RE:Margin buyingI was a Trader for A.E. Osler Stockbrokers in the late 1960's to the mid 1970's . If there was one thing I learned it was to never again buy on Margin . I basically lost most of what I earned by doing this . When you are young , you think you are smarter that everyone else . My advice - Don't buy on margin , because you can't afford what you are buying . Call options are another way to lose . As for Corus , fortunately I bought it lower . I am surprised that it has dropped this far . The debt load is TOO HIGH . Other than that , it seems pretty good to me . I won't be selling . One issue that I have with Corus . I stopped watching the morning show when they let Jenniifer Valentine go . She was so outgoing and cheerful and brightened my day . I should have sold the stock then . Live and learn .
You are older than I am. I used to work in engineering as a draftsperson and started investing in mining stocks as a way to save money without spending it just before the turn of the century. I actually think using margin could be a useful utility allowing people to accumulate for retirement, admittedly the actions of the brokerage people are less trustworthy than those of the utility companies. I infer you think just about every company's debt load is too high, you might want to check out Leon's furniture as they have their debt covered by cash. Corus has actually been doing well reducing their debt, in Q1-2019 long term debt was 1,832,614,000 and the audited annual financials this month for year end 2021 show it at 1,313,965,000. They hit their first debt reduction target (debt to segment profit <3) and then moved the goal posts to 2.5 instead of raising the dividend. Their earnings are a little lumpy for reasons I don't understand but fairly consistent from year to year.
I'm not intending to sell either. Things happen sometimes though. With the down slope that's happening in the markets lately, I think this could make a good Christmas present if you believe the company will survive. I think local news is worth supporting.
Disclosure: Long at a lower ACB. In margin accounts and cash accounts today. Things get moved around.