Q: I have some USD to deploy to 2 stocks for a long term hold. Which stocks would you purchase today, Appl or MSFT for tech and Cost or SBUX.
Thanks
Nancy

Q: I am interested in your view on the best strategy for selling stocks to raise cash in a non-registered account. I am looking to sell 1% of my total portfolio, and my thinking is to either A) take this out of one or both of two stocks that are the largest (each about 5%) weighting in my portfolio or B) sell my least favourite, lowest weighting, stocks (energy producers) with 3 stocks comprising 3% total weighting.

With option A) I could pare one of my largest holdings back to 4% or both of them back to 4.5%. One stock is ENB, in which I have a 30% gain and the other stock is AAPL, in which I have a 350% gain. ENB pays a 6% dividend, which I am reluctant to lose, and which benefits from the dividend tax credit. AAPL pays a 1% dividend, which is fully taxable and easier to give up, but I will have to pay a sizeable capital gains tax. I have no stocks with losses that I can sell to offset the gains. You have always advocated hanging onto winners, and both of these stocks are "winners" in a way, one for income and the other for growth.

With option B) I could sell half my energy producer holdings. I bought the energy stocks as a "lottery ticket," expecting at least a double if and when energy prices rebound. I hold CVE (up 25%), ERF (breakeven) and WCP (up 32%). They are roughly equal weight, so I could achieve my goal of selling 1% of my portfolio by selling just one of these three stocks.

Which stock(s) would you recommend I sell and why?

Q: I started following the 5i balanced equity portfolio in my LIRA a couple of months ago, but to change it up I am thinking about taking a 5% portfolio position in one of these companies. I have a 25-year investment time horizon for my LIRA. If I wanted to replace one of the 5i balanced equity portfolio funds with one of SHOP, APPL, TSLA, GOOG or AMZN, what would you recommend (both the one I would sell and the one to replace it with)?