Investment Q&A

Q: Dear Gentlemen,
Question : Consumer Sector (for PF balancing)
1) Do you consider Consumer Good, Consumer Defense and Consumer Cyclical as one sector or 3 sectors ?
Thanks
Best Regards

Q: As an avid market follower I value your comments on the market. Knowing that market timing is virtually impossible, what would your favorite indicator(s) be that we have reached the "euphoric" apex? Thanks for the great service! Ron

Q: Not a question, but a comment.
Greg asked about the "parking" of $2mill in a bond fund (Pender) for a short space of time and the fees being charged.
I am sure 5i do not want to advise this member to go to the full service firm management and complain about this purchase/advice for reasons of not wanting to get directly involved, but as a past senior management person in the Investment Industry I will say that this is what Greg should do.
This is client abuse, and precisely the type of thing that management at a reputable Investment Firm would not put up with and a complaint to them would ( I feel ) bring some corrective action.
( Following my management career I did some work acting for lawyers representing abused clients, so I have experience in this field.)
5i/Peter........understand if you do not want to post this comment on the site, but if not then maybe you can pass the advice on directly.....this sort of thing upsets me and the industry needs to clamp down on it.

Q: Both my parents passed away recently, and we are waiting for the estate to be probated. The Portfolio Manager has put all of the $2,000,000.00 into Pender Corp. Bond Fund Class F-NA. We expect settlement in about 2-3 months, and are being charged 1.5% Fee/annum by the PM, and another 1.5% MER by the Bond Fund.
Do you consider this a safe holding for such a short period of time, especially when we are trying to preserve capitol, not make money.
Do you consider the fees, about $2500.00/month by the PM fair, for virtually doing nothing, and then the additional MER on top of the fees appropriate.
I really enjoy your site, your advice, and you have really helped me make more informed, timely descision with my investing. Keep up all the good work.

Q: With markets at all time highs Is this a good time to look at taking some profits and moving to bonds such as ishares 1-5 laddered Bond ETF or a DEX ST Corp Universe ETF?

Q: 5i gets numerous questions on where to park cash; Rob Carrick addresses this in a comprehensive assessment of Investment Savings Accounts and Money Market Funds in the June 7 Report on Business of the Globe and Mail. Bottom line: ISA's pay 1.25% and MMF's way less.

Q: Can you see any indication of a topping to the present bull market (other than it's length) - investor euphoria - divergerce of indices- excessive P/E etc. ??

thanks Jim

Q: Peter,

If you were going to put together an equity portfolio for $1mill (say) with a combined goal of income and capital appreciation and medium level risk, how many holdings would you suggest and what would they be ( presumably some from each of your recommended portfolios?)

Q: Peter- I have been heavily invested in 4 key stocks. The are Byd, Acq,Avo,and Bad. All have done extremely well and I have done exceptionally well because I have been overextended in each. For example in some of my accounts ie TFSA,RRSP,RRIF OR UNREGISTERED accounts have anywhere from 15% to 23% in each of these stocks. I know I should cut back and I will but I also know these stocks will continue to do well. What percentage should I cut back to and should it vary between my wife's RRSPs or my RRIF or our TFSAs or the unregistered account. With your help we have been able to make very material financial changes to our lives. I never thought I would have $850,000 invested in the stock market. Thank you so much for your help.

Q: i have just taken control of our 13 year old grandson's RESP - value 25,500 cash - i am looking for suggestions of stocks to buy preferably with DRIPs - thinking TD, CNR, CPG, a pipeline and some small caps - appreciate your expertise - thank you

Tom Sinclair

Q: Hi Peter, Please tell me when you are going to update the "summary" list of stocks.

Thanks,

Peter

Q: Hi team - what do make of the IPO re pricing going on - specifically with Journey. Is this a sign of weakness or just the market pushing back?

Q: Good morning, I just want to thank Bryan (June 3) for his suggestion re: a donation button and your answer which led me to the National Kids Cancer website where I donated to Peter's ride challenge. A very worthy cause and a great challenge for Peter. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to donate to this cause. Like Bryan I, too, am very pleased to be able to give something back as a token of my appreciation for the fantastic advice 5i has given me. Since I started my subscription and changed by investments I am up 77% in 18 months. Thanks, 5i team. Best of luck on your ride, Peter.

Q: Hello,

Ref: 4 Jun question from Thomas about laying one stock chart over another.

NB: You indicate about posting it to the Resources Q&A section, although I cannot find such a section. That is maybe where I should be posting this (plse advise where this section is).

Many free sites offer a comparison feature (Google Finance and Yahoo Finance being two). I use Google for my example, and will use BNS and TD to compare. Enter BNS in ticker field, and one will get a chart of the stock price in $. Select time period you want (let us use one year). Above the left top corner of the chart box is the 'compare' field, enter TD, and select the add button. The chart will convert to two lines: one line for BNS and one for TD (each in diff colours) and the scale will convert to %. One can then read the chart to see the relative performance for the time period selected. One can add quite a few names to the same chart. Hope this helps.
Bob

Q: Hi Gents,

What is the Summary Portfolio that was posted to site 2 Jun (I am new to site, and cannot find an explanation or come up with one myself)? It cannot be the A and B stocks as there are C rated stocks on the list, and it is more than the Income and Model combined.
Thanks.
Bob

Q: Just a suggestion: think it would also be helpful to have questions that are related to US stocks show up when you search for the ".US" field, if possible. Right now, they only show up when you search for the specific symbol name. Not sure how easy this could be to incorporate, but thought I would ask. Thanks!

Q: This is in response to Thomas' question regarding charting. If you're looking for a quick comparison of charts, tmxmoney.com has such a feature. Pull up the quote of a company you're looking for, then hit the "charting" tab that comes up. Input your parameters, ie: time range, frequency, moving averages etc. You are able to layer/compare up to 11 charts at the same time.

Q: hi:
Do you know of a free site where I can lay a chart from one stock or index , over different one ? Thanks .

Q: This is just a comment.... I think you should have a button that says "make a donation" so that those of use that feel we would like to buy you a beer could just press it and send you a donation of x number of dollars. You have helped me so much in just a few months that I would like to just send a couple of bucks your way. I know you don't need it but it would be nice to say thanks in a concert way.

Q: Hi Folks
Did not see monthly summary of 5I stocks for May. I assume coming shortly.
Stan