Investment Q&A

Q: What percentage of a persons portfolio would you currently recommend allocating to each sector?

Thanks

Q: Hello, I have many less than 1% positions among mine and my wifes rrsp, tfsa etc. these are all good stocks which I would like to own. But this leads to too many holdings..what is a best way to manage these. Is it better to have one or max two stocks or one etf in each sector and sell the rest? Is there a good time to do this? Do portfolios with more concentrated positions say 5% do better? What position sizes for growthy small caps?

Sorry multiple questions use as many credits as appropriate.

Thanks.

Regards,
Shyam

Q: In terms of positioning I present a scenario. You are 68 years old. You have currently 1M invested. You are 20% Fixed Income. You are 10% cash and 70% equities. You somewhat depend on Dividends so you have slanted the 70% equity portfolio to dividend stocks. (90%) Blue chip BCE, ENB, MFC etc. Is this a mistake? Should you perhaps even out the portfolio to growth stocks that pay no dividend but offer you upside. i.e. CCl.B, SJ, ATD.B. You get the gist. Now supposing you have been diagnosed with a medical condition that tells you will be dead in 5 years. When you kick the bucket (which in end we all do) and want to leave the maximum amount of money to your dysfunctional family how to you structure this now? I have no concerns about running out of money but at the same time I want to leave the maximum money on the table when I die. What do you recommend as a strategy? That’s the there, there!

Q: Hi Peter and Team - I know this question is a little outside of the regular type of question/answer component of your services and that you are not in the business of predicting macro economic events. However am just wondering if you have any thoughts on how interest rates may play out over the next couple of years both in Canada and the U.S. With the tax reform package now passed in Congress is it quite possible that this could lead to fairly major inflationary pressures in the U.S. and therefore substantial interest rate increases. If so then what might be the effect on Canada's interest rates and resulting stock market movements. Thanks.

Q: I can't add to my RIF, I can't put more than $5,500 in my TFSA annually, so my unregistered cash account is holding shares that will mean major capital gains. I have trimmed periodically, but currently ATD.B is up 1,068 %, SQ up 119%, NVDA up 324%, SHOP up 207%, BYD.UN up 118%. I am not complaining. I offer 5i my sincere thanks for your advice over several years that has been so rewarding. I tend to hold overly long , so I am wondering whether I should in future sell when a stock has reached, say 40%, and buy another stock? What to do?

Q: I think most investing houses recognize the US is going down a path of debt destruction. What is your assessment and thoughts of the the opinions expressed by Peter Schiff as it relates to the US. He has some very compelling arguments but many think the economy is actually in great shape..?

Q: What do you see as the best strategy to benefit from downturns like what we’ve seen lately. Is it just make sure you always have cash to deploy when one happens or is there some stock/fund that is average most of the time but really benefits from the pull backs somehow?

Q: Hello, with the Dow down more than 4% twice this week, can you comment based on your observations (volume, block size, leverage or other) and experience if the automated trading could explain this volatility and trigger this panic. Also, would you know if the level of leverage and use of derivatives has increased over the last few years or vs 2008 ? Thank you.

Q: I, like everyone like rising share values but as an investor still in the accumulating phase of life, lower share prices equal more shares bought every quarter or month. If one is in invested in decent financial instruments and payouts are not cut then the price of the underlying security does not matter unless you have to sell. I remember 2000 and 2008/9. We were due for a correction and we will again survive. Just my two cents worth, Steve

Q: I wonder if I could get your take on what Jim Cramer says is behind the current mess in the market. According to him most of the problem is hedge fund managers having to sell stocks to make margin calls on heavy, leveraged short bets they made on VIX volatility funds. It makes as much sense as any other reason I've seen. If it was just fear of a rising yield the big banks would be rising, not leading the way lower. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/08/cramer-these-4-securities-will-signal-the-end-of-the-sell-off.html

Q: Hello Folks:
My question is most basic re: bond and equity market price relationships.
I understand for bond yields to rise; either bond prices must trade lower or new ones issued with higher yields.
Commentators advise because of higher bond yields, people hesitant about equity market risk are moving money into the bond market.
With fewer people chasing stocks I can understand this could somewhat dampen stock prices.
What I do not understand is the reverse in the bond market.....more money from stock sale proceeds chasing bonds in the fixed income market should increase bond prices depressing yields.
I would appreciate if you can help with this basic finance 101 question.
Thanks for everything
brian

Q: I have been wondering for some time about market valuations and your recent comment about inflation being bad for markets has raised it again for me. If a market is doing reasonably well and inflation sets in could there be a reset of stock valuations. If so what sectors could get re-evaluated and is it across the board in a given sector or specific to certain size market caps?
Thank you
Clarence

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

In your recent answer to Cyril, (Feb. 2, 2018) in which he asked about your recommended sector weightings for 2018, you suggested the following:
"For a general, growth focused investor: Real estate 5%. Financial 10%. Healthcare 5%. Info Tech 20% . Materials 10%. Utilities 5%. Energy 5%. Cons. Disc. 10% Cons. Staples 5%. Industrial 20%. Telecom 5%."

In general, how often should one balance sector weightings? Specifically, in my case, I find that, as an example, I'm quite a bit overweight in Financials, but am reluctant to sell any when they've recently declined (although I'm in the black with all of them except for AIF). On the other hand, there seems to be some "bargains" in some of my underweight sectors such as consumer cyclicals, industrials, information technology, and materials. Unfortunately, I only have a little excess cash to invest, so I'd really appreciate your guidance on what to do with my dilemma.

Your advice is very valuable. Thanks in advance.

Q: Some context please to a common expression you hear on BNN.
When advisor/analysts on BNN say they will buy a stock on a "dip" or a "pullback", what do they mean? A 1% drop, a 5% drop, a 10% drop.
I am retired and looking for dividend payers as my source of income. Of course everyone wants to only buy LOW, but not always possible. I like to add to strong positions but wonder when that is advised.
Cheers.
PS I submitted this question early yesterday before the market drop so my question seems even more timely....for some reason it didn't show up in your question section

Q: Are the U.S. futures that are published ahead of market opening a reliable indicator of the direction of the market for that day? How well does the futures prediction correlate with the actual market openings?

Q: I would like to get your thoughts on an equal weight approach vs a market weight approach with the S&P 500. This would be for long term performance holds of 10, 20 years.

Q: Any general comments on the current market sell off? Thanks.

(I hate to get into the mode of worrying that this is the start of a bear market scenario - prolonged time of continued losses. The cure to that worry for me would be reasons x, y, and z to be reassured that is not happening at this time. And so, if one just waits it out.. things will eventually come back, and go higher too)

Q: could you please comment on todays decline in both the tsx and dow any reasons why and is this a correction or a sign of things to come thankyou

Q: Can you help with secor allocation for 2018. Realise that the allocation will vary depending on factors such as risk tolerance, age etc. Just seeking your thoughts on reasonable ranges for allocation with a view to tweaking our investments. Thank you as always for your much appreciated assistance.

Q: Hi 5-i:
I read somewhere that the volumes in the stock markets are generally highest at the open and near the close , because etf's are investing any
overages. Any truth in this? Could I assume that this is a good time or
bad time to trade. When in your opinion is the ideal time of day, if any?
Thanks,
BEN.