Investment Q&A

Q: Is "Profit taking" just investment speak for "the price is falling and I don't have a clue why, but because I'm supposed to know I need a term that is very vague and makes sense to the masses"?

It's a term you hear all the time but what does it mean?

It seems strait forward enough. Investors bought lower and are now selling and taking their profits. Good for them; Isn't that what you are supposed to do? According to Will Rogers; "Don't gamble with your money, just buy some good stocks and when they go up, sell them" Take Profit!!!

Who is taking profits?

Is this the so called smart money?

What do these guys know that we don't?

If we are holding a stock that has started to go down because of profit taking, should we be concerned?

At what point does a decline stop being profit taking?

Q: Hi Guys
When using the rule of 40 to determine the performance of software companies. Would using 3 yr Rev Growth be acceptable , as some newer companies aren't profitable yet. ? and regarding margins, what are you looking for, Gross Margins, Net Margins, or EBT Margin.
Thanks Gord

Q: Is there different ways of calculating price to sales figures re this stock. I see morningstar has a price to sale number of 32.17 for this company, while others show numbers around 18.0 - 19.0. Wander what is the right number and why not standardize the calculation. Many tnx for the great work.

Q: In my portfolio 10 top equities (stocks or ETFs) comprise 30.8 % of the total. In your opinion is this an appropriate weighting? Or there is some rule to it? None of the stocks is over 5% in its weighting and one global EFT is slightly over 5 %.
Thank you as always for your advice and recommendations
Miroslaw

Q: How do you confirm positive momentum has been re-established in a stock, to the point of making it buyable?

Q: I have $10K to invest. Is it better to buy Apple shares directly or should I buy Canadian Depositary Receipts (CDRs). If the stock moves up 10% will CDR also move up by the same %. Apple pays dividends will I also get dividends if holding CDR. Is it safe to buy CDR what happens if it gets delisted?

Thanks for the great service

Q: Hello, in your disclaimers at the end of your responses it states whether any staff have a financial interest in the security in question. Could this mean a short position as well? Also could it mean the security is a merely held in an etf?

Thank you

Q: Hi There,

Can you please explain the emergence of the Canadian Depositary Receipts (CDRs), how they work, under what circumstances one should buy them ie. what kind of investor how they trade, and your overall opinion on them?

Thank you!

Q: Don’s question of October 7 asked about Canadian vs. US dollars and whether to buy a stock on the TSX or NASDAQ. While many investors are confused on this point, Don should understand that once he buys the stock (on either the TSX or any US exchange) the future performances of the Canadian and US dollars have no effect on the actual value of his gains or losses. In other words (and for doubters), if you were to decide to split your purchase and buy half the shares in Cdn on the TSX and half in USD on a US exchange, each half of your shareholding will worth exactly the same thing regardless of any future movements in the value of the respective currencies.)

Q: Voluntary lock-ups - Why would early stage investors or VCs, voluntarily extend lock-ups periods in pre-ipo or early ipo-ed companies?

Would they typically receive warrants in exchange for this restriction in liquidity?

Is the motivation by the company to prevent sales of large blocks since they are anticipating a rapid rise or fall in share price?

I know this is hypothetical, but trying to understand the concept/reasoning.

Thanks!

Q: What are your thoughts on the recent Canadian Depositary Receipts that are now being made available through CIBC. Seems like an excellent means of gaining exposure to the large u.s. caps for the average diy investor. Any thoughts as to when other sources than CIBC will come into play.

Thanks

David

Q: Hi,
I am a member of 5i for over 6 years and I am glad I made the decision to be become a member. Thank you for the wonderful service.

Over the years I have been looking at the reports and now I am seeming more A's and A-'s..is that because these companies have met all your expectations or have you become a more lenient marker?

Also there used to be a page which lists all the coverage companies (irrespective of the portfolio they might be in ) where can I find this page?

Thank you and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Shyam

Q: A general question about shipping/transport that may affect the consumer stocks. I'm increasingly hearing about shortages of truckers and back ups of containers in many major ports around the world. Fuel shortages in England (due to too few transport drivers), weeks of back logs at ports in NY and CA. Costco's recent comments on this topic...

