Investment Q&A

Q: 2 kid RESP starting university in 2 & 4 years. How would you adjust this portfolio?
51% laddered bonds maturing at tuition dates in 2-7 years
7.1% ZWB
8.4% CGX
2.6% CSU
6.9% IPL
11.9% XRE
8.3% XTR
2.5% MG
we add $4k /year in monthly increments

Q: What market value of a canadian company is considered "small cap" compared to the US? What portion of an overall equity portfolio should be invested in canadian small caps?

Thanks
Ron

Q: First I would like you to know how much I appreciate the model portfolio that you added to your site. I follow it regularly and have gradually been adding companies to my own investment portfolio based on your model. My question has to do with investment/portfolio management. When a company is added to the model portfolio, are there any expectations as to how long a company will be held and what would cause you to sell a position? Thank you.

Q: Good morning! I would appreciate if you could clarify what a "position" is... 5% of portfolio, or $5,000 in one equity? Thx

Q: Are you at all concerned that many stocks in Canada that are popular right now (e.g. CSU, ESL, VRX, GIB.A, CGX, CMG) are way above their 200d mavg and have very high P/E's ? Although many are growing quite nicely are these stocks overbought in your opinion?
great service.

Q: Dear 5i Team
How do you view ACQ s latest acquisition ?
Also are 12 stocks a good number of stocks to have in a $25,000 portfolio . Can I add more or just add to existing stocks assuming they are all doing well ?
Thanks
Bill

Q: hi team,

Which sectors and asset classes perform the best when rates rise

Q: Is there a source to get short information on US and Canadian stocks besides Bloomberg.

thanks, mark

Q: Hello Peter and team. I response to Linda and her question July 29 Analysts who appear on BNN marketcall have their opinions chronicled on stockchase.com I believe BMO Investorline does a good job of listing ratings from various brokerage houses in a table with changes to ratings and target prices. I should also mention I switched from BMO to CIBC Investors Edge because I find it is a better trading platform. I hope this helps. Frank

Q: Hi Peter and company,
What is the best way for an individual investor to get analyst price targets of stocks of Canadian companies?

Q: Good morning 5i team. As investors, we’re told that our stock portfolio needs to be diversified across various sectors. Makes sense, but is there such a thing as a universally accepted list of sectors. If so, what are they? Do I need to hold stocks in all sectors? If not, how many represent a good level of diversification? And is there a readily available source (website) to identify which sector any individual stock falls under? Thanks.

Q: Hi Peter and team,
While P/E ratios are often used by investors to value a company, many pundits warn against using this metric in every instance. A number of investment gurus recommend using EV/EBITDA ratios. Besides being difficult to calculate, I see that it's not always recommended in every situation. Can you give me an idea which type of stock this metric is ideally suited for and if there is a website that provides that data?

Q: Hello 5i .my question this morning is regarding Ben Bernanke 's replacement.For the past 2 weeks i have been reading several articles concerning this matter.from what i understand the outcome could greatly influence stock markets.even Warren Buffet has stated in public that Larry Summers would be disastrous to equity markets. what are your thoughts and what is an investor to do ?

Q: A general question from a new investor - Do you predominantly use limit orders when buying a given stock?

Q: In response to edward's question re: trading in US funds at TD . To keep your funds in US currency you must call TD Waterhouse and request that the funds remain in US dollars.
Shirley

Q: RSP investment with USD asked by Edward

TD Waterhouse allows investment in USD. You have to ask TDW that you want to keep the USD currency. So you will pay the conversion the first time, then they will invest the USD cash in US Money Market Fund. Whenever you buy, you will see the transaction converted to C$, but someone in their Ottawa office will cancel the currency conversion the next day, and change the trade in USD only, and enter an order to redeem US Money Market Fund for that purchase. When you sell US stock, someone will convert that order back into USD the next day, and enter an order to buy US Money Market Fund with the proceeds. They keep a few people in their Ottawa office to do this. I was told they were going to make an RSP USD account so they don't need to do this manual thing, but a few months passed and they have not done that yet. The point is we don't have to lose currency conversion loss every time we trade, only the first time (which you can achieve by converting CAD to USD, or sell an interlisted stock on NYSE such as BTE RY or TCK), and the time when you want to withdraw funds from RSP as they only do CAD withdraw at the moment.
I found this 8 months ago when I wanted to sell a stock that was halted on TSX but continue to trade OTC in US, and have since use that proceeds to trade US stocks only, trading and investing in AXL MTG FNMA TEN PHH MITK ORI etc.

Q: Re US funds, I pay 30 dollars a quarter toScotia Itrade in my rrif and receive the bank's exchange rate which is a great incentive to trade US stocks.

Q: Companies are buying their shares back.What does this tells us on the long term? Your opinion would be appreciated.Thanks.Emml

Q: Peter; This is for Edward re the RRSP and US Funds. I deal at BMO InvestorLine and once you convert to
US funds to buy US equities it stays in USF. If you sell someting you just request settlement in USF . Rod

Q: Hi. I'm new to the service and excited about the fresh look at research and the personal advice. Would I be wrong to start building a portfolio using the 'A' rated stocks providing they are in different sectors and industry.