Investment Q&A

Q: We are managing the assets of my elderly parents. They have $1.5 M cash in a Canadian interest account. We are wanting to diversify and put some of this into a US interest account of some type, thinking the USD will gain over the next couple of years. Do you have any ideas of how to do this that will avoid the usual 2.5-3% currency conversion? Is the an ETF they could purchase that will basically give them US cash, or something else that you are aware of? Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Q: Hello
The Bank of Canada Target Rate is set at .25% until the Fourth Quarter of 2021.
However, I also noted that the forecast for the 5 year Government of Canada bond is different as follows:
Q2 2020......54%
Q3 2020.......63%
Q4 2020........75%
Q1 2021.........98%
Is it possible to have a gradual increase in the 5 year bond rate while the Bank rate is kept static at .25% ??
Thanks

Q: Another member pointed out that you have a link to "Dividend Updates", which I did not notice before. I don't recall seeing an email announcing that.

What is the criteria for entries in that list? Is it all Canadian stocks that report dividend changes? Since Jan 1, 2020?

I maintain my own list of dividend changes for stocks that I own, and noticed that there are a few dividend changes missing from your list. These changes were announced after Jan 1, 2020.

Specifically:

PPL Announced 20200106, up 5%
BPY.UN Announced 20200205, up 0.76%
BCE Announced 20200206, up 5%
BAM.A Announced 20200213, up 12.5%
TD Announced 20200227, up 6.76%
ENGH Announced 20200305, up 22.7%
SGY Announced 20200309, down 90%
VET Announced 20200316, down 82.6%
SGY Announced 20200415, dividend suspended
MX Announced 20200429, down 90%

Q: In todays list, you mentioned to a subscriber to consider VOM.

This ETF has a tracking error of 5.03%, is this important?

Can you please explain "Tracking Error" for everyone, including me.

Q: Do you have a list of companies that have cut their dividends/distributions?

Q: I was wondering if there was a way to find out what equities are in the CPP and Teacher's Union pension funds.

Q: Jacques asked about finding better brokers than RBC . I too ...as in another answer from another member...use TD and BMO Investorline...for self investing. BOTH have been very good so far after 6 years of self investing. If there is the odd issue it is corrected very quickly...so far.
I hope that helps

Q: If a person is concerned about the bank of Canada printing so much money , that it starts to lose its value and the money I have saved up in cash starts to lose its value as well , what can a person do to protect the value of the money you have . And how would a person go about doing this? thanks , especially during this crazy economy.

Q: Hello 5i-
what do we do with Canadian $ in cash. We've got cpp, oas, work pensions : however, all of this can go down significantly too and we need to preserve for our later years.- - my ? is this: what shoud we do with xtra cash now? Should we buy usa $, usa stocks, etfs? thank you for your time

Q: Hello
Very few bank rate reset preferred shares indicate that there is a "NO NVCC" clause. An example are the above noted two preferred shares.
Can you please tell us what the NO NVCC clause means and how these bank rate reset preferred shares differ from ordinary bank rate reset preferred shares?
Thank you

Q: Hi Team,
Just to comment on risky short term trading vs long term view. Tuesday Apr 28, during trading hours, Ford was up near 4% to the close while Google was down about 4% all moved along with broad index, looks like 8% trade move in between, right after the close, Ford came out with projection of revenue down X billions in next Q, while GOOG put out "ONLY" 13% on revenue growth in the past Q, also sticking with share buybacks. share of Google are up 9% next day. Ford was at same as yesterday close, could have crashed more if.... Wondered WHO are the "INVESTORS " traded or made those moves, imagined one sold Google on the way down and bought Ford on the day up 24 hours ago. FOMO or Logical ?

Q: Hi 5i,
In response to Jacques frustration with RBC; I found solace in a free program called WeBull. It is available in phone and PC downloads. Up to the minute market and stock information, pre-market data on each US stock (this can be useful to see where stocks may open). Overall it is the best free program I have seen. There is an option for a subscription but for those of us who do not day trade the free program is very good.
Debbie and Jerry

Q: A comment on Jacques frustration with RBC. I use TD Webbroker and very rarely experienced any disruption of service. I also use BMO Investor line with some minor disruption but not to the extent described by Jacques.

Q: Hi !
I presently do all my transactions for the stock market on RBC Direct Investing. However, I am increasingly frustrated by the frequent breakdowns in the site. For example, this morning, 20 minutes before the opening of the market and now, 35 minutes after the opening, it is just impossible to check stocks or pass an order. In trying to reach the site, I get the following message: "The server is busy at the moment. Try later."
I understand the markets are seing increasing traffic lately, but I would expect the biggest bank in Canada to be up to the challenge.
Do you know if the problem of accessibility to direct investment account investment is similar in other providers of such service ?

Thanks for your help,

Jacques IDS

Q: Chr reported that it is proposing a shareholders rights plan...a poison pill.
What would that suggest ?
A way to entrench management or protect shareholders

Q: I understand that for an ETF such as ZQQ, that's hedged against C$, this fund would not be negatively impacted if C$ rises against its US counterpart. But if C$ loses value against US$, would the hedged ETF benefit from it? Or there will be no + or - impact on the value of the ETF.
As for un-hedged ETFs, I assume then the price of these ETFs are affected by a) the movements of the stocks they are holding; and b) the movements of C$ against the underlying currencies. Is my assumption correction.
Cheers,

Q: Under ask a question, how do you find past questions that are not about a security? Members ask questions about capital gains, preferred shares, etc.. This was mentioned in an answer for Carlos on 4/22 where he was directed to the preferred category? What do I insert in the "Companies Addressed in Question" when I want to find out information on what people have written in about in the past of a general nature? Thanks Dennis

Q: Over my investment time frame I have seen a lot of corporate wrongs, from outright fraud, frequent misrepresentation and accounting tricks. These are seldom given proper attention in the investment world. My question is: " Do you know of any reporting service or website that focuses on corporate wrongdoings?
I appreciated Peter's honest answer to the question on analyst. Thank you.Cheers

Q: Before I buy and sell I usually review 5i’s opinion and review StockCharts candlesticks and P&F chart for technical guidance . Investors are presented with presets such as moving averages , MACD, RSI etc . You can add options : OBV, Full stochastics , Channels, Bollinger Bands , Channels, Pivot Points etc etc etc . ( actually too many choices ) . Which options do you find most useful in technical decision making ? Thank you for all of your help .

Q: Taking the following statement at its face value, does that make a case for increasing exposure to covered call ETFs for a retired person looking to income?

"Unfortunately, some of Wall Street’s top forecasters warn that stocks at current prices amid the gloomy economic backdrop are likely to deliver lackluster average returns for years."

Thank you