All this has me wondering if there will even be enough goods to sell to meet expectations - and what will happen to high flyers (SHOP, AMZN), when sellers/merchcants simply can get stuff to sell.

Simply put, how significant is the driver/transport shortage and should we expect worse?

C

Q: NO PROFIT... NO PROBLEM...

This is a story in the Globe and Mail dated Sept 25th 2021. The article made all lot of sense and there seems to be a disconnect with growth at all cost with no profit. Maybe this is how things are done just look at how our government is run.

I don't have a specific question to any of the companies mentioned above but with LSPD in the news lately maybe it will apply. I know there has been a short report put out on LSPD and from some of the comments that I am reading from 5i that they are false.

My question is how do you know?

We don't know the real workings of a company and what we get from them is what they want us to hear. Take for example XBC, that wiped out all of value from investors because we didn't get the correct information from Management. It's what they wanted us to hear and we believed them.

I think there should be some healthy skepticism with regards to what Management says and does and investors should take away that capital preservation is paramount.

If LSPD or any company that gets shorted and can't explain the reasons for the discrepancy in a respectfully dialogue then maybe there is some truth to it but like I said we don't really know.

Who is right? The short trader or the Stock promotor?

Until we get all the information it will always be Buyer Beware and don't fall in love with any stock.

Sincerely.

Q: I have a U.S. RIF account with TD Waterhouse (Webbroker). I have requested that they transfer the monthly payment from this RIF account to my US Margin account. I am concerned over currency exchange issues.

Here is what they do - in January, they use my Dec. 31st RIF balance and "convert" it to Cdn. Dollars to arrive at a Canadian Monthly Withdrawal. Then each month they convert this Cdn. amount to U.S. dollars & then transfer to my U.S. Margin account.

I have challenged them on this, but they insist these are the Gov't RIF's rules?! (I do not have a Cdn. RIF account with them.)

Would you comment on this - thanks.

Q: Dear 5i,

I know there isn't an exact answer for this but, what approx. loss % would trigger a margin call. Is it broker, investor, net worth and stock specific?
What threshold do you think it might be for a Robinhood type investor owning ARKK ETF, Tesla, bitcoin, AMC, GameStop on margin?
With the recent market turbulence I was concerned that there might be a wave of margin calling from many brokers that would put even more downside pressure on the overall market. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Q: What are your top Canadian and US investment ideas foe times of rising inflation?

Q: Hi,

Are there any recent studies that you would recommend regarding optimal diversification (not CAPM)?

It seems these days that in bad markets everything falls regardless of sector, region, size etc. So I am trying to figure out if it’s worthwhile holding “safe” securities that return a fraction of what higher growth names would-since these safe plays still fall significantly in down markets, albeit much less than the high fliers.
Specifically, I am interested to see if someone (reputable) has proven that in the long run (10+years) it is worth holding ANY slow growth stocks returning say 5% per year and “only” fall 25% in down market versus having an aggressive portfolio of high growth stocks returning 20+% per year but fall 50% in a down market. I would think the compounding of high growth portfolio would more than offset the larger loss in a down market-but looking to see if this has been proven.

thanks!
Brad

Q: Hi 5i,

When I try to estimate a stocks 12 month target price I assume a multiple and growth. My eventual target price usually ends up lower than what most analysts calculate. Do most analysts use current multiples even thought there may be short term multiple expansion? The overall market especially in the US seems to have experienced significant multiple expansion in the last couple of years. I would appreciate your thoughts on how analysts arrive at their target prices and forecasts. (they seem to be an optimistic bunch)

thanks

Q: LSPD has issued a response to the short attack:

https://stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2021/09/29/lightspeed-comments-on-short-seller-report

I would be very reluctant to sell shares in LSPD and more inclined to purchase more. Like previous short attacks on high growth companies like SHOP and NVDA, I'm quite sure this one will prove to be bogus and just another cynical attempt to profit from the resulting sell-off. In the case of SHOP and NVDA short attacks, the short-sellers who issued the reports even pledged to give lavish donations to charities if the stocks recovered (In the case of SHOP, $200,000 USD was pledged if it ever rose above $200!). Wouldn't we all love to buy SHOP for that price today?

My only question in all of this is whether there will ever be any regulatory control over short-attacks that can be proven to be opportunistic.