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Midge
Guest
Midge
March 11, 2009 12:11 pm

Roger consistently up-dates you through email; he recommends selling appropriately; keeps you up to date on Canadian Government changes, etc. A value investor approach. Have gotten the letter for several years.

Joan
Guest
Joan
March 11, 2009 3:53 pm

Roger knows his stuff in the energy/utility space. Have subscribed to this since its inception after enj Utility Forecaster for years. His problem was that he started a newsletter in an arena that got overly trendy (CRTs). You have to add a bit of your own common sense when you subscribe to a sector newsletter like this not to get carried away buying when the sector gets overly popular and overpriced. He is very clear on what’s safe or risky and why, and on his rationale for his recommendations, which is very helpful in

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newowl
newowl
March 20, 2009 1:27 pm

In addition to the good advice, recommended portfolios etc. Canadian Edge provides updated (20 min. behind) stock quotes on many canadian trusts and corporations. This is a really valueable service. They also provide a link to another service which gives you the ability to review past data on these stocks and also charts to compare relative past performance of up to five stocks at a time. YOu really get your money’s worth with this newsletter. The only possible negative is that he has tended in the past to be a little slow in calling ‘sells’. But he does have a watchlist and gives you all the info. you need to make that decision yourself before he does. I have been a subscriber for over two years.

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Phil
Phil
March 25, 2009 5:35 pm

I subscribed to Canadian Edge when the service was started about 5 years ago. Roger provides you with a ton of data (in easy to read tables) on all the stocks he covers (safety ratings, payout ratios, dividends, reserves, buy sell hold etc.) I got out of the service not long after the Halloween Massacre of Royalty Trusts by the peoples republic of Alberta. Until that out of the blue move by the govt to change the tax structure on trusts I was doing great with Rogers service generating great dividends and capital growth. He gives his in depth analysis on each stock in multiple portfolios so you know how to select your risk level as minimal, moderate or high. I would highly recommend this service to anyone that is looking for dividend income. Roger keeps you well informed.

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Klibros
Guest
July 9, 2009 6:18 pm

I have subscribed to this newsletter twice and just canceled my current subscription.

The newsletter is extensive and covers an enormous number of Canadian resource stocks. The monthly ratings are useful. BUT and it is a big BUT there is no advice about ‘bailing out’ of stocks with falling prices, no suggestion about using ‘stop loss’ strategies.

Instead there are ‘rosy’ reports on stocks as they drop 25%, 35% and even 65%. Perhaps ‘all in good time’ works for those with large bank accounts who can wait out months and years of down time but for me, I expect a newsletter to be a bit more pragmatic.

My Canadian Edge portfolio is down by 22 – 62% and all the Canadian Edge stocks I own are have been ‘buys’ all the way down. Only one was rated a sell and that after it had already dropped by 50%.

So — there is an air of authority in the writing but somehow the newsletter appears more sanguine than practical for those of us who do not have thousands to lose. A dividend of 14% looks good but not when a stock drops by 50% to sustain that dividend – and there is no warning to subscribers that it might be good to ‘bail out’ early on.

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RE
Guest
RE
July 16, 2009 3:33 pm

Overall a good letter and I also have been using the Utility Forecaster for my parents accounts. They claim to know company management, insiders, etc. so I was very surprised they had no hint or clue as to the October Massacre where most of their recommendations were decimated…more than a bit disappointing. I held on to most of the holdings and they did make a good bounce back, but I cant say I will trust them again…

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gps
Guest
gps
July 17, 2009 10:44 am

Subscriber for 4 years. Best newsletter to which I’ve ever subscribed. Thorough, well written, objective. Really like Conrad’s style and conservative, thoughtful approach. He clearly knows more about Cantrusts than any other writer out there. Extremely educational and informative.

