Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter,
Thank you for putting out an updated email about the Market this morning March 9, 2020 with the bad market conditions.

Thanks, Charlie

Q: Hi Team! Just a general question on current market conditions. While all financial experts are saying to stay put and stay on course and not sell into this current frenzy (which i agree) who is selling and causing the massive sell-off then. I Thank-you in advance, Sam.

Q: The Market Update and Special Report of March 9, 2020 is necessary reading in these turbulent times. If one already has a full position in any of the listed stocks, is your recommendation to consider them a HOLD, or if and when one feels more comfortable with buying more, would you suggest that we go overweight in that stock and/or sector, even temporarily? Thanks for your insight.

Q: Hi there,
When there is a corporate takeover and one receives a fraction of the new shares, that fraction of a new share may be paid out as "cash in lieu". Is that cash in lieu treated as a capital gain/loss or is it considered dividend income?
Thank you.

Q: I have a few trades open in my discount brokerage account and it seems to take a really long time to confirm if it was executed or not? Is the retail investor at a disadvantage to trade today. Just looking for our general comments / experience. Thank you

Q: We have a crisis and I am concerned .
I can’t get a fill with everyone heading for the exits at once .
Nobody in their right mind is buying .
We are in a bit of a helpless situation here .
I had never been so invested . I am underwater on Banks that I have held for years .My high fliers SHOP, LSPD, CSU ,AAPL, etc etc made me a wealthy man ( on paper) . I thought I was reasonably prepared , but I have held on too long. How do you see this recovering ?

Q: Dave was asking about a Portfolio tracker. I use the Financial Times, its free and you can enter stocks from any exchange anywhere in the world. The financial data you do need to be a paid subscriber.

Q: Quoting an answer yesterday "but the VIX at 75 (it was 80 in 2008) would make us more comfortable as buyers" where can a person follow the VIX, and what is it at now? Thanks.

Q: Hello, is there a stock symbol I can use to follow the price of Crude Oil WTI? I have just looked on Marketwatch.com and it was 41.57$. The symbol they use is CL.1, but if I use that exact same symbol elsewhere I get no results. There does not seem to be a standardized symbol for crude oil WTI. Thanks, Gervais

Q: A few stocks that I like, now trade close to or below their book value.
How reliable is the estimate of "Book Value", from respected research sources.

Q: How do you track the volatility index?

Q: Dear 5i
Do all the US stock futures trade out of Tokyo ?
How does the trading of stock futures overseas affect the US and CDN markets (Indices ) ? If US stock futures are down then do the US stocks in the US markets start the next day down lower as a result of the Asian markets being down or do US stock values start off the next day where they left off the day before in the US markets ?
Hope this question makes sense . I'm trying to get a feel for applying a stop/loss on a stock so knowing how the futures markets affect opening North American prices is important to have an understanding of this .
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: Do you, or do any of your members, know why BNN has started highlighting the various exchanges on the right side of their tv screen in either red or green at various times throughout the day? I have searched their website and emailed them, but with no luck...
Thanks.

Q: I use the Globe&Mail online portfolio manager to keep track of my numbers. It costs about $25/mo. and is a bit quirky (i.e. it goes offline a lot). They also keep bombarding me with efforts to subscribe to their paper which I don't want to do (I'm not a GTA guy). Can you recommend another option?

Q: How would you feel about buying a call on one or more large gold stocks at this point?

Q: I'm 27 and have invested in my TFSA in 8 growth compagnies so far for long term holding (retirement). I save 10% of my salary in my TFSA for my retirement since I'm 22 as I read in Rich Barber few years ago. I wait until I've got 1000-1500$ and then buy a stock.
1) Other part in my saving is to buy a house with my girlfriend in about 2-3 years. What will you suggest us to invest in for that short period?
2) My girlfriend want to start investing for her retirement. I suggested her to invest in ETF at first and than change for a strategy like Beat the TSX when she has enough money saved. Is it a good strategy? If so, which ETF will you suggest to invest in?
Thank you

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

Motive Financial, a division of Canadian Western Bank, is currently paying 2.8% on their high-interest savings account. In this lower interest environment, I'm wondering how the smaller operators can 'afford' this. Your insight is always appreciated.

Q: Regarding dividends payment in US. You are right as every broker has its rules. For webbroker at TD you have to open a US account and transfer securities to the US to be able to keep dividends from being converted. For BMO and Questrade the account holds both US and Cdn securities and the dividends are paid in the currency it is declared and not converted unless you request the conversion.

Q: Something that would be of enormous help to members currently buying stocks on dip (as opposed to ETF(s)) is a write-up that identifies companies (other than energy companies) that have balance sheets in a state where much lower sales for over a year could mean bankrupcies or share dilutions. I'm looking at forestry stocks, for example, and question what will happen if their sales go down 50%. Will they be able to pay their debts if this goes on 12-18 months? Even A&W, which appears on the surface to be a safe and boring income stock. What if sales go down 50% for a year, could franchise be under enough pressure to be forced to walk away? Buying a franchise is very expensive, afterall. I realize this could take time to write something like this, but no-one in the news is talking about the fact that some companies that need a minimum of sales before running in trouble with debt. Would appreciate your thoughts if you think this thesis is without merit. Thank you team!

Q: On the question Mar. 5 by James about Canadian companies and US dividends, I called my broker and discussed my dividends remaining in US currency, he said that I would have to transfer the Canadian stocks to my US side of the account and then the dividends would be paid in US money and then if I wanted to sell the stock I could sell it in US money or they would move it back to the Canadian side. With the Norbert Gambit situation, I thought you could only transfer Canadian stocks that were also listed on the US side. The stock I transferred AQN (Algonquin Power) I didn't think was listed on the US side too. I have other stocks in the same situation but I don't think a lot of them are dual listed. Should I go ahead and transfer the other ones over or I am not getting the right information from the broker? Thanks Dennis