Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i
Just so you know, I was going to ask a very similar question to the one asked about potential portfolio adjustment. I too read into your answers as preparing to repair a damaged portfolio.

My concern here is after reading most of 5i answers and trying to align thinking like long term manager, 5i takes this opportunity to wholesale change the portfolio. To make a move of this nature for an investor with skin in the game would suffer huge losses where it is a key stroke for 5i.

I can only hope to be profitable sometime again in the next ten years.

Dave

Q: In rebalancing just before the coronavirus and oil correction I find my self in a 27% cash position. { 18% American and 9% Canadian } . In following 5I's advice I decided to weigh in slowly. And am mostly looking at 5I's list of 10 stocks to purchase. First purchase JPM for a 4.6% position. Two days later and another large correction. I hadn't planned on another purchase this quickly but SLF { for a 3.5% position } is looking attractive at this price as the yield has reached 4.3%. CAE is also on my list but I think waiting and observing market reaction might be prudent on this one ..... My question is .... Should I be shopping by price entry points on stocks I like or by treating the market as a whole and wading in by observing and making my judgements on volatility ? I guess the question is stock versus stock market ? Also in a question this morning I got the impression 5I gave the edge to MOC over X . X is on my short list as well but with US cash to deploy MCO is tempting as well. Am I correct in my assumption you like MCO a little better in this sector ?

Q: Considering the huge drop in portfolio values, do you still recommend staying the course or would it be prudent to take profits where we still have them?

Q: You may recall my question a couple weeks ago when I had sold all equities and was building a defensive portfolio of inverse etfs (HXD, HQD, HIX, and volatility HUV) and asking for further suggestions for the troubled times ahead. I noted that this coronavirus is not a one off event (like 9/11 or the 2008 crash) but a steadily worsening situation on a global scale that was sure to lead to major declines (especially given how overbought N. Ameican markets have been) and also stoke volatility. My thinking was that having made the "trend my friend" during the 11 year bull market, it was high time to give the bear a chance. The virus was the spark, but it could have come from elsewhere, as we saw with the oil shock yesterday.
Needless to say, the returns on the bear bunch have been stellar (I keep moving up the stop losses to lock in any gains when the markets decide to turn positive). Each 'bad' day is putting more money in the coffers for the days of capitulation when it looks like the tide is finally turning. (Disclaimer: I don't recommend this approach to everyone, as leveraged etfs can bite both ways, and one must always use stop-losses). Many experts are chanting the old mantra "the best thing to do is do nothing" and advising us to keep our long-range objectives in sight. One problem with this is that after such routs, markets often look for new leadership and favor new sectors of the economy. This happened after the tech crash, when it was back to bricks and mortar.
My question concerns methodology: I don't really understand why anyone would hold any equities through the kind of rout we are witnessing (except maybe virus-driven names like Clorox or some of the Pharma companies working on vaccines). Isn't it far better to sit on cash (cash is king and queen) or do a bit of contrarian investing in order to keep eking out modest gains through the market mayhem? Then, one can rest easy until the dust finally begins to settle (instead of losing sleep wondering what the next day or next moment will bring), and gradually leg into your favorite long-term positions on the worse days? Am I missing something?

Q: I am coming into cash in August which will be roughly triple the value of my current portfolio.
I am not particularly jittery over this downturn and have a good 10 year horizon. To that end I have started selling puts on a few top US names. With the VIX as high as it is I can sell puts with an additional 10 to 15% drop from today's numbers and get a 8 to 12% pay out for August or September puts. At those numbers, I would be happy to own, for example, AAPL at a further 12% discount (with another 12% cushion i.e. money received via the put.) I m only selling puts on companies that I would like to own and in quantities where they would fit an overall portfolio allocation strategy should I need to pick them up. While I know this strategy is not for everyone, does it sound reasonable to you? Also do you know of Canadian stocks that have good liquidity in the medium term options market and are also good long term investments?
Thank-you.

Q: What would you look for in timing a buy? The vix at over 80? In particular I am interested in adding to my position in Verisk Analytics but this could apply to any stock.

Q: I hold 50 shares of bip.un in myTfsa and am up 50%. What will happen to this holding as of March 31 and what might be your recommendation? Do I have to tender the shares?

Q: My son has $ 1,000,000 sitting in cash and wants your best 10 stock or ETF picks for the next 5 yrs and what buying strategy do you recommend for example every wk, month, quarterly etc;
THANK YOU!
Nick

Q: Can you tell me what is the total drop % since the top. How often have 20% or 30% drops happened in the last 100 years?

Q: My question is about online access to investing accounts while visiting the USA. My accounts (Canadian equity accounts as well as US equity accounts) are domiciled in Canada. What are the rules for viewing or online trading in those accounts when I am in the United States?

Q: I am trying to understand how a payroll tax cut rumour can spark a potential bounce in the market and if a big bounce (should it happen) is just an artificial bounce or something to take seriously? To me it would seem that coronavirus is only just beginning to be felt in North America and that rate cuts and tax cuts can't change the impact of fear and potential shut downs. My question is do you think the market has fully priced in the impact of coronavirus on the economy or has it just reacted to the headlines with another probable leg down when earnings are dented?

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