Gary
Guest
Gary
August 13, 2009 9:42 am

For information on the health of Canadian trusts, this is an excellent newsletter. For buildinng a portfolio of high-dividend-paying investments, this newsletter is also excellent. I have been a subscriber for about four years now. Here are the shortcomings of this newsletter as I see them:
1. Each issue contains far too much reading and information. He tries to cover too many trusts and in too much detail. He should devote 95% of his reporting on only those trusts in his two portfolios, which would reduce the size substantially.
2. The material is definitely slanted to the dividend side at the expense of capital gains. He offers NO tables of trust price performance over 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and three years, such as we get from Morningstar for US securities. A trust unit price could be cratering and you wouldn’t be told this in any summarized manner. It’s almost as if Mr. Conrad doesn’t want you to know how your investment VALUE is doing on a monthly basis. Canadian trust performance for the past three years has been dismal, but this information is not brought forward in a clear manner, as such knowledge would no doubt endanger the customer base.
3. The price is RIGHT but only if the above two suggestions were addressed and fixed.

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CE subscriber
Guest
CE subscriber
October 30, 2009 12:52 pm

Was a subscriber in 2008. Lost money in all his picks.
A useless newsletter, better avoid.

Soupy
Guest
Soupy
January 10, 2010 7:40 pm

Have been a subscriber for 2 plus years and have been happy with the results. Roger puts a lot of work into this and his guidance during this last year was very good, not perfect but very good.

I have added and own all but 3 of every position in the aggressive and conservative portfolio, and as of today, and for some time, every position is well in the money and the dividends are paid right on time.

Have met Roger a few times at the money shows and he is a very down to earth person and I believe he (and all at KCI)do their very best for the subscribers.

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Woodinville Sucker
Guest
Woodinville Sucker
January 19, 2010 9:34 pm

For awhile Roger provided interesting picks, and seemed to be on top of things. But then came the October Surprise when the funds dropped immensely. Looking back, one can see a drop in most of the stocks affected 2 days previous to the Canadian announcement, but Riger did not seem to know anything. Obviously others were in the loop, but not him. He never asnwered questions about this. I would also concur with the previous statement on 14% dividends being useless with a plummeting stock price. Quite accurate.

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jerry
Member
jerry
January 23, 2010 9:23 am

befor critiqing personal finance i would like to say that i object to all news letters who continue to divide their original scope into sub sectors. instead on performing their advertised general market advice they have divided the original letter into numerous sectors, short changing members who bought in early. personal finance is inexpensive and once in awhile has a good idea. i never read rodger conrad’s newsletter but, feel it is too expensive. i do read his article in personal finance and it’s always the same.

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ncinvest
Guest
ncinvest
March 23, 2010 9:42 pm

I have been a subscriber for 4 years. I have found Mr Conrad’s advice to be well researched and profitable. The Haloween massacre did substantial damage to my holdings. The Canadian Governments reversal on income trusts was not expected by ANYONE in the world. Roger changed his portfoios to reflect the new laws and circumstances within two weeks. He warned readers not to get out of the Canadian markets or they would not be able to recoup their lossses. Readers who followed his advice have made back their losses and quite a bit more. As the income trusts convert to corporations, he has given his opinion on which trusts will continue to pay large dividends and has been correct over 95% of the time. These picks have increased 25-60% in the months after their announcement. I am being paid an average of 10.1% in dividends on current prices compared to 1.5% on my money market account. The best place to start with Canadian Edge is by buying the 2 picks in each monthly issue. Buy in equal dollar amounts until you have 30% of your portfolio invested in Canadian stocks. You will also make money on the Canadian dollar as dividends are paid in Cdn dollars. I have called Mr. Conrad on 2 occasions. He took or returned my calls promptly, answering my questions completely. I plan to subscibe to this publication or his new one, MLP Profits, for years to come. I wish Roger and the KCI staff all the best.

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Jim Stiles
Guest
Jim Stiles
August 7, 2010 9:26 am

I subscribed in early 09, just after the 08 crash and gradually moved my invesments to CE selections. Performance was good though this was time of generally rising prices, I’m still favorably impressed. I’ve been investing for 30-40 yrs & been through many ups & downs, sometimes going for the “big hit”, but too often taking a big hit when advisors made bad selections. Every stock-picker makes bad choices sometimes but when I’m getting a 7-14% dividend yield on well-run companies, not those that will fade away, the dividends do a lot to cushion the results of bad timing and sometimes bad selections. If the stock doesn’t rise right away,I’m being well paid to wait. I still like CE.

