with payout of about 65% of cash flow. Safe 8.8% yield.

2011-08-09

DON'T BUY

14.650

Jason Donville

Acquiring Marsulex (MLX-T). All these income trusts will become common corporations in a year or two. Not a particularly transparent company. You get a revenue line and a profit line but not much else. He doesn’t want an opaque company when there are so many good transparent ones out there.

2011-05-25

BUY

13.500

One of the few income trusts that has 80%+ of income outside of Canada so is not affected by change in income trust rules. Longer term, this has a great yield. You’ll do fine with this. They missed earnings so he got out (his policy).

2011-04-12

BUY

14.680

Andrew Hamlin

Sulfur processing and distribution. Good company and solid management. Decent dividend and expect there will be growth as well.

2011-02-16

BUY on WEAKNESS

14.720

Barry Schwartz

In sulfur which is needed to convert fertilizer. Sulfur inventories have been going down so there is a big demand. Feels the 8.3% dividend is sustainable. Valuation is a little stretched so he is waiting for a pullback.

2011-01-26

PAST TOP PICK

14.210

(Top Pick Nov 4/10, Up 8.69%) A straight long choice. The numbers just keep going higher.

2010-11-30

TOP PICK

13.000

Exposed to fertilizer. Makes sulfuric acid. Yield above 10%. It will not be taxed when income tax holiday ends next year.

2010-11-04

DON'T BUY

9.250

Creates pulp chemicals and the pulp industry has not been vibrant for a number of years. Higher-cost producer than Canexus (CUS.UN-T). Too early to get into this type of security. 13.3% yield.

2009-01-22

BUY

9.820

Michael Simpson, CFA

Management has guided that the 2nd half of 2007 will be better than the 1st half. Not very liquid.

2007-07-04

DON'T BUY

10.460

Robert Lauzon

A business trust that has a lot of moving parts to it and there are a lot of risks to a company like this such as foreign exchange, chemical risks, etc. Too much uncertainty.

2006-09-08

DON'T BUY

10.500

Garth Jestley

Has concerns about input costs. High yield is a reflection of the markets concerns of its high payout ratio. There is danger of further distribution cuts. High debt.

2006-08-11

PAST TOP PICK

10.280

James Leung

(A Top Pick Jan 27/06. Down 13%.) Hurricane hit one of their plants last year so they had to undergo some downtime and raw material costs have gone up. Believes these issues are temporary. 14% yield is pricing in any risk factor.

2006-06-30

DON'T BUY

9.850

Strong competition in the sodium chlorate area. Trading at some cheaper evaluations, but this is one you should be cautious on.

2006-05-19

DON'T BUY

9.150

In the pulp chemical business. A good company but prefers the low-cost producer of Canexus (CUS.UN-T).

2006-05-12

DON'T BUY

9.320

Plant had been damaged by Katrina but is now up and running. They expect some of their customer facilities in that area to still experience some disruptions in Q1. This company faces a number of challenges especially with pulp chemicals. Has been facing competition from China.

2006-05-05

SELL

10.420

Have some exposure to the pulp/chemical side of the market but are covered by long-term contracts. A number of their other sides are facing issues.

2006-04-26

DON'T BUY

11.190

Chemtrade Logistics was a fund that they used to hold in the portfolio. Sold because of operational concerns about this business. The company is facing challenges. Thdy have had some negative impacts due to the hurricane Rita. Cautious going forward.

2006-03-18

HOLD

11.300

Has had a rough ride. Looks to have a fair amount of support at this level. Cut the distribution which had been expected. Their big problem has been their input costs. A volatile business. Probably not a lot of downside at this level. Would take some profit on any upside.

2006-02-17

TOP PICK

11.650

James Leung

Good price.

2006-01-27

DON'T BUY

12.000

Greg Guichon

Has a spectacular history. Raised its distributions several times. Recently went into some chemicals that are destined for the paper industry but hurricanes destroyed refineries which cut off some raw materials. Yield of 11% indicates some concerns. Distributions are expected to be cut.

