Investment Q&A

Q: Peter,
This is the latest (Dec19) expected consensus earnings (in %) for 2015 S&P (all revised down from the last one by the way except financials)
Financials +17.6
Cons. discretionary +16.8
Materials +14.8
Tech +11.3
Health +10.8
Industrials +9.7
Cons staples +6.8
Energy -20.4

My question: I have not been able to find the same info for Canada ( a recurring problem for me) but could this US info be used as a proxy for Canada. (my take? not for all)
Thanks for that

Q: Peter and His Wonder Team
Thank you for your comments on Lake Shore Gold...however I notice that ASR traded 32M and HMY traded 66M. These are huge numbers...please comment on these stocks also...
Thank you!
Dr. Ernest Rivait

Q: Dear 5i; There's something I'm still not clear about regarding superficial losses. When selling an unregistered stock for the capital loss, must the whole position be sold, or could you dispose of half a position if that's all you need for tax purposes, and keep the rest?

I've read the definition of superficial loss in the Income Tax Act and the explanation in CRA's Capital Gains Guide. From these, it is my understanding that there is a superficial loss if I (a) aquire a substituted/identical property during the 30-day-before-and-after-disposition period, and (b) I own the substituted property at the end of that period.

Since the half-position that's been kept was not aquired during that 30-day period, I would assume that it would not be considered substituted property. And therefore the half-position that's been sold would constitute an actual capital loss.

Am I correct in my line of thinking, or am I way off the mark?

Thanks!

Q: I wanted to take a gain in Dhx to offset capital losses in this taxation year.I purchased an equal amount of Dhx in a non taxable account 1 week prior to my selling of DHX in my taxable account.Will there be an issue with CRA using this strategy.

Q: Thank you for answering my question on Lakeshore gold and the 47 Million shares that went across at the last second of trading of Friday. Just so I am clear about what you are saying is that Portfolio managers decide to adjust and re-balance so they either sell or buy and in this case they sold. In this case (if I understand correctly) it was decided to sell off 47 Million shares and that happened at the last minute. In effect it didn't drive the stock down more than 5%. Obviously. Also there were enough buyers to absorb 47 Million shares. Is this correct and if so does it not speak to the strength of this stock. One would think that this off loading of 47 Million share would cause the price to plunge by a lot more than 5%. This was 30 times more than the daily average. Thanks You.

Q: On Friday at the bell 48M shares were traded. I read it was rebalancing. Not sure what this means or what transpired. Can you explain the process and explain.

Thanks

Q: IPL sure had some strange volume trading today -25 million shares - what would do this?

All the best of the Season to you!

Q: Hi Peter & 5i Team,

In your response to Andrew re BNN, you said "... 'chasing' anything, be it a sector or a stock is not a wise investment move."

I am confused because, at other times I have read that you prefer to buy on strength rather than weakness as well as to average up rather than down. Isn't this strategy similar to chasing a hot stock or sector? Could you please clarify your thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

Francis

Q: Hello Peter & Co:
I saw David Burrows on BNN the other day and he was saying to get out of the oil sector entirely. Essentially he was encouraging people to chase the hot sectors. Although, I like DB, I was surprised at what he was saying and thought that it was kind of irresponsible of him to tell people to do that. He's a pro who looks at it all day everyday, but the average BNN viewer isn't and telling folks to chase hot sectors to me is just bad advice period and works against the concept of diversification. I mean who knows which sector is going to be hot in the future? So you sell all your oil related stocks and 6 months from now oil goes on a tear and you miss out or wind up buying into it late and miss most of it. What are your thoughts on this?

As always, thanks so much for all you do and I hope you and your staff have a fantastic Christmas. cheers

Q: Hi 5i,
This is not a question but merely an observation. As I go on the "budget" (read: free) Globeinvestor website to check my stock holdings I have noticed what I believe is an anomaly. Out of 19 stocks I hold, when I access the stock page, the data page shows 3 windows, one of which is entitled "Profit". As I just checked today, out of my 19 stocks 5 had N/A while the other 14 were all deemed to be "Less Effective" "than other companies in its industry in turning revenue into profit". Just a note, my holdings include such names as AD, AYA, BAD, BCE, BEP.UN, BNS, CGX, DH, ESL, RUS, KEY, etc., etc.
I guess my point would be that either my stock selection really sucks or this site might not be as accurate as one might think since I believe statistically these results to be an anomaly. I would be curious if others have noted anything similar or if this is indeed accurate and reflects where my holdings stand in the scheme of things. Sorry for the lengthy missive!!
Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Q: Hi, I like to measure my portfolio performance ongoing with that of the S&P/TSX Composite Index. I know that Globe Investor Gold calculates dividends paid as included in my portfolio return. Do you know if the return listed for the TSX Index (5.32% YTD as of Dec.18) includes dividends paid or not? Thanks, J.

Q: When you refer to the p/e ratio of companies in this forum, are you always referring to the forward ratio?

Thank you and Merry Christmas/my portfolio is up 41% because of

Q: What is your advice on investment policy statements?
I have read everyone should have one, but hear very little about them.

Q: Hi Peter,

What is your opinion of the headlines on the news...BNN and News Papers talking of U.S. Hedge Funds selling Canada. Will our Market collapse under this selling pressure. It seems like they were doing a good job of selling the Canadian Market down except for the last three days.

Appreciate your opinion, thank you

Q: When looking to add positions, should I be starting with your highest ranking stocks first?

Q: Hello,
I have 60K that I'm not sure what do with. If I invest the money I will get back 46% from the good old government. That seems like the right choice but I'm considering paying down my mortgage.If you had a choice between paying down your mortgage (no penalty)or investing your money long term what would be your choice be at this time.
Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Q: Further to Steve's recent question re: "foreign" allocation, your answer was 15 - 20%. My question is, would this number be "ex-U.S." or do you include the U.S. within the "foreign" category? For myself, I tend to view the markets as Canada, U.S. and Foreign (or World, Global, etc., with Emerging Markets being a sub-sector of that.) If this figure is "ex - U.S., then what would the U.S. % be that you would recommend given Steve's criteria?
Thanks,
Cheers,
Mike
And, Merry Christmas to all those at 5i Research and the whole 5i community!!

Q: I am a retired dividend-income investor who is very focused on asset allocation. What percentage of the overall portfolio do you recommend regarding foreign content? My current foreign weighting is 14%.

Q: In your answer to Pierre about Russia you say that NA markets are concerned about a Russian collapse as in 1998 but you did not specify exactly what affect this would have on our markets. Could you please elaborate. Thank you

Q: Let's say a couple has a $200K diversified portfolio of 25 stocks held in 3 or 4 registered accounts with no duplication of stocks between the accounts. How would you handle it if they had $200K in additional new funds to invest in non-registered accounts? I assume it would be appropriate to add some new names to the existing portfolio but what would be the best way to add to existing names? How many total stocks would be a good number? Would it be prudent to avoid having the same stock in more than one of these accounts in this type of scenario? All accounts would have a long-term time frame.