Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Knowledgeable People:
Could you give me a quick 101 on CAP RATE? I believe it is the opposite of PE Ratio. So often on BNN I hear them talking about a cap rate of 6 or 10 etc. Do they mean 6%? Is a property with a cap rate of 12 more desirable than one with a 4% rate? Also, do you have any information on San Juan Basin Royalty Trust? I do not believe that it is an MLP ( which I want to avoid). I am concerned about tax reporting of trust income to the IRS. Probably a US Tax return would be required. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks very kindly,

BEN

Q: can i get an opinion on the so called permanent portfolio. I was wondering about a tweek to 20% cash or short term bond etf 20 % long term etf 20% canadian low vol. etf 20% us low vol. etf and 20% gold IGT thank you.

Q: Hello,
I recently took a ½ position in DHX and GPS with the intention of buying the other ½ later; one is up and the other slightly down. My problem...what is "later"?
Tony

Q: HSCEI AUTOCALLABLE NOTES
I would appreciate your views and comments on these types of notes as I am having difficulty finding information on performance.
I am researching a Note- the HSCEI Autocallable Note. The note will be a 5 year note issued by xxxx bank and is linked to the HSCEI (China H Shares) index. It will have approximately an 8% coupon each year, will be callable each year if the index is flat or up from the issue level, have an approximate 30-35% downside principal protection and daily liquidity.
Example Outcomes:
The HSCEI Index is flat or up at the 1st anniversary date the note will be called and the total return will be 8%
The HSCEI Index is down on the 1st anniversary date the note will not be called and will extend to the next anniversary date
The HSCEI Index is flat or up on the second anniversary date the note will be called and the total return will be 16%
The HSCEI Index is down between 1-35% at final maturity your investment amount is returned
The HSCEI Index is down greater than 35% at final maturity the principal will be returned minus the amount by which the index is down.
Thank you.
Nadine

Q: My 2 cents on the brokerages: we dropped Questrade due to incompetent customer service, now use Virtual, itrade, and TD Waterhouse. I move $ around among the 3 but most is with TD as I like their research and tools best as well as full level 2 quote access and Globe Investor Gold which comes with President's Account. itrade is ok but has only limited level 2 for our level of assets. Sometimes access at Virtual can be down for the entire trading day, but their low low commissions atone for that.

I find it is handy to have multiple brokerages for IPO or secondary offerings such as the recent DHX issue. Virtual sold out immediately, TD didn't offer and I got a 50% fill at itrade. I hope this adds to the discussion, J.

Q: For Paul re Brokers. I switched from TD to RBC direct last summer to avoid the forex fees on my US stock dividends in my RRSP. RBC lets you hold the US stocks in US dollars and does not force you to convert the dividends to US as does TD. Saves quite a bit of money for me and I am no longer angry every time I see the div's come in and get converted. TD has been telling me for 3 years they will "soon" allow US dollars to be held in their RRSP accounts but it still has not happened.

Q: Seasons greetings 5i!

I currently own VIG,FEZ,QQQ,IWO and BRK.B in my US portfolio each about 6%.
Going into 2014 and with the expectation of tappering and rise in interest rates. Are these ETF's ok to hold for the next year or two and is it ok to bump up my holdings to 10% in each?
I own SLW for insurance as well.

Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks.

Q: I'm satisfied with Scotia iTrade as well. I don't have any problems with them.

In response to Fred's question, the Daily Edge report that comes out every morning lists upcoming earnings for companies they cover, but I don't think that's something they could supply for companies they don't cover.

Q: Hello,

What are your thoughts on the virtual currency Bitcoin?

Thank you.

Q: Thank you very much for your answer to my question re WFT.

Does this mean that we can expect to see the price erode to more or less half the current price between now the middle of January, with no increase in the shares held?

Q: You answered a question to-day from Rob about a portfolio tracker. You mentioned your Resourses and Strategies section. Where do I find it

Q: Do you know of a good free portfolio tracker? I'd like to be able to track historical performance and have it properly handle stock splits and dividends. I've been using google finance but it doesn't seem to deal with dividends properly and also messed up the stock split on CNR.

Thanks,
Rob

Q: My wife wants to increase her US position. Is PRF better than VYM or VIG? I think VYM is better but I would like to know your opinion.

Regards

Q: I have an income oriented portfolio (mostly dividend stocks) I am concerned about the potential for rising interest rates to negatively impact its value. I am considering investing in an inverse bond eft to hedge against this. I am thinking to take a position of 25%. What are your thoughts on this
Thank you!

Q: Who will benefit from the post office cut backs, mailboxes delivery
Tom

Q: hello Peter:
a general market evaluation question if I could:
S&P earnings are up around 7% this year, while the market is up 26.6%. Are we that much overvalued, or am I missing something?
thanks
Paul

Q: This is in response to Paul, regarding use of online brokerages.

For the record, I use TD Waterhouse and am reasonably satisfied with it.

I am familiar with Scotia's itrade, as well as BMO Investorline, and if I were to do it all over again, I'd probably choose BMO. Its platform is very clean and is not cluttered with external data that is not relevant to the portfolio. At a glance, (and again, without the "clutter") you can see exactly where you stand, without having to chase reports all over the site. Tabs at the top of the page direct you exactly to your choice of analysis tools. Their analysis tools and education segments are top notch.

Its wide variety of tools can help you analyze your portfolio, from asset allocation to choosing new/emerging stocks, and markets. It has tons of information available at your fingertips! This is what I enjoyed most as a "newbie" investor a few years ago, and which helped me tremendously.

As I mentioned, I am with Waterhouse, and am reasonably satisfied with it, but its platform, I find, is not as user-friendly as is BMO. For a new investor, I would suggest that BMO might be the better choice. TD and Scotia are also good, but in my opinion, would be better for someone who is used to some amount of trading and is comfortable with the jargon and the process. These two platforms, again speaking personally, are more intimidating to the new user than BMO.

BMO has excellent service for newbies, but also provides great advanced tools which you don't necessarily get on other sites, for no charge.

TD's new Advanced platform is intriguing, but it will come with a fee, unless you are a more active trader.

Only my two cents worth, if it helps ...

Q: Scotia iTrade vs BMO Investorline. I have the latter and could not be happier, at $9.95 a trade, and with more information and advice than I could have ever imagined. Updates on our portfolio value by the minute as well as the value of stocks that I'm looking at seriously, detailed info on any stock, advice from all the prominent investment groups, banks, etc. I'm sure that the Scotia product is also very good, but do check them both out carefully.

Q: A very general question- to find info on companies I used to go to msn.money- then I sort of moved over to yahoo finance- what site would you recommend. I am looking for the basics a price chart that goes back 5yrs minimum, the financial statements, maybe earning history-same a min of 5yrs...

Q: Hi Peter,
I am wondering if you have thought about giving a seminar/workshop on investing ? With defined benefit pensions going the way of the dodo it would seem prudent for individuals to take charge of at least part of their portfolio. I am particularly interested in finding something that would help put my two adult children on the right road.
Mike