2006-01-20

PAST TOP PICK

10.610

(A Top Pick Aug 12/05. Down 32%.) A classic margin squeeze. Their primary input costs is natural gas. Was looking for weaker gas prices. Don’t see a positive aspect until gas prices normalize.

2005-12-16

DON'T BUY

12.050

Garth Jestley

Got out at this trust because of concerns of input costs. Had lots of problems with caustic soda. Also had problems on the east coast.

2005-12-02

DON'T BUY

11.890

Has had a number of concerns and problems in the last little while. Thinks those concerns are now gone. Exceeded expectations. Given the pull back in a lot of the business trusts, thinks there's very good returns available with higher quality names, so wouldn't buy.

2005-10-28

BUY

14.000

Michael Simpson, CFA

Recently made some acquisitions of Peak Chemical and Peak Sular out of Texas and Louisianna. One facility in Texas was affected by the hurricane. At this price, it's a good buying opportunity.

2005-10-07

TOP PICK

15.790

Got beaten up but have recently made a transaction and bought some chemical assets that at a very reasonable price. Payout ratio is acceptable. 10% yield.

2005-08-12

DON'T BUY

15.320

Became concerned with the operating fundamentals of the company, so sold her holdings. Bit of a margin squeeze when the signed long term contracts with their customers at reduced prices to offset Asian competition. Also facing pretty significant raw material costs. Feels they will have a hard time maintaining their payout ratio.

2005-07-15

HOLD

15.400

Has been in a downward trend. Faced some increased competition form Asia on one of their product lines as well as seeing some cost pressure increase. Margins were getting squeezed which gave some potential for a distribution cut, so they sold their holdings. Q1 numbers showed they were a little more solid than was expected. Things are starting to look a little more positive.

2005-05-06

WEAK BUY

14.960

Concerned with competition coming out of China. Have signed relatively long term price agreements with their major customers to combat this. Some question on their ability to earn their distribution in the short term. 2006 there are some growth opportunities. Has come down enough that it might be worthwhile for a higher risk portfolio.

2005-04-15

SELL

15.110

Matt Baillie

The sulpher business which is its main business is experiencing some competition from China and other international sulpher producers. Thinks it's going to have a tough time.

2005-04-08

DON'T BUY

16.750

Bill Shaw

Last quarter has been a little more difficult for them. An announcement was made that a potential competitor was going to start a chemical plant, but doesn't see this as a big issue. Their last earnings statement was a little weaker than expected. On a longer term basis they should do OK. Fully valued now.

2005-02-22

HOLD

16.900

Garth Jestley

Has sold off about 15% since the beginning of the year. Have experienced problems with costs, particularily caustic soda as well as increased competition from the Chinese and the SHS market. Now trading at a 10.5% yield which management says they can hold. At the current levels, he considers it a HOLD.

2005-02-18

HOLD

18.050

Blair Wilson

Unit price has dropped about 10% because a perceived US competitor wanted to increase their production of sodium sulphate from 0 to 11% of North American production. Should they be successful, it could be a potential risk. No impact on product price yet. Pull back was too much.

2005-01-18

HOLD

18.100

Glenn Paradis, BA, CFA

With the sell-off, it's becoming more attractive. The big drop on Wednesday was because of news out of the US that there was going to be a competitor in the market place on one of their products. Doesn't feel this a big concern. Should be pretty stable at this price.

2005-01-13

DON'T BUY

18.260

One of North America's largest producers in sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid. Will grow with the North American economy. Have good healthy cash flow. Expects some slowdown in the economy.

2004-07-15

BUY

18.300

John Priestman

Likes the outlook for this trust. Have done a good job of making acquisitions. Some distribution increases have occurred.

2004-05-26

TOP PICK

18.690

Allan Meyer

Could have further appreciation as it gets recognized. 9 1/2% yield. Had a difficult year but have been able to maintain their distributions.

2004-04-12

TOP PICK

15.150

Expect gross and net margins to increase because of new acquisitions.

2003-01-23

PAST TOP PICK

14.840

(Was a top pick on April 16. Up 6%) Still likes. Good dividend.

2002-07-12

TOP PICK

14.000