Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i team,
How do we estimate present value of CPP & OAS? I roughly use $100,000 for each $500 monthly income based on typical annuity from insurance companies. Is this okay or should we use a PV formula? Thanks

Q: Hi Peter and team - Do you or any of your readers have any recommendations for a Web site that gives accurate and relatively concise summaries of several of the fundamentals of a company, in particular its cash (and cash equivalents) on hand as well as debt. I have used Globeinvestor and TD Waterhouse but neither seem to show the cash component.
Thanks.

Q: I've calculated that I should keep one year of income as a rainy day fund. I've been holding it in cash but would like to maximize return while not risking its safety. I've been considering a short term bond fund such as VSB. What would you recommend?

Q: There seems to be a deluge of portfolio building and asking of 10 stocks etc and portfolio advice instead of specficic issues or one or two comparisons.Seems to have gone from where it was.

Q: Greetings
Many publicly traded companies grant stock options to their executives and officers under the guise of aligning the long term interests of management and shareholders. 10% of the issued and outstanding share capital to be made available under the plan appears to be the norm. From my perspective this is a 'heads I win, tails I don't lose' proposition for those involved and would much rather see outright share purchases by management. Has 5i considered doing a blog or similar regarding stock option plans and potential red flags to watch out for? As the board of directors are giving away our company when they do this some thoughts around what is reasonable from you would be appreciated.
Thank you so much
Tim

Q: When you give a report on a company you give it a rating A, B- etc.

Do you have this rating available on all the other stocks that you have not profiled

Great service

Q: Elkwater resources did a reverse stock split and changed their name to Striker .
SkX share are at 2.10 this morning. I'm confused.
Can you explain a reverse stock split and the benefits to the shareholder

Q: Hello Peter & Co,
I am 72 years old and hold a RRIF portfolio; I consider that my Cash/TFSA positions are not material for this exercise. I'm also a recipient of CPP & OAS. The PV present value of that stream of income invested at the same rate as the indexation rate for the next 20 years is roughly $360,000, which is nothing to sneeze at. I would feel comfortable with a 50/50 Equity/Fixed Income allocation for an acceptable way of preserving my capital. Do I consider the PV amount of CPP/OAS as a "fixed income" component of my overall portfolio? or would it just be considered fictitious, thus separate from my RRIF. The math would be quite different in each case; or should I go with my own "comfort zone"?
Your opinion is most valuable; I also welcome the opinions of my fellow members.
Thanks,
Antoine

Q: need help ; i am trying to manage 6 different portfolios .. my rrsp & lira, wife rrsp & lira, my / wife tfsa .. i am currently trying to place a good stock in each .. e.g. have CXR in my rrsp, wife rrsp, and mix / combo in all others ... had to track sometimes ... have heard that i should treat combined value of all portfolios as one, then hold one stock in one of the accounts and it would represent 5% of the total value of all accounts ... if not to confused by now your opinion please

Q: Hi 5i team,

I find the retail investor rarely has a chance initially regarding large hyped IPOs. However, it would seem that watching the stock months (or a year) out there is often a chance to buy in. Timing that is difficult. Case and point Twitter. Will it eventually go up (I would say yes based on broad use of the app). I have watched Facebook where the stock took off mid 2012 and LinkedIn (stock up early 2013). In both cases it seemed if you bought the stock once it raised above it's IPO price you would be successful. Zynga acted contrary to this hypothesis.

So with 2015 possibly marking the entry of hyped IPOs Uber, AirBNB, Dropbox and Shakeshack. Any advice in general?

Q: What are the risks associated with the shortage of the US dollars around the world? I hear that much of the international money borrowed are in US dollars. Reimbursing this money will cost more as US dollar appreciate. What will be the macro effect of this will be on the different markets? And how an investor can best prevent himself against this downturn?
Thanks. Jean

Q: hello 5i:
not a question; a comment. I often see people, when asking Peter a question, quote how many analysts are advising buy,etc. Peter hasn't held back on his opinion of this, so here's more ammo:
Concerning equities, an analysis by Bespoke Investment Group recently showed 48.3% of the 12,122 ratings on S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) stocks were "Buy" (or equivalent) ratings, 44.9% of ratings were a "Hold," and just 6.67% of ratings were a "Sell,"
need I say more?
thanks
Paul L

Q: Hello Peter & Co,
It seems that a few investors are taking some profit today in Health/Pharma & Info Tech; that's healthy as they had gained significantly lately. No need to panic and stay the course, right?
Have a good weekend,
Antoine

Q: Could you please send me the details on the Oceania cruise.Thankyou

Q: Hi Peter and team,

I just wanted to send along a thank you to you and your membership subscribers for the information provided on what institutions to check out. This was very helpful information and we will be checking them out next week.

Thanks again, Charlie

Q: Just to clarify an answer to an earlier question are you saying that having a portfolio with say 8 etfs is not a good idea because that's way too many holdings, you say around 20 is a good number. Vthanks

Q: What is the difference between a portfolio of 20 stocks and an ETF of 500 stocks? Most analysts recommend to own around 20 stocks with an average weighing of 5%. More than 20 stocks is considered owning to many stocks. How do you reconcile those two approaches?
Thank you for the response and congratulations for a wonderful job.

Jean

Q: Further to what John wrote in regards to Scotia iTrade: I agree with his assessment of an improvement in iTrade's services. Regarding their commission-free ETFs, you can buy AND sell them with no commission. Some competitors offer Canadian listed ETFs as commission free for purchases ONLY, so you have to pay their normal commission when you sell the ETF. I prefer the Scotia iTrade model even if their list contains fewer eligible ETFs (50 at the present).

Q: Charlie asked about brokerages and you mentioned TD but did not mention BMO. I have a BMO Invest account and trade unlimited shares for $9.95. BMO also provides top notch reports plus excellent information on any stock I may be considering. I believe BNS has a similar service.

Q: Just wanted to add something re Charlie's question on choosing a broker.
I have been with Scotia iTRADE for a while and have noticed their services getting better and fees coming down over the years. Nice to see that there is some competition in the industry. I note also that CIBC has just lowered their standard trade fee to $6.99. Hopefully Scotia and the other banks will follow.
Scotia has a decent list of ETFs that can be bought commission free. Also, it is very easy to enrol in DRIP and DPP as there is a tab to click that gives you the option. This means that all dividends can be reinvested commission free. Saves hundreds of dollars a year (if you hold div payers) and compounds returns efficiently.
Psychologically, for me it is easier to hold long term when you see your share count going up every quarter and dividend increases don't hurt either. Keeps the temptation to "over trade" down.