Investment Q&A

Q: What are the most common investing mistakes that you see being made by people who are managing their own investments? Maybe a top half dozen or so, with a brief explanation as to what should be done instead of the incorrect habits. Thanks.

Q: Hi 5i Team - Could you tell me where I can locate your 2023 tax loss screener. Thanks.

Q: Perhaps a long-shot question, but I wonder if you are aware of any company providing amazing services similar to 5i, but focused on the European (in particular, French, German and UK) equity markets?

Many thanks in advance! Aaron

Q: Hi Team
I have heard the term, window dressing, where the fund will sell their "dogs" and buy stocks that have gone up at year end so it looks like they have done well. My question is, if the sell at a loss, does that not show up in the year end results showing that they had a bad year?

Thanks

Q: Earlier you answered a question about Crox vs BYD, and you mentioned the valuations were 8x vs 44x. Just curious what metric you are using there (P/E?), and what is the most commonly accepted metric when discussing the high level valuation of a company and if its cheap or expensive? Thx

Q: Would you be able to tell me the trailing P/E and estimated forward P/E for BN and BRK.B? I assume this may be difficult for BRK.B, when they often seek permission to not disclose all of their current holdings. Where can I find the most accurate P/E info for Canadian and US stocks?
Thanks!

Q: I would appreciate your guidance on the strategy behind buying and selling shares. In particular, I'm interested in limit orders and how - and when - to effectively use them. Thank you.

Q: last day for tax loss selling u.s. and canada
many thanks for great service in a tough 2023.

Q: What is the best way to go about buying or selling a sizeable amount of a low-volume stock?

Q: Could you please clarify how CDIC insurance works. If I invest at CIBC Investor’s Edge and in my non-registered account, I have 1) $100,000 in cash, 2) $100,000 in an RBC HISA, and 3) $100,000 in a third party GIC (say Versabank), are each insured for $100,000 as they are with different institutions? Or are they insured collectively for $100,000, meaning $200,000 is not insured, since they are all held at CIBC Investor’s Edge? Thank you.

Q: Comment on: 2023-12-01 Q&A:

Q: I know it's outside your mandate but do you know of a good analysis software that takes taxes and investment returns with rrsp's ,tfsa's cash accounts and cpp into account . We have been investing on our own for 40 years and just don't want to give an advisor 1 to 2 % of our money. Thanks for any recommendations.
A: Sharesight appears to have a portfolio tracking software that allows for tax reporting and other functions, and Wealthica also has some portfolio tracking and reporting tools for Canadian investors.

- Wealthica: Agree [used 3 years]
- WealthScope: a Wealthica add-ons for deeper analysis ($) - good [used 2 years]
- MoneyReadyApp (www.moneyreadyapp.ca) ($): Generates plans similar to what Financial Planners produce ($$$$$) - requires serious effort to setup and understand, but is amazing after that [used 1 week]

Q: Hi, I noticed that in Wednesday's trading, around noon, someone placed two large BUY orders at $75.80, for 30k and 18k shares (Total trade value $3.6 mln ). Stock later traded down to $75.51. Within an hour, after the orders were filled, Someone placed exactly the same two SELL orders at $76.20, for 30k and 18k shares. The stock bounced back up and both Sell orders were filled just before market close. These were not Block Trades, as there were multiple sellers/buyers for all four orders. CIBC World Market was the broker, both for initial buy orders and later sell orders.

Assuming (safely), that both buy/sell orders originated from the same party, the trades resulted in a net profit of $19k, on a trade value of $3.6 mln. Are these, Day Traders ( using Margin or not ), making money on a small arbitrage? Is this type of activity not uncommon during volatile trading of a stock, like today ? Does it have a relevance to large interest in ATD stock, Or, there is just not much to read here ? I am just curious and trying to educate myself. Thank You

Q: i've leaned on investing.com for real time US and international stock quotes to use for my speculative plays. i like investing.com overall but i'm struggling to find a good free platform for tsx and tsx.v stock real time quotes (ECN for example today did not appear as 'trending' or a 'mover' on that platform and i have noticed that investing.com falls short on CDN stocks in that regard. i realize the team likely uses a bloomberg terminal but what good options are available for myself for CDN stocks thank you very much

Q: if the ex dividend date was dec. 17, could you sell the stock on the 18th and still get the dividend

thank you

Q: Imperial is doing a modified Dutch auction. I know in general in past comments you seem to have suggested not tendering to these offerings, I think at least in part because if you still believe in the company then after the shares are bought back you own a bigger piece of a company you already like? What is the opposite side of this decision, why do people tender to these offers? Are you aware of anything in this particular offering that makes it attractive? (As an additional wrinkle, if I read the details correctly, if the shares are held by an IOL employee in their company savings plan, the disposition would be considered a dividend for tax purposes as opposed to a capital gain). Any thoughts appreciated.

Q: Sometimes in your answeres you reply along the lines "we would be OK buying this". I'm not sure how to interpret OK. Is it a recommendation like a statement of support. Or is OK meaning not bad but not good.

Thanks John

Q: Thanks for the insights about US dividend stocks. With your analysis, as some pure dividends and others "balanced" between dividends and buyback of stocks and others investing for "growing", well it was very insightful for me....and now for me, another way for me to analyze such dividend paying stocks....Good on you!!!......Tom

Q: I've tried to work this out and have been confusing my self. This question is on a buying strategy. Supposes you want buy an ETF in something relatively safe like banks or utilities for the income. So every 3 months you buy a $1000 worth of shares only if the share price is down. Where my math is failing me is if over the long term (say 10 yrs) would my average purchase price be falling or will it only fall if I buy the shares NOT if they Down but rather is they Down below the lowest price I have paid in the past? ie abandon every 3 months in favour of what ever time it takes for the price per share to be lower than your last purchase.

Q: Hi,

After any stock breaks to all time highs, such as Lumine and Boyd lately, I know this is a sign of strength of the stock and I know you like when this happens. If I wanted to add to a current position or initiate a new one, what factors do you look at in order to buy?

For example, the companies may have had good earnings lately or analysts may have upgraded their price targets and initiated coverage. I know there are a lot of different unknown factors at work in the market, but what would cause investors to pay up and drive a stock up to new highs with no current news? Do you look at volume on the breakout or mainly just long term fundamentals? Do you look for the stock to hold that new level before buying? I'm not a trader, but more longer term focused investor now. I'm always of the belief that there are smarter investors out there that have more information than others, which causes stocks to be mispriced. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Q: When you sell one of your 30 day covered call options, do you ever buy back the option yourself? I know it would depend upon the potential of the stock? But, say it was a stick that you might have confidence in, Nvidia, for instance?