STOCKCHASE

Actually a better performer on the TSX this year. Distribution is very secure. There is going to be a change to the dividend but will go down in August when they convert to a corporate structure (dividend and div tax credit). Strong backlog, although shrinking a little bit. Steady production until the end of the year.

2012-02-02

BUY

62.200

Bus manufacturer. Given that yield and given the comfort you have on that yield being paid it is worth continuing to hold. The industry is having issues with funding for their customers, generally municipalities. Still has a healthy 3 year backlog. Will be cutting the dividend to $.62 next July.

2011-11-02

WAIT

62.000

Prakash Hariharan

Disappointed with the management because they were talking about their backlog for 5 years. It’s a show me execution story and would wait for a bounce before getting back in.

2011-10-28

DON'T BUY

62.000

James Hodgins

High debt levels. When you have a situation where fundamentals start to deteriorate, the yield is no longer sustainable. He would be tempted to Short at this time.

2011-10-20

DON'T BUY

6.260

A lot of people have agreed to convert debt into equity, which will go some ways to improving their balance sheet. Price reflects that the payout will not be as much as it has been. Delivery schedule is something that is always in flux. New manufacturing oriented management in the last two years. Interesting to look at and the yield is quite high, suggesting it could go down.

2011-08-23

Comment

6.490

Been squeezed a bit because of lack of funding by municipalities. Still has a tremendous backlog. Profitable on a cash flow basis. Because of margins squeezes they are changing from an income deposit security to a common share. Once that is completed, there should be some strength built back into the stock.

2011-08-15

Comment

8.260

Industry got tougher and margins got squeezed because of lack of funding. Company is changing from an income security deposit (half bond and half common stock) to just common stock. $1.17 that was part dividend distribution and part interest, will go to $0.58 of dividend only as a base and then supplements for the next 12 months.

2011-07-07

DON'T BUY

7.910

Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI

Hasn't seen lows likes this since 2008. Four major declines in the downtrend and that is too many. 14.8% yield is probably not sustainable. Recent activity looks like it is very short-term.

2011-07-04

HOLD

7.510

Announced they are going to switch to a corporation and, when they do so, will cut the dividend. This has caused a decline in the stock. They manufacture buses and their customers are cities and municipalities, which are not flush with cash at the moment.

2011-06-20

PAST TOP PICK

9.020

(Top Pick May 19/10, Up 1.15%) In a tough industry. Good back orders on the books but shipments have been slow. Results last week were a little bit better than people expected. Talking about a recapitalization of the company. Investors took this as a cut in the distribution. It is transitioning from an income trust to a growth stock.

2011-05-18

Comment

9.040

Management is intent on maintaining the dividend for the time being. If business doesn’t pick up significantly they may possibly have trouble maintaining this for more than a year or two. Has confidence in the management who have made a lot of improvement in manufacturing and inventory control. Potential to do very well if you are a longer term holder.

2011-05-17

BUY

11.410

Major bus manufacturer in North America with a 47% market share. Because cities have been scrapped for cash, and haven’t been replacing buses, there should be a pent up demand but cash has been a problem for the cities. Likes the company but he has moved into more aggressive things.

2011-02-03

BUY

11.240

Likes the bus business. Management has focused on fixing bottlenecks in the manufacturing area and margins should go up. Current bus fleets are getting older and need to be replaced. Has some very competitive products. Good yield.

2011-01-14

BUY

11.900

Ben Cheng

A top 3 municipal bus manufacturer in North America. Difficult to make a call on future growth because it depends on different governments that are short of cash. However backlog looks very healthy.

2010-09-20

BUY

11.160

Continues to like them. Just signed a big contract with the City of New York. The backlog is the largest he has ever seen it.

2010-08-25

TOP PICK

10.800

Manufactures 40% of all the urban buses in North America. Very good cost structure and had a very good quarter. Buses need to be replaced and US has put up big subsidies to their cities and people are going green. Huge order backlog. 10.9% yield.

