Investment Q&A

Q: My US ETFs are a significant percentage of my portfolio and are unhedged. Given the strength of the US dollar, do you think it is time to consider selling these investments to purchase the hedged versions? Do you think the US dollar will continue to strengthen against the Canadian dollar or will this trend reverse?

Thank you for your excellent advice.

Q: I read an article last night talking about if you had purchased AAPL stock on it's IPO 42 years ago at 22$ and invested 10G at that time and held until now the value not including the small div they pay would be roughly 14Million$ after all the splits your share count went from 400+ to over 100,000+ shares.. I know it is a tough call and this is more of a fun exercise but could you name a few companys/stocks that one day may return something like this over 30-40 year time block Canadian or USA..

Thanks

Q: if SMRs [ small modular reactors ] take off , what businesses and spin off companies good really benefit from power producers of this sort ? thanks , have a super week.

Q: We are a retired couple (63,62), living in our paid-off house, no pensions, with only registered RRSP investments to fund our retirement, drawing down RRSPs for last 5 years. We are concerned with our YTD RRSP return (-15%) in our Balanced/Growth portfolio (85-15).

In general terms, given current market conditions/recession risk, what asset allocation would you suggest going forward? Thank you.

Q: It seems that a lot of the financial press seems to expect a rally when the US Fed stops increasing rates. Wouldn’t this rally just be another bear market rally? We would still have to enter recession, perhaps in Q2/Q3/Q4 of 2023. The actual rally that sticks, ie. the beginning of the next bull market, would be the one predicting the recession’s end and the subsequent rise in earnings right?

Q: Hi 5i:
I've been away for a while and not keeping up with Questions, so this may already have been asked and answered. if so, please provide a link to the answer.
I'm hoping you could advise what sectors you think will reverse the current trend and begin to appreciate in value more quickly than others and, also, if you could identify three or so names you would expect to 'lead the charge' in each of those sectors.
If time and space permit, any commentary you might have regarding each identified sector and/or name would be appreciated. Thanks!
Peter

Q: I am sitting on significant cash holding. I understand that predicting the bottom is not a strategy, but I am looking at taking advantage of the recent pullback.

Given that most predict we are heading into a recession, is deploying 1/3 of the cash at this point a good strategy and deploying the remainder over the next 6 months.

I am looking for Income and growth over the next 3 to 5 years. I was looking at FTS, BIP, SLF, ENB, AQN, RY, TD, BCE. Is there any of these names you would not buy now?

Thanks
Tim

Q: We are holding cash to invest. Do you think the market will steady in the near future or should we keep holding cash for a better opportunity to invest it. Do you have any time line in mind.

Thank you

Q: hi folks..thoughts on President Biden's speech on US cannabis, & need to pardon anyone with simple marihuana possession convictions, etc...does this sound like a trend towards legalization for cannabis in US??..and worth an investment..or if already hold MSO positions..sell on the rally...thanks as always..jb Piedmont QC

Q: Hello,

I have some CAD cash to invest in an unregistered account. Time horizon of 3+ years. Good time to grab a position in TECH.to or better to buy the underlying stocks? I read your comment around cash on the sideline impacting many of these stocks. If it was you… how would you play it?

Q: Hello, Most Banks and Utilities got hammered today mercilessly and stocks in these sectors made new 52 weeks Lows. Any specific reasons, in your view ? Energy has held very well and Tech sector appears to have found a bit of a ground. Treasury/Bond yields seems to have resumed their upwards trend after a brief 2/3 days pause. Many Experts (5i included) have indicated that there was a lot to feel good about in the two days of market rally, including strong market breath, the VIX topping at 34, on Friday etc. Do you think, it's not All Clear yet and market could test new lows ? Thank You

Q: General question: About how far forward does the market look. Per another question asking whether we are nearing the bottom (I know no one can accurately predict it). Looking out to mid 2023, I see a recession and lower corporate earnings. Looking to late 2023 and into 2024 I think we may be in a more robust corporate environment if Central Bank mandates start working.
So, if the market looks out approx 6 mths, we may be seeing more downside. If the market looks beyond and see's better days, maybe we are nearing the lows...?
Your thoughts, thanks!

