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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: The prospect of some kind of a border adjustment tax remains in the US, and while the market seems to like the other tax proposals, it does not seem to be responding to this risk. I would appreciate your thoughts on what such would mean for the markets, and the best way to defend a portfolio. Certainly Canadian exporters would be at risk, but I would suspect the damage would be much more widespread than that. It would seem to me that it would be highly inflationary, as well as likely to cause various trade wars.
Whether it will or even could happen depends upon which media one reads, but the risk is not zero.
Thanks for your thoughts. Patrick.
Read Answer Asked by Patrick on March 01, 2017
Q: Hello 5i team,
Your article on hedging for a market downturn is quite timely; thank you.
A 5% or 10% correction is not too worrisome as it could be recovered in a relatively short period of time.
I do not foresee a "black swan" event; do you? In my opinion, the current steepness of the yield curve does not signal the eventuality of such an event.
Regards,
Antoine
Read Answer Asked by Antoine on March 01, 2017
Q: Hi Peter and team, I'm looking for some input as to where to deploy a recent RRSP contribution. I'm an aggressive investor with a 20+ year time horizon, and I tend to hold a focused portfolio. Currently holding QSR, XTC, PBH, SIS, TD, DH, WSP, CSU, SJ, and ENGH in roughly even allocations. I have broad exposure to US, Canadian, and International markets through my group RRSP at work, so am not overly concerned with diversifying the mix above. What are two or three companies you would suggest adding to the above for a long-term hold in an RRSP? By long-term I mean 5+ years, so the companies would likely be in dominant market positions.

Many thanks,

Alex
Read Answer Asked by Alexander on February 28, 2017
Q: Greetings Team:

Greg Bonnel on BNN was wondering if the TSE would show a gain or loss for Monday on the Close and when he turned around the TSE lost about 70 points in a manner of seconds. Looking at my own portfolios I noticed that the banks and insurance companies had all dropped suddenly. Computers to blame, I reckon. Would you please comment on this.
Read Answer Asked by james on February 27, 2017
Q: You talk about sector and asset weighting based on an entire portfolio. If one's portfolio is say $50,000 and a 9% stock weighting is $4,500 is it worth the fees to sell and re-balance? Does the answer change if it's a long term holding? What if the individual is making regular contributions of $10,000 / year? Could they continue to hold that 9% position and reduce it over X number of years by investing in other assets?
Read Answer Asked by John on February 24, 2017
Q: Hello Peter and Ryan,
Is HXU designed to always give you plus or minus 200% of what XIU returns whether? I compared previous prices, and it seems to go that way. Given the structure of the ETF, can this change or I can assume it will be plus or minus 200 of the corresponding index? I am also looking at HGU the bull gold case versus XGD and similarly DIA versus DDM. I was looking at a trade idea if the market falls, simply buy the bull ETF so that when market picks up, i can get a higher return. Can you advise how they companies can do double the return (what financial instruments do they use). Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by umedali on February 16, 2017
Q: Hello Peter, Ryan and team:

In the current political/rate increase climate what is a good % in terms of asset allocation for Bonds for a 60+ year old couple who are medium risk takers. Further more inside the bonds what should be % for Short term/medium term, Corporate and high yield bonds. I understand it is not a good idea to hold Long term bonds though Vanguard has just released several ETFs incl Long bond ETF! When the experts on BNN or in Business pages talk about "cash" position 30% etc., I presume they mean cash/GICs and Bonds?
Always enjoy your take on things .
Mano
Read Answer Asked by Savalai on February 09, 2017
Q: Hi guys,

Just wanted to know your thoughts about EMH and active investing. We all know that fees are a huge drag on performance; but interestingly, an old Globe article by George Athanassakos argues institutional factors like hugging the index are the main factor for underperformance.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investor-education/real-active-management-is-worth-the-price/article26874608/

Would there be an advantage in returns (not including fees or commissions) with following a disciplined 100k model portfolio versus investing 100k in a traditional 300mil fund with the same holdings? I suppose inflows and outflows would be a major factor as well.

Thanks for your opinion.
Read Answer Asked by Elliott on February 08, 2017
Q: In reference to a question from Peter concerning Enghouse and Boyd, when or how do you determine winners(former?) are no longer winners? I have a few positions in which I have done quite well and despite nothing materially changing in the company, the stock price has stagnated or has been range bound for months.
I am reluctant to change companies just for the sake of change or to try to chase returns but often I am enticed by companies that seem to have momentum But this often throws off sector weighting?
Read Answer Asked by Marty on February 08, 2017
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