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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi 5I, I need some clarification on time horizons and when to switch out and/or sell a company. If one says that they are holding long what time frame are we looking at? Sometimes I hear 3 to 5 years, other times 5 to 10 years. But in all of your portfolios what is the design factor? If one is long term investor and a stock has gone up 40%+ why would you need to sell it if the time horizon has not been completed? Timing has not done well for me. So I know that re balancing a portfolio means not going over a certain weighting per stock or sector for safety but what are you usually looking at to get out of a stock. Sometimes you say you are comfortable in people getting into a stock for long term but then you might turn around and move it out of the portfolio. So should I follow a multi-year hold, or follow the portfolio with the recommended in's and out's as you try to make the model better. Thanks for your advice.
Read Answer Asked by Ben on April 11, 2017
Q: Peter, as a former portfolio manager, how do you buy large volumes of shares? Would you execute the order yourself or would you have a team to do this? My personal portfolio is over 8 digits so I always question myself on how to execute positions. I currently only buy companies greater than $400 million and always calculate the average daily volume multiplied by the current price to see if my trade will change the market. I take a current price and discount it by an educated guess % and enter the whole trade in and let it sit and the market move into my buy. This way I am not bidding up the stock. The bank has offered block trades, but I am not in control. In your experience what is the best way to enter and/or exit a large position?
Read Answer Asked by Terry on April 11, 2017
Q: Hi 5i Team:
While I have a good sense of how my overall portfolio is performing I am struggling to find an uncomplicated method of assessing the contribution of individual holdings. When I try to apply a formula for CAGR say, I find myself stymied in almost all cases by having bought and sold shares over time,or having return of capital issues, or at the very least not necessarily re-investing the dividends in the same stock over the time frame in question but just somewhere in the portfolio. Can you suggest a workable way to bring some discipline (objective "hard numbers") to assessing the contribution of individual holdings to the overall portfolio given the above types of complications (and more)? If the answer is too involved/lengthy for Q&A perhaps you would consider the topic for a future blog?
Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on April 10, 2017
Q: As a new member, I am puzzled by the composition of the Coverage Summary spreadsheet and accompanying 70-company report database. Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems to me that the research database would be more useful to an investor if it contained 70 companies all of which are highly rated. I don't understand the rationale for including companies that are rated lower than B. There must be more Canadian companies that would fall into the A or B categories. It also puzzles me that many of the companies in the model portfolios are not covered by the research.

In summary, would it be possible to include some notes on the website or accompanying the spreadsheet/database explaining how the 70 companies were chosen, how this research is to be used by an investor, and how and when companies are added or removed from the coverage.

Thanks in advance.
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on April 10, 2017
Q: When I see a company say that they are redeeming senior notes for example due in 2021. What does that mean? Is that good for the stock. Is it something they do because they may be putting themselves up for sale at a future date and don't want to have any debt outstanding? Please excuse my ignorance but I need to be educated on why a company redeems senior notes or whatever other notes early. Is it just because they have the cash to do so and it reduces the cost of their debt? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Helen on April 10, 2017
Q: Hi 5i, As one who remembers double digit interest rates, I've been wondering if and when the worm will turn again. It sounds like expectations are becoming pretty entrenched for higher rates in the US, and if that turns out to be true would expect Canada to follow with a year or two lag. Is there a typical pattern or approach that suggests which sectors and investment types benefit in a rising rate environment?

Thx for your excellent service!
Read Answer Asked by Rick on April 09, 2017
Q: Enbridge issued a press release regarding an unsolicited mini-tender offer made by TRC Capital to purchase up to 2,500,000 common shares or Enbridge at a price of $53.38 per share which is 4.47% discount as of April 6, 2017 closing price. This type of mini-offers has happened to other publicly traded companies. What are the possible reason(s) for a company such as TRC Capital make an offer at a discount below market and believe this offer would be accepted? Perplexed… Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Karen on April 07, 2017
Q: Do you know of a good site to get a list of the largest market gains and losses during the trading day. It would seem like a relevant piece of data, but I haven't been able to locate it.
In addition, do you know a site which shows the list of largest absolute dividends paid by Canadian and us companies? In Canada the banks must lead the pack. In. The us I'm thinking xom or the big telcos. If not, wondering if other readers know. Thanks in advance.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on April 07, 2017
Q: Please do not deduct credit as minimal amount of time.2 part question on Ex dividend.Say the ex dividend is April 6 & I buy today which means settlement date of April 6. 1) Do I get the dividend? 2)Can I sell on April 6?.Appreciate U usual great services & views Congratulaions for your 5 small cap picks--PHO,ZCL.GPS,ITC & GSY--on NP,saturday & Van.Sun,monday.All had sharp increases today ranging from 2.47% to 9.2%
Read Answer Asked by Peter on April 03, 2017
Q: I've been wondering about growth vs. sector allocation. My portfolio is well diversified and has a growth bent due to my situation and not needing income for a number of years. The question is: when looking for growth, is it advisable to look for growth companies in all sectors? Or would you focus the growth more in certain sectors such as technology, and more stable companies in a sector such as financial? I need to add to healthcare, financials, telecom a bit but not sure if they are the best place to add small-cam growth, or look to find that in technology/industrial/discretionary. If in all categories what are best suggestions for small cap growth in health (other than gud), financials and telecom?
Read Answer Asked by Kel on April 03, 2017
Q: Having traded with the Active Trader Program with TD. which has ended, I am looking for a recommend on a new broker with a better trading platform than the new platform (TD-Advance Dashboard)which is deficient compared to ATP for Canada. I am happy with Think or Swim for my U.S. trading. Any suggestions. Platform is very important for active traders. thank you for what you do for subscribers.
Read Answer Asked by john on April 03, 2017
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