Q: Hello 5i Team
Thank you for the ongoing guidance .My question is about the last two days rally, do you see it as longer term rally or will it be short lived?
Thanks

Q: In the next two quarters, earnings will likely deteriorate in both the US and Canada as the effects of the fastest rate hikes in history start to apply. If these earnings seasons are ugly, will the market decline further? Or is the positioning of the fed (potentially pivoting/easing/stopping rate rises) more important than this?

Q: Hi there,

I am sitting on about 35% cash currently that I accumulated in mid August before the indexes rolled over (SPX ~4200). Obviously no one knows where the bottom is, but if you had to make an educated guess, where do you think the SPX will bottom out and when? What strategic would you use to deploy cash? Would you DCA over a couple tranches?

Thanks!

Q: With tax selling season coming though a lot of selling have already happened. This also coincides with the FED's next Interest rate change, November seems gathering a lot of dark clouds. It just feels that the rest of the year is wasted and preventing a Santa Claus rally not much will happen from now to the end of the year.

What do you think? How do you see the rest of the year unfolding?

Thanks for your precious advise in these dangerous times.

Yves

Q: With brisk FED tightening creating havoc in global currency and bond markets, do you see a slowdown in QT and/or rate increases? While delivering a muted effect on inflation itself, FED actions seem poised to tip off other crises in the world's financial system....is BNS at particular risk because of their emerging market exposure?

Q: If Russia drops a nuclear bomb in Ukrainian territory ( a scenario becoming more likely every day ), the question of whether a company’s stock has a compelling P/E ratio is irrelevant.

Forget inflation, forget Covid, forget Trump, forget budget deficits, forget supply chain. Follow Russia/ Ukraine.

Please help me to decide not to sell everything, stock up on cans of beans and head for the hills.

Thanks
Derek

Q: Hi, Thanks for today's Market/Portfolio Update, specially the explanation of inverse relationship between value of USD (DXY) and risk assets ( S&P 500, TSX and Stocks in general). Do you think, the market bounce on Wednesday, was for no fundamental/technical reasons, but was a reaction to news from UK of BOE market intervention through Bond buying to support the fledgling economy and a one day breather to unstoppable US Dollar ascent ? Based on this thesis, besides other technicals, would it be prudent to keep an eye on USD uptrend breaking down, before entering into new long positions. Mr David Burrows of Barometer Capital was on BNN recommended to stay on the sidelines, until the market downtrend breaks and at least 2 days of Buying with High Volume is confirmed with follow through for 5 days. Their firm has 30% cash ( due to Stop Loss liquidations in Tech/Financial and others sectors). They own only defensives like Energy, Utilities and Telcos with 0% Tech. Does this strategy make sense, in your view, as most of us are almost fully invested presently as well as in past ? That seems to be the case for past several weeks and months - we buy/add to positions and stocks only get cheaper over following days. BTW, stocks with higher yields in sectors like Utilities/Telcos/Pipelines continue to get decimated - even though, bond yields declined over past 2 days - Any comments , please ? Thank You

Q: A recent story on CTV news had the following:

I don't think that we're in a recession just yet, but I do think that one is on the horizon," David Doyle, the head of economics at Macquarie Group, told BNN Bloomberg. "Our baseline is that Canada will enter a recession in the first quarter of 2023.

Macquarie Group, an Australia-based global financial services provider, estimates Canada will face an approximately three per cent contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) and a five per cent rise in its unemployment rate during the predicted recession.

We actually think it will be pretty severe in Canada," Doyle said. "I think the die has been cast on this front. Because inflation has become so elevated, and unemployment was allowed to fall so low, I think a recession is almost inevitable at this point.

1. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
2. And if there is a chance of a "pretty severe" Q1 2023 recession in Canada, how would you position your equity investments? Go to cash? Go to certain sectors? go to the USA?

thank you for your excellent service.