2010-08-16

BUY

9.910

Very solid yield at about 11.5%. Payout ratio in the mid-to upper 70%s. Not an income trust but an income deposit security, which means part of the return, is in interest and part is in dividends so it won't be impacted at all by the tax changes. Order backlog has improved again and is now about 3 years.

2010-08-11

BUY

10.070

Transit buses. About 11.5% yield. Still looking for growth in this trust because they have a backlog of about $3 billion, about 4 years of production.

2010-06-23

HOLD

10.000

Jim Huang

Worth holding on to this stock. Just got contracts. Budgets are tight in the US so this could delay some contracts for bus replacement in US cities. Shorter term there is some challenge, but medium to long term they will do just fine. Might way until it goes lower to get in.

2010-06-22

TOP PICK

9.880

City transit buses across North America. Not actually a trust but an income deposit security. 12.25% yield. Stock dropped when they announced a slight decrease in their backlog order but it is still over 3 years long. Looking for slow, steady growth.

2010-05-19

Comment

11.430

Jim Huang

Leveraged to the bus industry. Because public transport is becoming more important, they should do quite well. Most of their customers are governments, which are subject to local politics and budgets. Should do reasonably well. Wouldn't want to hold it or a long-term.

2010-04-19

BUY

10.760

Had a couple of difficult quarters. Manufactures almost 45% of the buses in North America and there is a huge government subsidy program for US cities. A couple of cities cancelled orders, which hurt them more than expected but the last quarter was very good. Likes the new management.

2010-03-08

PAST TOP PICK

10.400

(A Top Pick Jan 28/09. Up 12.71%.) Reduced his holdings but at this point, would be a cautious buyer.

2010-01-25

HOLD

10.080

Robert Lauzon

(Market Call Minute.) Building buses is a tough business involving unions.

2010-01-06

WEAK BUY

9.980

Public transportation should benefit from infrastructure spending. Eventually bus fleets will be replaced with more fuel-efficient vehicles. Long term you could be ok.

2009-12-22

PAST TOP PICK

9.840

(A Top Pick Dec 19/08. Up 23.6% excluding the $1.17 distributions.) Ran into some problems in the 2nd quarter but solve them in the 3rd. Have a backlog of about 4 years. You would of almost 12%.

2009-12-09

BUY

9.830

Urban bus manufacturer. Facilities in Winnipeg and Minnesota. Has dominant market share and winning a fair share of new orders. New CEO is very impressive. Generates a lot of cash flow. Almost 12% yield should be sustainable.

2009-12-03

DON'T BUY

9.770

(Market Call Minute.) Bus industry is being hit with a lot of municipalities not able to afford to buy buses.

2009-11-27

Comment

8.100

Michele Robitaille

Relatively low pay out ratio. A bit concerned about their business outlook as they have lost some orders. A lot of new bus funding comes from the state levels that are having difficulty with their fiscal situation. Also have continually over promised and under delivered on their quarters. Backlog is quite extensive and they have a lot more orders than they can fill in the next couple of years. 14.4% yield.

2009-09-11

BUY

9.960

Bus manufacturer. More and more money is going to be sunk into public transportation. Earnings prospects are quite good. 11.9% yield.

2009-06-26

BUY

9.900

Michele Robitaille

Bus manufacturing. Enormous backlog and the outlook for the next 18 to 24 months is very good. Tend not to be very good at market timing so the quarter came in a little bit lumpy. Not subject to the tax rules. Reasonable holding for the long-term. 11.8% yield.

2009-05-22

Comment

7.630

Appears to be a company in a promising industry at the right time. A lot of infrastructure spending is slated to go into public transportation. Has a significant backlog.

2009-03-10

BUY

10.000

Derek Webb, CFA

Largest bus manufacturer in North America. Primarily city buses. Likes this one very much. High yield.

2009-02-03

BUY

9.980

(Market Call Minute.) Manufacture buses. Quite interesting right now and are fairly well positioned.

