Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,
In the Jan31 TVK/SAIA teaser report in the Blog section, what are the 2 blue bar charts (2015-2024) ?

Q: I am using PLTR as an example. When looking at “potential” growth in a company, I assume it is useful to look at “current” PE “future” PE (as one metric). From the G&M watchlist I get 304 and 156 respectively for PLTR. From a growth standpoint this may suggest a potential 2x share increase IF the company meets targets. Is this correct? For my benefit what is the PE definition shown under “PLTR Profile” on the 5i site as it gives a PE of 246?

Thanks for all you do!

Q: Can you tell me the difference between buying Amzn:US and buying Amazon.com inc -CDR and which is preferable. Thank you

Q: I like the fact that the 5i team discloses your team members US holdings when answering a question. Looking at a large majority of the names performance they are very successful in the returns they produced. Have you tracked your performance at a portfolio level of your holdings in the US against the CDN Balanced and Growth portfolio? Seems like there might be some significant returns to be made in the US based on your holdings. I know 5i does not plan to run a US portfolio for its members but was wondering if you can create a section "Current 5i US Holdings" so we can have a consolidated list? Looking for more alpha to supplement the CDN portfolios as we are all here to grow our wealth so the more we win as community the better.

Q: I have invested in a combination of your growth and balanced funds for 7 full years. Besides my profound enjoyment in following my investments, I ask myself if my 8.5% compounded return over these 7 years is satisfactory. A difficult answer I'm sure; I'm simply wondering if some form of longer term mix of ETF's or S&P 500 is more rewarding financially and forsaking my investment enjoyment. Your comment would be appreciated.

Q: Hi 5i,
is there a free web site where one can view how the #shares for both CDN and US stocks have historically changed over time?

Q: I'm a fairly unsophisticated investor so your advice has been well worth the price.

I am trying to understand the metrics to better value a company.

The price of some companies like Costco and CSU has soared, but you have mentioned such rises not being a bubble if other metrics like P/E ratio are in line with that. Is that the case for these two companies or are they now over-priced?

Also, you seem to be recommending VRT but the P/E ration on that is around 90. That seems very high.

Q: Can you explain how National Bank is offering commission-free trades?
Will the bank earn its money from market making?
Or are they lending out the securities in some way?

Q: Hello
Are you aware of a weblink to reference the above ? Historical prices and P/Es for North American indices

Q: Once read "stock prices take the stairs up, elevator on the way down", and have seen more than a few cases of this over many years watching the market closely. I'm about to leave on a trip where I will at times be off grid and am considering some stop losses for some stocks that have seemed to take the elevator up, not sure what mode they will use to come down, perhaps nuclear, ha. Looking for some advice in how to use stop losses for super high flyers that I have doubles, triples and better. How would you protect your "loved ones" if you were going off grid?

Q: Peter and gang,I just checked out my rate of return since inception on the acct. that holds your balanced portfolio and it is an amazing 500%.I do use margin to some extent and I have DOL and FFH in the acct,but don't have TRI and IFC,I also swapped CM for BN and PHY for AEM.I have been a member 5I pretty well since inception because I was a big fan of Peter's on Market Call.Also,in my other accts.,before I buy a stock I always check what 5I has to say about it!!!So thanks again,I couldn't be happier!!!

Q: Over the past number of years, I’ve dramatically altered my investment portfolio from mutual funds through an advisor to buying individual stocks in a diversified manner on my own. I’ve religiously followed the advice of 5i by reading up on your suggestions and learning from reports etc. I’ve gleaned much information from other readers like minded questions and appreciated the astute 5i answers. I can’t say enough about how this has been appreciated. I’m very happy with the performance of my portfolio and could not have been so successful without your input and sound advice. I was wondering if 5i might consider supporting a charity that perhaps some of your readers could contribute to in honour of your tremendous efforts. Thanks for considering it. Dennis

Q: How significant is the number of stars assigned to analysts employed by the banks and other brokers ? For instance, should an investor ignore an analyst with one star and concentrate only on the advice of 4 or 5 star analysts ?

In addition, can you please provide a link where all the analysts are listed with their respective stars ?
Thank you as always for your insight.

Q: Is there a 2023 or later update of Cdn owned firms paying dividends in USD? Thanks a lot.

Q: Hi,

As individual DIY growth investor, what are some of the top things we can we do to maximize up-market capture vs minimizing down-market capture? I have a longer timeframe and am comfortable with volatility in the markets. With the strength in tech, the sector has run to ~26% (SHOP, KXS, CSU, NVEI, CRWD, TOI, NVDA, LMN, INTU), followed by financials 18%, cons disc 15%, industrials 12% and the others all below 6%.

Is it time to trim across the board and re-balance? How do you balance this while allowing strong compounders to continue performing over time? What are the key things to do focus on to beat the market going up while protecting those gains and minimizing downside?

Thank you!

Q: Hi 5i Team - I am familiar with the following terms/metrics but not completely sure of what they mean in context. Could you explain the difference between earnings, net earnings and profitability.. Also how does cash flow differ from free cash flow. Does a company with free cash flow mean that it's profitable. Along these lines what is a good way of measuring profitability.
Thank you.

Q: This is just a curiosity, and please don't feel obliged to answer if this isn't public information or you'd rather not divulge. But I'm curious what is the current size of the 5i subscriber base - I often wonder how many in the 5i community are reading the same Q&A as me? It's a lot of effort on your part!

Q: I m wondering if 5iii could moderate these wordy & "extremely wasteful reads" of the above ! Perhaps a cap of 250 characters, a triple credit 5iii redemption OR the member could simply just attach a weblink of these useless institutional essays....... complete waste of memory cache, screen space and the moderators time to review !

Q: My only 2 TFSA holdings, held in equal amounts are WELL ( down) and EIF ( up ). I like EIF and hold it in greater amounts in my non registered account where I intend to keep it but expect it will be dead money for at least 6 months while Northern Mat recovers.
Am looking at selling EIF and along with my $7,000 contribution buying CALF , GLXY, and LMN in equal amounts, leaving WELL the largest holding at approximately 40% weighting ; the others at 20 % each. My TFSA is approximately 4 % of my total non registered and RRIF accounts and is not considered material so I wish to rebalance it towards stocks with more growth ( and risk ) potential.

I tend to go crazy with market timing : any advice on how to proceed on the sale and purchase of these? Any potential “ flashing red lights “ with this move ? Thanks. Derek

Q: Hi, do you have a good site or reference where one can go to "compare current values to historical averages". I agree that is great info to see!