Investment Q&A

Q: The question of what to do when one is worried about the possibility of a sharp market correction often arises. In the past you have proposed increasing the portfolio allocation to cash. As a complement to that strategy, what about tilting the portfolio more toward low beta (less than 0.5, say) stocks? I’m thinking of stocks like L, ECI, CSH.UN, KBL, SJ, SLF. How much protection - qualitatively speaking -do you think that would provide against the possibility of a sharp correction of, say, 10-15%?

Q: Hi, Are there any companies out there that provide advisory services on stocks to short? It can be US based or Canada based advisor but i am interested in shorting US stocks. Can be a newsletter provider as well. I am mostly interested in shorting for hedging purposes either shorting stocks or shorting with options. Thanks

Q: Is there no summary for September 2017 - thank you- Hanna

Q: Hello Team,

I have a regular CDN TFSA, with $43,000 invested, and i have a portion of cash allotted to a USD TFSA with $15000 invested. Between the two i need to generate safely with minimal risk $300 dollars per month? Can you suggest some income producing strategies that could help me obtain my goal? please include some equities.

Are the US and the CDN TFSA'S treated the same for tax purposes, when withdrawing investment income? charge me as a two part question!

Thanks,
Stephen

Q: Hello. Good news this morning from Grande West receiving $40 million dollar order from a US company. Any idea why this company has not moved from the Venture Exchange to the TSX yet?

Q: This is further to the question asked by Maurice on Oct. 10
My brokerage (BMO) converts dividends from US $ to Can. $ for Canadian stocks that pay in US $. I have asked that the dividends not be converted thinking that the brokerage must be making money on the automatic conversion. Can I demand that they not convert the currency? If there any benefit in having them convert it?

Q: I am new to this website but really enjoy the Q&A. A lot of people seem to target 5% as a full position, or 20 stocks. Your portfolios target 20-25. Over the years, my target has been 12 -15 stocks, or 7-8% being a full position. No particular reason, other than willing to take a bit more risk and easier to manage a smaller portfolio. In any event, how big would you let a winning position grow before you started trimming back to your original full position? SHOP being the current example of a stock that really took off but is now falling back.
Thanks for your great insight.

Q: How do you recommend investors handle cash balances while they are waiting for a compelling investment opportunity? Presently, I use a combination of bank "high interest" e-savings accounts (.75% at RBC; 1% at Tangerine) and the "Cash optimizer" within Scotia i-trade accounts (.25%). How can I do better?

Q: I think I noticed earlier in one of your answers to a question you stated you did not think a Canadian could buy a us based mutual fund.I am looking at buying "IAT" which is a etf based in the US.What is the difference between buying mutual funds in the US and etf's based in the US?

Q: If I own in a U.S. dollar account,Canadian cross-listed companies which pay a U.S. dollar dividend,do I receive the dividend in U.S. dollars free of any exchange fee and the dividend tax credit?If the answer is yes,where can I find a list of these companies?I have a U.S. dollar trading account with T D.Thanks for your help.

Q: Greetings 5i,

I realize you cannot give individual portfolio advice on this forum, but was hoping to ask a question regarding portfolio structure and exposures (rather than on the holdings themselves). However, if this question is inappropriate for the public forum, please disregard. If appropriate, please deduct as many credits as you see fit.

My stock portfolio consists of 30 holdings in the following structure:

- 19 Canadian positions covering all major sectors of the TSX (16 large cap dividend payers and 3 small cap "higher risk" names).

- 5 positions held in US Dollars (all large cap "blue chip" names) for currency diversification and to augment sectors I feel are far stronger in the US (Healthcare, Tech, etc.)

- 4 equity ETF's covering USA, Developed Europe, Developed Asia, and Emerging
Markets (1 ETF per region).

- 2 bond ETF's covering Canada and the US (1 ETF per region)

- No single holding exceeds a 5% weighting

I am 36 years old, debt free, conservative (although not totally adverse to risk), and consider myself a "buy and hold" investor.

In addition to the aforementioned stocks, my portfolio includes GIC's, gold bullion, and a small cash position in both Canadian and US Dollars.

In general, does this structure seem appropriate to you? Do you feel as if I have missed some region(s) and/or investment type(s)? Is there anything you would suggest for further diversification?

Thank you.

Q: Patriot One has just issued some warrants. I have never purchased warrants, but have a general understanding of how they work. I can buy them easily enough from my online broker. Are they just as easy to sell (considering there is enough volume)? I'm just not sure on the exit strategy. Thanks. Really enjoy the questions asked, and responses received.

Q: I am new to this forum but have been 'investing' faithfully for over 30 years (what that really means is that I have been funding both mutual funds and the investment advisor buying them - last year that was $9,000 for the investor for me and my husband combined for the mutual funds to earn net 4.4% (the SandP/TSX was at 17.51). I'm tired of the high anxiety fear factor he generates for 4.4%. For the fee, he can earn us between 2 and 4% in coming years and insists this is a good thing.
Why wouldn't I buy Berkshire Hathaway A with the money currently invested in mutual funds and the advisor and invest on my own using a couple of your portfolio models with the money I have stashed? At this stage I am 56 years old so not a big risk taker and want to preserve what I/we have. With thanks, Wendy

Q: Do you think REIT's should be owned in ones portfolio? Does a 10% weighting seem to much? Also can you rate the following from best to worst as I am looking to get rid of one. GRT, REI and CRT.
Thanks

Q: Peter and His Wonder Team
I accept the fact that you cannot time the market and that no theory or metric is always right or correct. If so we would all be rich! Ha!Ha! However, I do try to minimize risk by having the odds in my favour. So here is the question ...in your experience what tends to be the worst and best months of the year for stocks? For example I notice that August and September many stocks go sideways or drift down because buyers disappear. On the other hand in February, March and April they seem to do there best and peek. Your observations please! Is there any correlation between large and small cap? Thanks again for your great service!
Dr.Ernest Rivait

Q: Hi Team,

I am a real estate investor and I have been for the last 15 years. Real estate is my passion and I enjoy it very much. I am trying to balance this with investing in the stock market. I enjoy researching companies, but I don't want stocks to take up the majority of my team. Is it best to construct a portfolio of high quality, low expense ETFs and add to it monthly or quarterly? Or is it better to follow a model portfolio like 5i or invests in particular companies. Less risk of picking a wrong stock in the ETF approach, but potentially also less reward. Real estae is still going to be my focus and I plan to use the real estate to fund my retirement.

Thanks for your help,
Jason

Q: Preferred shares usually have an issue price of $25. Would it be correct to assume that in a rising interest rate environment CPD has a chance to climb towards the $25 range?

Dumb question?

Carl

Q: I am trying to clean up my husband's portfolio but am missing some ACB data. Specifically, when I checked his 2000 investment statement, he had Janus Global Equity Fund, but now he doesn't have this holding. However, he has a Mackenzie fund (MFC1055) that he didn't remember buying. I am thinking there was a fund merger at some point. Where can I find information about historical fund mergers?

Q: There is a lot of noise about how expensive stock markets are and that we are overdue for a significant correction, particularly in the US. But if I look at my US stock, P/E's are very reasonable (see AAPL), and less than ten in some cases (see GILD).
What gives?

Q: I am a relatively new investor and want to understand how the tax loss function works. I have a few questions.

What is the standard taxation rate for capital gains?

How is the tax loss calculated? Is it based on the average cost of purchases or the last purchase or some other formula

I am assuming that you can buy back any stock that you have sold for a tax loss after 30 days. Am I right?

I look forward to your answers