Investment Q&A

Q: Is it time in the market that truly matters instead of trying to time the market?

Q: Hi Peter & team - I've seen you, and others, say there is still lots of money "parked on the sidelines". How do you know this? Where is it parked? And how do you know it will be deployed in the market? Thank you!

Q: I turned 71 this year and I am pulled between GROWTH & DIVIDEND stocks in my RRIF starting in January. Am I wrong in thinking that it does not make a difference, if: (I do have growth stocks in my Cash & TFSA accounts).
My Tech & other Growth stocks appreciate by 6% or more and I withdraw 6 % via my RRIF, or
Withdraw 6% of my Dividend stocks? Compounding does work, as I bought $20K of RBC a few years ago @ $112 & is now @ $172. Tried the same with TD which did not work.
Obviously, the idea is to not deplete my assets by the RRIF withdrawals? Am I right in my thinking?

Thanks!

Q: Good morning,

Recently I have become concerned about the potential for a US sovereign debt crisis. From my understanding the amount of US debt is growing at an unsustainable rate and eventually it will become apparent that the US cannot pay back its debt while offering a real return to investors. Once this happens the US will have an issue borrowing money because there is a lack of lenders which will lead to them either having to cut back services (which would almost certainly cause a recession), defaulting because they can't roll over their debt (also causing a recession) or trying to change the rules of the fed to try and print the debt away (which would cause almost nobody to lend money to the US government again and almost certainly cause hyper inflation). To me any action that would involve cutting back services which would be better for the long term but really bad (and political suicide) for the short term would probably not be implemented because the politicians would be voted out. This line of thinking terrifies me and I am really hoping that I am missing something. Am I correct with my analysis? Is there anything that I am missing?

Thanks,
A

Q: Donald Trump has previously signaled his desire for a lower US dollar. JD Vance has recently signalled an even stronger desire for a lower dollar, saying it would bring manufacturing back and calling China a currency manipulator. And if history is any indicator, Vance will be running just about everything in the day-to-day operations of the White House while Trump golfs and engages in twitter wars with celebrities (as Pence did 4 years ago). Right now most of my US holdings are in unhedged ETFs. Would it be wiser to shift some of that over to hedged ETFs? If the US starts trying to lower the dollar how quickly would that happen?

Q: What are some canadain companies that could do well under a trump administration

Q: With the election behind us and changes in the market, is their a need to currently own Consumer Defensive stocks like KO or MDLZ or wait for a better entry point?

Q: Where would 5i see things in terms of an ideal cash level in a portfolio today? Fully deployment or is there a % you would reserve in cash for opportunities in a bad day/week/month? Would you agree that volatility should be expected in the months ahead based on Trump's comments moving the market as they did in the past?

Q: Trump said he would pay down Debt and Lower Taxes

How about this ? Pres Trump will put on Tarrifs , What if he applies ALL Tariff Money raised against paying down U S Debt. It is like a tax on American Consumer anyway and in this way he pays down U S Debt ,

Is that idea too much off the wall ? I think it is a great Idea ,

RAK

Q: What is your opinion on using trailing stop loss orders to protect unrealized gains?
If used, is it better to set a trailing stop as a percentage or fixed amount?
If a percentage, what percentage below the current price would you recommend?

Q: Lots of volatility based on the election results. This may be too early to ask, but are there any stocks that have risen (or fallen) too much on fundamentals as a result of the election? Looking for potential sell (or buy) opportunities if you think appropriate.

Q: Everyone, what are the next headwinds and when will they show up in the markets. Clayton

Q: Hello 5i,
I caught a headline on BNN regarding BofC sentiment around interest rates. I took from it that the BOC might be poised for a much larger cut than it has done so far, perhaps 0.75, even 1.0 bp cut. Now, with a Trump win and policies that could fuel Canadian inflation by increasing the cost of U.S. imports on the one hand and a potential dampening effect on the Canadian economy as whole on the other, do you see any strong sense of direction for Canadian interest rate policy for the next meeting in December?
I know this kind of prognostication is problematic, but I would value your insights as to what Canadians might reasonably expect from the Bank of Canada on Dec. 11.
Many thanks for any analysis you can provide.
Cheers,
Mike

Q: 5iR recommends 20% for income, 40% for balance and 40% for growth. At the same time, 65% for US stocks and 35% for Canadian stocks. How do I combine or mix these two recommendations between Cda and the US? Like what % of income should be Cda vs US and ditto for Balance and for Growth?.....Thanks muchly for the assistance!......tom

Q: If the S&P were to drop 5-7% as Fund Strat is suggesting between now and the end of November, are there any specific stocks or sectors that 5i thinks would be hurt the most.

FS has an enviable record of calling market trends accurately. And not being doom and gloomers. In fact they are still calling for further upside in total out to the end of the year.

Of course no one is right all the time. But I have been looking to raise some cash and this might be a good time to do so.

Thank you for your help.

Q: The Canadian Dollar has weakened against the US and is reaching relatively historic lows (for the last 10 years). For Registered accounts like an RRSP and TSFA where there are no tax implications of selling, would you support the switch from Non-hedged ETFs to CAD-Hedged ETFs? For example, the switch from XUU.CA to XUH.CA

Q: How do you see the Cdn and US market sectors reacting to a Democratic or Republican win.

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?