Investment Q&A

Q: Good evening,

I was looking to switch brokerages (from TD because of their $10 per trade fee) to a lower fee trading account. I would like a brokerage that offers low fees for trading stocks and options in Canada and the US, will allow me to keep both a US and CAN currency account, and has little or no maintenance fees (or has those fees waived for 5 digit balances or higher). I've looked into a couple of brokerages my favorite being TastyTrades however they aren't available in Canada, Wealthsimple however they charge a fee monthly to maintain a US account, CIBC however they seem to be equivalent to TD except slightly lower fees, Questtrade the price for stocks is good but for options is the equivalent to TD.

Any brokerage recommendations that fit most/all of my requirements?

Thanks,
Aidan

Q: I have an account with Scotia i trade. How to explain in this digitation era of instant data manipulation, one week after the nvdia split, the correct adjustments are not yet made in my account? Worse, some new figures concerning the stock are completely false and presently show a los in the place of a significant gain. What do you think of that....

Thank you very much.

Q: Hi, currently holding CSU 5.17%, LMN 4.86%, and TOI 1.8%. Have nice gains in all. Looking to trim some CSU and LMN and add to TOI. Would you be comfortable with this move at this time considering each of their fundamentals and valuations? Which do you think has the longest runway for growth and how would you rank them for a 5-10 yr hold.

Also, I have TVK 1.79%, HPS.A 2.02%, PRL 1.41%, WELL 1.91%. No position in DRX (how would you look to avg. into this name?). How would you rank these if you were to add to these positions currently? When looking to add, are you mainly looking at the valuation and fundamentals or does the avg. cost and % return factor into that as well? For example, my HPS.A is up 60% and PRL up 4%, does this factor into your decision of which one to add to or does it not matter and we should just consider the forward return potential? Thanks!

Q: We have accounts in RRIF and TFSA. We like to keep approx 6 months of cash in case of economic downturn. Is this too long a period or keep 3 months and invest the rest to produce income. I thought maybe because of interest rates starting to come down it maybe would change economics to positive. Will elections play a role with all the gov't calling elections in the future. we have pensions and dividends that keep us happy .We live within our means.Thanks 5i

Q: I always hear that when company Buy Back their shares that would benefit the investors. I know that when they buy back their shares number of outstanding shares reduces. Is there any other Benefit.

Plus I have seen company buy back their shares so shares get reduce and then they split their shares in next 2 years so in other words they increase their shares indirectly. Is this normal.

One example currently that Royal Bank buying back their shares usually they buy back when they are cheap on valuation since they are not cheap on valuation are they planning to split their shares.

Thanks for the great service

Q: You recently replied rather positively to a question regarding using Wealthsimple as à brokerage. I have tried them out on a small scale and found them to be very good. I have vaguely considered switching our whole portfolio over there. I hesitate, though, because of the large and established companies like TD. Since you see Wealthsimple as safe as these, do you see any great advantages of these larger companies, which would be an impediment?
Thanks

Q: Is investing through wealthsimple as safe as investing through RBC direct investing, TD etc? Do they have same protections? Thanks.

Shyam

Q: Hello, when we buy a company like for example EVVTY (on the OTC market), should it reflect the same pattern as the shares on their primary market, in this case on the Stockholm market ? Will the dividend be payed on the OTC market ?

I wonder because some days the shares are up on the Stockholm market and down on the OTC market. Also the shares on the OTC have a return of -10,38% YTD and -5,64% on the Stockholm market.

Thanks you for the education and feel free if you have more information on the subject.

Q: I'm having a hard time determining when to sell a stock. I feel like I either sell too early or hold too long. I think it's probably better to trip earnings but how do I know when to?

Q: Please advise if number of outstanding shares will also increase by 10 times after split or there would be no changes to outstanding shares after split.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Is there any reason for such extreme CEO salaries?

https://www.castanetkamloops.net/news/Business/490502/CEOs_got_hefty_pay_raises_in_2023_widening_the_gap_with_the_workers_they_oversee?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email&utm_source=Castanet+Kamloops&utm_campaign=91a4d199dc-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_993a54d267-91a4d199dc-96670869&mc_cid=91a4d199dc&mc_eid=0705280f3b

Articles like this I find disgusting. All they do is create a wider divide between the haves & have nots.

Anyway... a simple question. Are there companies out there that pride themselves on not just being profitable and providing a reasonable return to their shareholders but don't pay such extreme wages to their management. I don't buy the argument that you have to pay these prices to get the best CEO's. I'm sure there are CEO's that also have some morals and aren't all about the $$$

Q: By not listing in the US, are they in some way shielded from US shorts that target Canadian companies (sometimes for dubious reasons)?

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

When a member asks, for example, what are your top five picks...., but doesn't ask 5i to rank them, are they ranked in your answer? I notice that in your answers, the stocks aren't in alphabetical order, so does that imply that you've ranked them?

Thanks for clarifying this.

Q: 5i, what would be your favorite Trading Platform for USD/CAD, I'm using iTrade , but I'm looking for something better, with better FX rates. Thank you.

Q: Everyone, does investment strategy change with the size of your account? Does it matter if you have $10,000 or $1,000,000 or $10,000,000 or $100,000,000 etc. Clayton

Q: Follow up question regarding CDR NVDA.

(Answer: NVDA shares represented in its CDRs so they are not split in the same way. )

Currently it shows 0.06903387shares on CIBC website for each NVDA share. Is that means this will go up by 10.(0.06903387 * 10) if they don’t split CDR shares.

Thanks for your great service and support

Q: Stop loss question.
Today pre market the etf spmo has a bid of 74.27. Ask 89.90
Last trade yesterday 81.48
If an investor had a stop loss of ,for example 79.50
Would the low bid take out the shares.

Q: How do stock splits work if you own the stock as a CDR? For example, the upcoming NVDA stock split. Thanks

Q: Hello

Where do you suggest 5i members reference historical P/E avg s for any CDN or USA equities ?

Q: Hello
Pardon my tone but
Since since the start of Q1 Is it just me or are there in fact less questions being answered by the 5iii moderators both in volume and in a timely manner ? I know I ve had a t least 1 unanswered question for Q1:
- 1 being what would the 5i BE Portfolio return in fact be with out the CSU position being included since inception ?

and a new question -
To align the 5i platforms company reports to the 5i portfolio recommendations
Perhaps its time for 5i to seriously consider to post your research reports as follows: only 35-45% Canadian Equity reports with the remaining reports being USA or International equities (matching your member questionnaire) or the very least post the US research reports of the US Equity positions that the 5iii directors etc all in fact own per your disclosures ! - as I assume an alike research analysis has obviously been completed.

Based on my personal returns using the model portfolio baselines I have concluded believe there is a serious disconnect in that the model portfolios are 100% Canadian focused (zero US and international equity exposure) & none of the researched & recommended equity positions are owned by 5i directors. This issue also entertains what portfolio make up the 5i moderators in fact have in comparison or in lieu to the model portfolios that paying members utilize as a baseline ?
This perspective is no different than the importance of insider ownership of the public companies we all invest in.
*Perhaps a new platform feature of the various 5i members portfolio positions alike to the 5i subscribers portfolio allocations.

I look forward to your response and perhaps a disclosure of some 5i insider information on genuine portfolio make up.