Aug 11, 2020
This week in our Your Stock, Our Take segment we take a look at two unique businesses sent in by listeners. The first, micro-cap, CEMATRIX Corporation (CVX:TSX-V) manufactures and supplies cellular concrete products developed from proprietary formulations across North America. A listener asks how the shutdown has affected business and if we think the company is a good way to play potential government infrastructure spending post shutdown. Our second YSOT is on Canadian digital media and marketing company, Yellow Pages Limited (Y:TSX). Yellow Pages local online properties including YP.ca, Canada411 and 411.ca. The company also continues to publish the Yellow Pages print directories, despite the fact that even most rotary phone aficionados appear to have graduated to something known as Google.
We will also be updating the bizarre trading in Kodak from KeyStone's Stock Talk Podcast Episode 112. Shares of Eastman Kodak Co fell another 40% at one point on Monday after the U.S. government blocked a $765 million loan to the company, which was going to make drug ingredients for use in possible COVID-19 vaccines, because of "alleged wrongdoing" by executives.
Alarm bells sounded after senior Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate securities transactions made by the company and its executives around the time it learned it could receive the government loan even U.S. President Donald Trump, weighed in with a tweet stating last week the government would investigate the circumstances surrounding the announcement of the loan.
The crazy share price movement is not a good look for financial markets generally. If there was some wrongdoing, we hope there are significant penalties.The company’s shares, which surged to $60 intra-day at the end of July, have dropped 80% from that high to the $10 range. The underlying business is not growing and trades at huge multiples. As investors, it is not a stock we would touch with a 10 foot pole.