Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i,
I've searched the miscellaneous question category back to early September and, surprisingly, haven't seen this or a related question:
It appears the chances of a Trump win in 10 days' time are at least 50/50. He has said he will impose 10-20% tariffs on everything the US imports. He has said he will look at the USMCA agreement, which could mean he'll just tear it up. There's no real reason to think he won't do the things he says he's going to do, and he may well do a whole bunch more, economically and trade related, that he hasn't talked about. Whatever actually transpires, his economic policy is likely to be very disruptive, both in the US and abroad. As Canada's largest trading partner (although we mean considerably less to the US, relatively speaking) the impacts could be significant here.
Do you agree the impact on Canada could be significant, what do you think the impact(s) might be and what, if anything, would you recommend a Canadian with a diversified portfolio of Canadian equities do to Trump proof the portfolio and reduce the shock?
Frankly, I'm worried ...
Thanks,
Peter

Q: Good morning. I have some sizeable gains in my U. S. unregistered account. Average for the portfolio is 32,5% in 2024 so far. Would you trim some names to sit on the sidelines until the dust from the election settles and hopefully rebuy at a lower price, considering taxes payable as well? Thanks David

Q: Would you hold off investing in the US Market until the results of the election shake out?

Q: please list the 5 most negatively impacted Canadian companies(any industry) should Trump win the November 5th election thanks Richard

Q: In a portfolio with banks at 42% (TD, and National), energy at 35% (TC, Sobo, and Tourmaline) and consumer discretionary 16% (ATD), what companies would you suggest diversifying into? This is my husband's account and he buys and holds. He will be selling Telus and needs some options for telecommunications and more. Could he be more diversified? He is asking my advice but I appreciate hearing from you.

Many thanks.
V.

Q: Hi 5i,
The BoC announced the largest rate reduction in 15 years (not including during the pandemic) this morning, and since that announcement my well diversified portfolio has experienced its largest single day loss (right across the board) since I began managing my own investments 8 years ago.
I've been looking forward to today's announcement because I had thought it would lead to an increase in my portfolio value, but it seems to have had the opposite effect - in spades!
Can you explain what's going on? And should I be worried?
Thanks 5i.
Peter

Q: Would you wait until 2025 to rebalance a TFSA with many losers or underperformers? Tax loss season, interest rates and american elections add a lot of unknown. Thanks.

Q: A have been listening to a lot of reputable professionals stating we will soon be entering years of low returns in the stock market. Can you let me know what data they are reviewing to make such comments?
Also, do you agree with this assessment?
Thanks

Q: I am hearing more comments that the market at new highs, a correction is overdue. Would you know if this so called overvalued market , sector specific and if so then which sectors are currently overvalued and which ones are under based on historical 10+ years.

Q: Hey 5i, Last Monday I sent the Sector question below to 5iRinfo because it was a question about the website not a stock. I didn't get a response back from 5i, so I'll ask the question again. I don't think I should lose a question credit for this question.

I am a current member and can't find on your website if 5i does a Stock Sector Weighting chart i.e. today on the TSX what stock sectors should we be Overweight, Neutral and Underweight in? Should I have a heavier weighting in Finance or Technology? I'm sure you get it! If this chart is not there and updated on a regular basis then it certainly should be!!
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Chris Thomson

Q: Everyone, interest rates are declining and people / companies will have reduced costs due the reduction in interest rates. What are the projected cost savings? How significant is that number? Clayton

Q: The Macro Market Models are very interesting. I think I missed the explanation on the "Sector, Size, and Style Rotation" tables which give percentages for each signal i.e., Trim, Hold/Tactical Buy, Buy and Strong Buy". What are these percentages relative to? Thanks.

Q: How to prepare for volatility and duties to exports.

Q: Good morning 5i
I noticed this morning that there was a question showing concern for the election and stocks. I am not thinking about selling out completely. But, I have considered selling everything that has to do with green energy. While I think it is important and necessary, it doesn’t look like Trump thinks so. And there looks like a strong possibility that he will be given another chance to see what he can do. So, the question is not about selling all but certain things, such as icln. How would you see that?
Thanks for your great help

Q: On October 1st, 5i answered a question which including this line "Historically, once the election results are in and the uncertainty has been removed, the markets tend to move higher into the rest of the year, regardless of the outcome." I can understand this happening historically but this is anything but a typical election compared to past elections. Trump is now speaking to the Economic Club of Chicago and again threatening high tariffs across the board. Sometimes you have to take what he says with a grain of salt but his Chinese tariffs in 2018 saw quite the pullback and that was nothing compared to what he's proposing. I'm up 20% this year with much credit to 5i. I know you don't like timing the market but I feel a need to safeguard much of my gains somehow (maybe 50% cash into CASH so it at least gives me a monthly dividend until the dust settles). Just looking for more of your thoughts here especially seeing there's a decent chance he may win. Thanks!

Q: When building a portfolio, what % of your holdings would be Canadian, US and International?

Thank you
Tim

Q: The general message from MSM and other commentators is the US economy is strong despite inflation, higher interest rates (which has started to decrease), higher cost of goods etc. A friend of mine is trying to convince me the economy is tittering and the stock market gains this year are not based on valuation but mostly speculation; that we're either in a recession or seeing stagnation. The Center for Microenomic Data from Q2 2024 showed household total debt continues to rise, unemployment is creeping up (which can lead to lowering of inflation but the price of goods are still high), even if unemployment is low, how many people have 2+ jobs? and gold has been really performing well which could indicate continued inflation and even stagnation. My question is are there behind-the-scenes indicators such as above that people don't usually talk about indicating the US economy is in rougher shape than what is being reported?

Thanks

Q: Please rank these stocks best to worse regarding potential capital gains from current prices over next 3 to 5 years

Q: Hi Team,

One thing I constantly struggle with is if I characterize myself as a growth investor (higher appetite for risk and volatility, focusing on growthier stocks) I tend to not invest in sectors such as utilities, materials, REITs so I end up not being diversified enough to capitalize on secular trends.

For a growth investor do you still recommend having exposure to lower growth companies (ie. Fortis, Hydro One) in the more cyclical sectors (utilities, materials, REITs and etc.)? Is there any evidence that you see or can show on whether a portfolio geared more towards growthier sectors would outperform a more balanced portfolio over the longer term?

I'm comfortable with the higher risk and more sector concentrated portfolio, but if it comes at a detriment to overall returns by missing secular trends within other lower growth sectors (materials, utilities, REITs) as the case is right now would I be better suited to better diversifying?

For more experienced growth investors like Peter and Ryan would you two be invested in materials, utilities and REITs in your own personal portfolios?

Thanks as always,
Jon

Q: I see that you and many analysts use forward PE instead of trailing when valuing a company. I understand that trailing PE is the recent past earnings, and forward PE is obviously the projected future earnings. But wouldn't it make more sense to use the trailing since its recent actual earnings, when the forward earnings are at best a projection or estimate, which is often quite wrong? Just curious why the industry standard seems to be the more inaccurate of the two. Probably because markets are forward looking, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thx