2009-02-02

TOP PICK

10.250

Winnipeg-based bus manufacturer including green transportation and meet all the US criteria. Have 42% of the North American bus market. Huge order backlog. Urban transport will be top of the agenda under the new US administration. New CEO is the right man for the time. 12% yield.

2009-01-28

BUY

9.300

Have at healthy backlog of bus parts. Governments want to promote transit ridership.

2009-01-16

TOP PICK

8.000

Manufactures public transit buses. An income deposit security, which means it is not going to be impacted by the income trust changes in 2011. Just announced a new $1 billion loss order, which extended their backlog out from 4 years to 5. Sustainable 15% yield.

2008-12-19

BUY

6.260

Backlog is still quite healthy but a little lower than what some analysts were expecting. There is also concern that some municipal transit authorities will not be able to get financing for bus purchases. Feels this is a good entry point.

2008-11-20

BUY

8.900

Not an income trust structure so won't be caught by the CIFT (?) Rules. Manufacture urban buses. Order backlog is close to record levels. Delivering a lot of higher margin buses and winning market share.

2008-10-24

BUY

11.600

Largest manufacturer of mass transit buses in North America. Investment bankers created the IPS structure to mimic income trusts sold will not be impacted by the trust legislation. Paying taxes on their US holdings. Outlook is quite good.

2008-09-19

TOP PICK

12.000

Mass transit is going to be a growing business and this is the largest manufacturer of mass transit buses in North America. Has a $3 billion backlog that gives them about 3 years.

2008-06-11

PAST TOP PICK

9.600

(A Top Pick May 12/06. Down 1.6%.) Developing buses that will increase fuel efficiency. Probably be a takeout within 12 months. He sold for tax losses.

2007-04-13

Comment

9.410

Large bus manufacturer. 4th quarter had some disappointments, but they were adding capacity at that time. Seems to have addressed most of their operational issues and it should be all right.

2007-04-11

PAST TOP PICK

9.180

(A Top Pick Oct 13/06. Up 5%.) An IPF structure and should not be affected by the government ruling. Manufactures buses and if there is a continuing high energy cost, there should be more density in urban transit.

2006-12-29

DON'T BUY

8.700

Because of their structure, they were not caught in the income trust changes. Would be a little careful until the rules are clear. A high degree of volatility.

2006-11-24

BUY

8.300

Ravi Sood

A main competitor was recently a target of private equity players at a very high multiple. This implied a much higher price for this stock, which gave it a boost. Business is growing very quickly.

2006-11-17

BUY

8.000

Manufacture buses for cities across North America. 3rd quarter will be a bit weak because of a strike they had. Management sees a good outlook for 2007 as their order book is quite healthy.

2006-11-03

TOP PICK

8.670

(A Top Pick July 28/06. Down 4.2%.) Had a strike in Winnipeg in April/May resulting in a bad second-quarter. One of the 3 main builders of city buses. Have a good platform of diesel-electric hybrid and fuel efficient diesel.

2006-10-13

TOP PICK

8.900

(A Top Pick May 12. Down 9%.) Affected by a strike which has now been settled. Signed a number of quite large contracts. 2nd quarter will be bad, sold look for a selloff and buy at that time.

2006-07-28

DON'T BUY

8.350

Dean Orrico

Manufacturer of transit buses. Most of their orders come from municipalities and they can be quite fickle. That has been a concern. There was recently a work stoppage at one of their plants and was closed for a number of weeks so guidance was reduced. Too risky for him.

2006-06-23

DON'T BUY

9.400

Robert Lauzon

Manufacturer of buses out of Winnipeg Not a bad trust in that he thinks there will be more push towards public transport. Doesn't think it's suited as an income trust. Very cyclical.

2006-05-18

TOP PICK

9.650

(A Top Pick March 3/06. No change.) Winnipeg facility was out on strike which has now been settled. Have new orders for diesel electric buses, a high margin business. Just had a series of very significant orders.

2006-05-12

TOP PICK

9.650