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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: Can you explain what it means- and the possible impact of the comment I heard on BNN regarding CXV in BNN with regard to a 40 cent financing that comes off restriction that may trigger a sell off.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on August 13, 2015
Q: Forward earnings estimates are easy to get. Do you know of an accessible site providing forward cash flow estimates? They are a crucial element in energy buy-sell decisions. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Tim on August 10, 2015
Q: The market was way down today, but not all sectors. Mining was way up. Oil and gold did very well, too. What puzzles me on days like this is that everywhere I look all the 'experts' are saying to stay the heck away from commodities, that there is no sign of increasing demand from China, that they don't yet see a bottom in oil (Iran has yet to release all its oil onto the market) and gold is unlikely to go anywhere fast. So who is buying all these stocks on these days, and why? There seems a kind of obsession among Canadians for oil and gold in particular, based on all the questions you and BNN get on them. My portfolio is up 15% YTD because I have no gold, oil or mining stocks. Why are people buying them? And is it possible to know why are they all piling in on mining stocks today?
Read Answer Asked by John on August 07, 2015
Q: This is a comment only I could have been much better off sticking to 5i portfolios and not worry about all other stocks.
Now I learned it hard way.
Read Answer Asked by Nizar on August 05, 2015
Q: I think I know the answer to this question but I will ask anyway. I bought NGD IMG and TA as recommended by David Stanley BTSX several years ago. All have cut or reduced dividends and my capital has been seriously eroded.Time to move on and sell. Thx for selling FM. I cant believe several months ago this was promoted at over $16.50 by the brokers. What a joke.
Thx for all you do.
Read Answer Asked by blake on August 05, 2015
Q: Last week, on BNN, David Cockfield was asked about West Fraser. Part of his answer, he said that he is looking at some forest stocks, and then quickly mentioned that he wouldn't say which ones because he doesn't want competition. What does that mean? Is it that portfolio managers need time to accumulate a stock they like, and so, don't want to attract buyers during this accumulation phase? If that's the case, do you think it may often be that guests on TV pretend to like a company less than they really do? I'd love it if one day you wrote a blog about techniques/tricks people on Baystreet sometimes use (stock recommendations, price targets, motivations behind BNN appearances, articles, newsletters). I feel it could help us small investors stay the course and hold stocks longer.
Read Answer Asked by Matt on August 05, 2015
Q: Good morning to all at 5i team!

I'm a novice trader and I hope my question is not too obvious.
I like to watch the "analyst estimates" on the Wall Street Journal website and I wonder how realible those estimates are and who provides them ?
Fo example, the average target price for BIN (Progressive Waste Solutions) according to the Wall Street Journal (aka their data provider) is set to 31.38 (see http://on.wsj.com/1gH1FaE).
This is lower than the current price at 35.6.
What's your though on such estimates ?

Thanks !
François
Read Answer Asked by Francois on August 04, 2015
Q: I use a discount broker and if I buy an interlisted stock, say BlackBerry, on the TSX why can I not sell that same stock on the NASDAQ?
Read Answer Asked by Kenneth on August 02, 2015
Q: Appears to be a considerable amount of back handers are going with this company. You seem to always look at it from the latest financials and make a recommendation from that perspective. I guess my question is: when does one stop going by financials and make a decision on gut feel? Let's not forget guys like Bernie Madoff!! Do you guys always got by reported numbers or do you sometimes read between the lines and go by instinct? Just curious.
Read Answer Asked by roland on July 31, 2015
Q: Just a comment.... I'm so grateful for this service you offer. I've learned so much from reading Q&As and have made decent money (double the TSE) since I joined a few years ago. You are innovators to an amazingly helpful product and you are the BEST (IMHO).
Simply, YOU ROCK!!!
Read Answer Asked by Brenda on July 30, 2015
Q: Is there any site where I can get moving averages for individual stocks clearly displayed.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Charlie on July 28, 2015
Q: My question has to do with portfolio rebalancing and how that differs from timing the market. I regularly trim my winners (although they are getting harder to find!) so that no one equity gets too large within the context of the portfolio. With the proceeds, I either buy an interesting looking new idea (which usally means also selling a loser to retain portfolio concentration) or to increase a position in a currently owned equity. But I notice that from time to time, when asked about portfolio weightings, you do change the weightings to reflect your latest assessments of the market - for example you recently suggested that it might be best to hold off on material sector companies (I trust I am not misquoting). So is portfolio review an ongoing activity or more of a a structured event which usually is done quartely semi-annually or annually? If structured, how often should one do it and is that when I should sell or trim winners?

Appreciate you insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on July 28, 2015
Q: Hi Peter: A while ago you commented on huge trading activity of funds at the end of a quarter. Would the end of the quarters be end of March, June, Sept. and December or some other end points?

Derek
Read Answer Asked by Derek on July 27, 2015
Q: This is perhaps the most naive question you've ever answered in your life, but I just have to ask anyway. How do ETFs actually work, in respect to dividends? That is, where do all the dividends go, from the respective companies within one ETF?

For example, I note that VGG has a dividend yield of 1.5%, while any of the single companies within the ETF outperform its yield -- Microsoft, as an example, has a present yield of 2.6% and JNJ is at 3.0%. If one were looking for a decent income stream, wouldn't it be better to simply put your money into the individual stocks and then reap the better reward?

I understand the diversity that is provided by holding an entire basket, but I have found that ETFs very rarely outperform good equities, if they went toe to toe -- and there is always the risk of the under performing equities held within that basket.

In any case, I am still wondering where all the dividends go, from the individual companies, and whether the end consumer ever really profits much from it.

Does the fund manager rake it all in, from the equities? Who wins, who loses on this type of trade.

My apologies if this question should be in the Stupid Queue, but I've just never understood why ETF yields are so much lower, for the most part, than the equities they hold.

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Sylvia on July 27, 2015
Q: Curiosity has just got the best of me...how did 5i Research get the name 5i Research?
Read Answer Asked by David on July 26, 2015
Q: I sometimes see inside selling of small or micro-cap shares, often in conjunction with an exercise of options to purchase at a much lower price. The insider often is only selling a small % of their holding. Are these sales sometimes done in order to get a block of shares in the hands of larger buyers, like institutions or funds?
Read Answer Asked by Murray on July 22, 2015
Q: I've been a member for over a year now and appreciate all the help you have given regarding individual equity choices. My wife and I are both 70 years of age. Our pensions provide enough money to meet all of our monthly needs so we are able to take on some risk. I am having some difficulty determining what percentage of our portfolio should be in each sector. I would appreciate it if you would suggest how much we should relegate to each of the following categories and one or two etfs (I like the Vanguard family for their low fees) that you think would provide the exposure we need.
1. Fixed income
2. Canadian equities
3. American equities - I'm leaning towards VUN
4. Global equities.
Thanks once again for your guidance.
Read Answer Asked by Les on July 22, 2015
Q: Peter; When a company does a buy back program what reporting criteria are they obligated to follow, i.e. are they " insiders" and have to report that way or just quarterly or ? Thanks.Rod
Read Answer Asked by Rodney on July 21, 2015
Q: Can you please tell me when the following three companies report:

DRT
PHM
CRH Medical

And where can I find this information?

Best,

Carla
Read Answer Asked by Carla on July 20, 2015