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jal64
jal64
September 30, 2010 12:22 pm

Over the time I have subscribed I have been very impressed with the thoroughness of analysis and timely email updates. My understanding of the impact of the Canadian tax changes is much greater than what I have found in other sources. I heartily recommend Canadian Edge for income investors.

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joseph tuvia
September 30, 2010 8:01 pm

I have been subsribed to Conrad for years. Its a matter of philosophical approach. How aggresive you want to be. I like the stability, the income and even the growth, some of his picks we have sticked with over the years are in the triple digits. I m a little cautious with new pick and do use trailing sell stop more of a way to let me know it s a loser than to limit the loses since most of these stodgy stocks move slow. Over all I love it and most of my holdings are his picks.

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Jack
Guest
Jack
October 2, 2010 1:24 pm

I like roger’s comments and picks. I find that the teasers are not necessarily the ones you want. He has rankings from conservative to aggressive. In his “how they rate” section, he gives all the companies in his spectrum rankings from 1 (bad) to 8 (excellent) and maximum purchase price.. His favoites (like EPD) are now overpriced. They are telling customers to avoid Tortise and several others.

Between him and Eliot Gue (who I also like, editor of Personal Finance and Energy Strategist), the spectrum of utilities is well covered.

One bad pick for me seems to be YELLOW PAGES INC FD (YLWPF.PK), because it has gone down while still staying under the max buy. However, the yield will make up for that.

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Trojan
Guest
Trojan
October 3, 2010 7:10 pm

I was an original “charter” subscriber maybe 5 years ago. CE is expensive, $500/yr as I recall. I dropped it about 3 years ago. The newsletter is e-mail only and very voluminous although much of it is boilerplate appearing every issue.

It did identify Canadian trusts that yielded good payouts, usually monthly. And, while Roger wasn’t afraid to say to sell a holding, he didn’t do it often. The result was that after a few issues he identified so many trusts that there was no way to buy them all.

His main failing IMO had to do with the “Halloween surprise”. The surprise took most everyone by well surprise not just Rofger, but it appeared as though he went into denial hoping that the “stupid” decision would be recognized and reversed or that the oil and gas trusts would lobby and succeed in getting it reversed. As a result he never said to take your substantial loss and get out now. Instead subscribers like me held on and suffered bigger losses than necessary.

I finally sold off most of the holdings but still own four:
Algonquin Power down 46.8% from my purchase price, Atlantic Power up 56.8%, Pembina Pipe up 43% and Yellow Pages down 60.6%. Roger was especially positive about Yellow Pages and I’ve got a big loss in that issue to show for it.

But here’s the kicker, the nice winners, Atlantic Power and Pembina were also recommended in his Utility Forecaster letter which sells for about $100 per year. Of his newsletters. UF is a far better value than CE IMO.

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Stuart
Guest
Stuart
October 5, 2010 1:31 am

I have been a subscriber to Canadian Edge on and off over the past three years. Compared to most of the subscriptions out there, I believe that his periodical has a reasonable amount of substance.. Good for those people new to Royalty trusts and not so good for those wanting clear buy & sell signals and more guts ie data.. The monthly hymn sheet covers over 70 pages and needs to be trimmed down and be more focussed…A lot of the pages repeat from previous months. Overall my portfolio is up so cannot complain.

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Carl
Guest
Carl
October 21, 2010 8:15 pm

The Canadian Edge is an excellent service but as others have said it is way to long and should be cut down maybe as much as 50%. Roger very rarely gives advice to sell as his recomendations are made on sound business practices so one has to use their own thought on whether or not to sell. I think of all the suggestions I have gotten from him I only lost on one. I also picked some from his rating sections and have done very well 200%, 157%, 183% so I am very pleased. Also you can order this service by the quarter and that way you can get out any time. I believe Roger is an honest man and really knows his stuff.

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