Investment Q&A

Q: I have Level 2 trading access on Toronto so I can see where the orders stack up. I want to know how what is probably the market maker, in this case National Bank Financial, sees my order coming in and jumps ahead to be first in line?
Is there a way around this annoying practice?

Q: CIBC Autocallable Coupon Notes linked to
Enbridge Inc., Series 16. I was wondering what your take is on these? Is now a bad time to put into these With a potential down turn on the horizon? Thanks

Q: I keep hearing about how some socks have appreciated by 1000 + % or higher BUT I do not get the Math. e.g. this weekends Star spoke about how WEED had appreciated by 1,838% as of June. I have owned WEED for a long time, why am I NOT a millionaire. Please explain.
Thanks!

Q: Most of my investments (90% of my portfolio) are in Balanced Income mutual funds. I made my first investments in the market (10% of my portfolio) about 1 year ago and have made reasonable returns on these investments. I have approximately $200k in cash to invest in the market. I have a couple of questions:
1. Should I invest all the cash in the market or should I keep some cash to invest if there is a downturn in the market? If I should keep some cash, what percentage should be kept in cash?
2. Should I do a lump sum purchase of stocks or should I dollar-cost average the purchase of stocks? If I should dollar-cost average, over what period of time should I purchase stocks?
Thank you very much.

Q: Why is tax-loss selling considered to be a December activity or at least an activity that most people practice then? If you are down on a stock and want to sell for tax purposes, why not do it now (or in March or July) and then reinvest when you see the opportunity? It seems to me that by waiting until mid-November or December it not only means that you will get even less for your stock (sure you get a bigger tax loss) but that you will be wanting to repurchase it when everyone else is too, thereby having to pay more for the stock.

Am I missing something here?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: I did well last January picking up some small Canadian oil companys just after tax loss selling and selling them a few months ago.
Do you expect big tax loss selling of similar stocks (such as WCP or ARC) this December with a rebound in spring

Q: I just came across a news release from TMX announcing the top 30 TMX listed companies over the past three years. Your BE portfolio contains four of them: CSU, GC, CAE and BYD. Congrats!

https://www.tsx.com/news?id=716

Q: Good Afternoon,
Is there a suggested rule of thumb of when not to buy a mutual fund in a taxable account as we approach year end? I don't want to buy a large chunk of a mutual fund and then be hit with the year end distribution in mid to late December. If I buy it now I only get the benefit of a few months ownership but could be hit with a full year distribution. I'm just wondering once we hit this time of year and beyond is it best to hold off until the New Year?
thank-you

Q: Hi,
This is a follow up to another member question/answer from July 26, 2019. "But we would still prefer building one's own ETF with 10 to 15 stocks. Yes, there will be some that decline. But this will ensure proper diversification, eliminate fees, and (likely) get you higher income and overall returns. Owning 15 or so stocks across 11 sectors is not that difficult, but there is a trade off between effort (and perhaps inexperience) and costs. But this would also be the easiest way to balance out the account with no concentration risk, over time." is the portion I'd like more information on. I currently hold XIC:CA for the bulk of my Canadian exposure. If i were looking to "replicate" the XIC ETF with 15 stocks over 11 sectors, would you recommend equal weighting across all sectors and do you have any stand out stock picks to represent each sector in this scenario. Thanks!

Q: Could you please tell me how the fundamentals are calculated in divided class share structured companies? Could the answer could include A,B,Preferred shares? How would rules apply to Market cap/ P/Eratios, or anything else? Would it be total market cap of both a and b shares or per class when I view them on a company profile? Is every company required to report this the same way? How about general calculations of the company. What is the best method for me to look at when I wish to do research on a company. I use ATD.A,B as an example but any example you wish will be fine.
Thank you
Jeremy

Q: Earlier today a member talked about companies that had grown in value, in his case Sunlife had reached over 7% of his portfolio, and asked if he should be trimming them. You encouraged him to cut back to 5%. I understand the general principle of balance and diversification in a portfolio in order to reduce risk, but how do you reconcile being rigid about that with the idea that Peter and many other fund managers and advisers have written about - the importance of letting your winners run? Exceptional portfolio results are often due to one or two stocks that have doubled, tripled and more. Boyd is such a stock for me. It is still recommended as a buy by 5i and many others at current levels. I can't imagine why I'd cut it back. My question though is a general one. How do you resolve these two conflicting notions?

Q: I just renewed my membership and in the past there is a section that tells you how many question "credits" you have left (unused carryover credits, plus new credits from the renewal). Where is that information located now? I searched all over and can't find it. Please help, thanks.

Q: Good morning guys
Often you will mention that a given stock may take for example 3 to 5 years to come back. What percentage gain are you allowing for? I like to shave some of my winners back to my original amount and then wait for a pullback to add again. Then I will do it all over again.
Thank you

Q: I am confused by how the term « position » is used here - a position I take as meaning a holding but some refer to « a full position » « 2 positions » etc. Would you provide some clarity? The muddy jargon isn’t helpful. Thanks.

Q: I am selling my home and moving, have not yet found a new place to live, so I will have a lot of cash to park for an unknown length of time. My plan would be to do a high interest savings account at Oaktree or buy the purpose ETF. My wife will kill me if I lose any capital…
Do you have any better ideas?
Thanks!

Q: What percentage of a RRIF account would you recommend having exposed to a covered call strategy using ZWC, the said account has Enbridge, Superior plus, XTR and FIE, with the two latter having the largest percentage

Q: Hello. Looking for a recommendation in the telecomm, materials, and energy sectors. Can you also let me know if you see them as more stable companies IE better fit for my RRSP, or have the potential for higher growth so maybe a better fit for a TFSA? Im 40 so long runway ahead and ok with some volatility for the sake of growth over time.

Q: Question of curiosity. Any idea what happened in the last second/close of trading today with Western Forest Products? 9.39 million shares (2.5% of shares outstanding) changed hands? From quotemedia it suggests it is a MOC trade - https://www.tsx.com/trading/toronto-stock-exchange/order-types-and-features/market-on-close - which really means nothing to me, even after reading that page (Investopedia doesn't help much either with an example of a trader selling 100 shares in a MOC order). Is it an ominous sign for tomorrow's opening?

Thanks

Q: Wilders RSI 14 - Can you use 14 weeks instead of 14 days? What are the pros and cons using wks vs days?

Q: Hello Peter, I called in BNN market call but could not ask the question. Good show.
Question is about adding new money on a regular basis. What do you suggest adding to - positions that are lagging ( and thus are at the lower weight now - some listed above) or picking ones with most attractive outlook (from fundamental perspective).
Can you please suggest top 2-3 names in each portfolio at this time.
Thanks