Investment Q&A

Q: I recently read in the Q&A`s that ECI is offering a DRIP program with 5% discount on stock purchased via DRIP. I own a number of dividend paying stocks in both registered and non-registered accounts with my discount broker and wondered if there was a simple way to find out 1) if the companies offer a DRIP and 2) if there is any discount they offer through their DRIP purchases (is this common?)....does such a website exist? If you do not require the funds, it seems to be a `no brainer' to enroll in the DRIP and receive an immediate 5% return. Your comments are most welcome.

BTW, I an a new member and am very impressed with the quality of the information you provide. Thank You
Scott

Q: Please help me understand the growing professional advice that we avoid 'defensive' dividend payers ( REITS, Utilities, Telcos etc).
I understand there might be downward pressure on share prices if investors switch to debt instruments. But we buy 'defensive' payers because they have sustainable, and usually
growing dividends...right? If there is downward pressure on the share prices we buy more.
What is it that I am not getting?

Q: Hi 5i
In my rrsp account I have 4 mutual funds
Rbc u.s. - rbf557 (11%)
Pimco cl adv - pmo006 (21%)
Ci bond - cig 837 (10%)
Sig hgh - cig686 (57%)
I haven't been very happy with the returns and looking at some adjustments
What do you think of selling 2/3 of sig686 and adding some to Rbc u.s.
And adding edg 3801 mutual fund,
Selling the bond portion and looking to your thoughts some suggestions for a replacement
Thank for the help
Sam

Q: Not a question, but a suggestion for an enhancement to the 5i site. I was pleased when the forums were introduced, but I think they are more lightly used than I had expected. I was hoping that they would become an active focal point for the collective knowledge of the 5i community. I wonder if the following technical update could be considered, possibly just for those questions that pertain to a single company. Add a "go to forum" button next to the company name in the question, or if there is no existing forum, substitute a "create new forum" button. If a forum thread already exists, include the date of the most recent comment next to the button. I think this might encourage people, including me, to easily "toggle" back and forth between questions, which I read every day, and the forums, which I check much less often. Thanks for everything you do and the consistently level-headed advice that is of such benefit to us all.

Q: I have positions in all 3 of the 5I Portfolios. Income(70%) Ballanced/Model (20%) and Growth (10%)portfolios. My Question is on the DRIP strategy and whether I should use it as part of my reinvestment or take the Dividends and utilize them as part of my annual Re-balancing Exercise. My outlook is on a long hold of 10-15 years, minus any sells you suggest on the portfolios themselves.

Also when publishing your Summary of Stocks Covered, I wonder if you can add which stocks offer a DRIP plan. Thanks again for your advice and knowledge. Ben

Q: Hi 5i,

What are you top picks for companies to purchase due to tax loss selling?

Thanks, Shane

Q: How does decision to delist on NSDQ impact company? Do you see any small spur in momentum for share price come New Year? Thank you.

Q: I can't seem to find the forum section. Where do I find it?

Q: Could analysts at RBC sold shares and then issue a downgrade, shake out the small investors since most trades are small, and then buy back the shares? In any case who is buying those shares today? Maybe we should not panic here. Thank you for your comment.

Q: Hello. Where can I find Dividend Growth metrics for Canadian companies? Is that information available at no cost on the internet? I've searched but no luck so far. Thanks. I appreciate your help or input from other members.

Q: Peter and Ryan, appreciate all that you do both with this service and with your blogs and bnn segments.

My question/comment is valuation based. I began investing a few years ago and was taught/told and preached how important valuation plays as a factor in stock picking. A few years later said value/cheap stocks I got in generally underperformed while all the higher valued companies continue to appreciate. Just this past summer I held off on such stocks with strong fundamentals such as BIP.UN, CSU, NVDA, RBA and MTY because of "expensive" valuations only to continue to watch them go higher as I've seen this story play out time and time again since I began investing. So now I concentrate on fundamentals and technicals for confirmation and not so much valuations. I know you guys don't mind paying up for quality and growth generally so just wanting your thoughts and comments on the matter. Thanks.

Q: I am considering leaving my current financial advisor and going to a self directed rrsp Can you provide me with the steps i would need to take or provide me with a web site where i would be able to obtain this information thks marcel

Q: Yesterday I put in a limited price buy for 100 shares of the ETF PEJ. It was filled with one individual stock. When I brought this to the attention of ScotiaItrade using their call centre I was browbeat by the initial answering person and then her supervisor. I did not know what the acronym AON meant and since I did not use the button on the order it was my fault I got a fill of one share. I have been using a discount broker for 19 years, am a fairly active trader and have never encountered this situation. I was told by the supervisor that board lots only apply to the TSX and not the US Markets. I would like to ask you if that is true and I will govern myself accordingly in future. In passing it took 26 minutes or so to resolve this issue. Now to wait till Friday to order 99 shares using AON.

Q: Hi, in my never ending quest for value I found MX; it has a negative PE.
Would you please explain what that means?
thanks,
Rick

Q: I was listening to David Burrows on BN last night, he believes the next 2 years could be quite good in some investment areas and not in others. Because of what he was suggetsing, that utilities, REIT's and Telco may be in the not so good area, I was thinking of selling my Telus, Artis and Dream Industrial.
I would like to rotate those funds into, financials, materials, technology and industrials in Canada in midsize companies. I was wondering if you might be able to suggest some companies with good growth potential that pay dividends in those areas.
If I make the change my core would start with Scotiabank, Royal bank, IPL and PPL, and a little bit of ECN.

Q: For some of the larger cap more established companies listed on the venture, what are the requirements to be upgraded to the TSX? Do you see the example companies as being likely candidates in the coming 12 months?

Q: When you stated that people are moving out of dividend paying and into growth stocks do you think this is short term investments?I am a long term dividend investor.Should I follow the crowd?

Q: I'm interested in Profit Margin. In layman terms "what does it mean"? Is it the same as Net Margin (TD Webbroker shows Profit Margin, other sites show Net Margin)? Would using a minimum profit margin of 10% or above safely allow for negative events to the balance sheet? Why would I want to invest in companies with low TTM profit margins such as PBH(3.64%), BEP.UN(1.36%), PKI(.97%) etc? Why do companies such as TCN(329.69%), BPF.UN(85.67%) and AW.UN(66.55%) have such high profit margins? Should I consider a 5yr average? Thanks

Q: Good afternoon, I had moved everything to cash, believing that we were overdue for a bit of a correction, and also because I did quite well on atd and ccl. . Do you think a correction will occur when the honeymoon is over with Trump? I know no-one has a crystal ball, but do you think it is likely? If no, would you be content with the above choices for a moderate risk? I plan to keep my US in cash for now.
Thanks as always.

Q: Great job on establishing a stock picking contest for high school students! I think it's a wonderful way to stimulate financial interest in the younger generation.