Investment Q&A

Q: Crystal ball question: What do you see as the likely direction for the market in September based on the different factors currently at play? Are there potential positives upcoming or is it more likely that things drift gradually lower based on tariff news and economic uncertainty? Any reasons for optimism or are things too stretched and due for a pause?

Q: Hi Peter,
One of the key goal of the current US monetary policies is trying to lower the value of US$. For the past decade, Canadian investors do not have to think of hedging. However, for the next decade, there is a good chance that exchange rate is going to move in the opposite direction. Over half of my portfolio is in the direct holding of US stocks, so it is unhedged. I do not want to sell my US holdings and buy CDRs, due to the tax consequence as well as not all US stocks have CDR equivalent. So for individual Canadian investor, how are we going to hedge the currency risk? Please explain the different approaches that we can employ to protect and hedge our portfolio. Thanks.

Q: Hi !

I refer to your monthly section of "best stocks ideas"

What are we to read in your selections: best value presently, ? best long term value ? best buying opportunity now ? best undervalued stocks ? best growing potential short term ? best long term growth ? best total income ?

It would be most helpful to know exactly what you mean by your best stock ideas.

Gratefully,

Jacques IDS

Q: What would be your go to ETF for Ethereum exposure long term hold.

Thanks

Q: It was announced today that Trump fired a Federal Reserve governor (Lisa Cook). Jerome Powell's term will end in May 2026. It seems Trump is really pushing for lower interest rates, and my question are::
1) If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, can the Fed still lower rates?
2) If inflation starts to take off again, is it better to be in stocks? If so, what sectors should people hide in?
3) Would you make any big changes to portfolio weightings or cash positions at this time?

Q: Hi,

Every month, I buy some VEQT as part of a dollar cost averaging strategy. It seems, however, that every month my purchase price is higher than the previous month. It keeps going up and up - and I'm getting leery.

I know you can't provide personal advice but, generally speaking, would you continue to proceed in this manner. Or are there other variations of dollar cost averaging in a rising market? Other strategies to consider?

Presumably, one could make a larger purchase up front. But when the funds come from my monthly salary, that's harder to do.

Thanks,
Robert

Q: Peter, if the FED rate is lowered significantly due to the desire of the administration but US inflation picks up due to tarrifs etc, which sectors will benefit the most ? Is it hard assets like materials (metals & other commodities) and gold ? What about oil, real estate, and financials ? Would the knock on effect in Canada be similar ? Thank you.

Q: Everyone, is this a good time to sit quiet and listen to the noise? Clayton

Q: Hello Peter and 5i Team,

We have to trim our exposure to AI. It has been a good ride and the time is right to take a little profit to reduce the risk in this sector. We added a little to our small cap and mid-cap ETF's to align with the 5i theory that markets may have some runway yet.

For the remaining funds could you let us know which of the two strategies that we should use?

1. We do not have any dividend stocks. Are there any high dividend (4%+) stocks in the US or Canada that have been hit recently, and thus, may be able to avoid depreciation of their current value if the markets turn south (5%-10%)? We would consider those stocks as safer dividend stocks to purchase now.

2. The other option is to continue with our standard default that purchases PSA and BIL as a default safe play when markets are high. Those funds are deployed back into sectors that get obliterated on a pullback. This strategy is 12%-15% of our portfolios.

Thank you
D&J

Q: What do you think about going into cash until the end of September? I understand that for most people, the advice is to stay invested and weather the course to avoid missing up days. I also appreciate that you do not advocate market timing. However, my thinking is as follows:

a) historically September is a poor month for the markets - 55-60% of the time the market is down in September;

b) since we've had an excellent year, maybe the odds of a draw down are higher this year. It also appears that the USA may not provide a rate cut due to inflationary pressures which would be a big disappointment;

c) selling now protects gains from a pullback. While this does incur a tax liability, I would rather have a big gain and pay tax than suffer a draw down (and miss the change to buy back lower);

d) if one is in cash, any pull back present golden buying opportunities;

What are your thoughts?

Jason

Q: Question for Peter only.

After going through multiple recessions, depressions and big drops in the market do you or your cohorts have a reasonable guess when the next one may occur and what would cause it?

The day, month & year it might happen?

How big a drop percentage wise?

How long will it last?

Would Ai be able to come up with an answer to this?

Thank you.

Q: Is it possible that, since technologies ( and even bitcoins) are so widely popular with the hope for big future gains ,this trend would direct less money towards more traditional sectors as utilities and energy ,then generating interesting opportunities ?

Q: I have been reading about "Stablecoins" in recent articles re Crypto. Do you see Stablecoins replacing cash as official currencies around the world? How much , in your estimation, do you see the Genius Act, the bipartisan bill recently passed in congress, will it effect the financial world as we know it?

Q: Hi again
What is 5iii s overview on holding a VIX position ?
What ETF would be your CDN (hedged) and USA recommendations ?

Q: When is it considered a market correction? I currently have money sitting on the side lines, waiting to buy a discount but unsure if a 5% drop is validated as a true “discount”. Would YOU be waiting for a certain drop in percentage before buying a dip? I understand that involves perfect timing which is impossible. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Q: Hello 5i, Would you buy these stocks today ? for a 2-3 years hold ?
thanks

Q: Everyone, what do you see for the remaining part of 2025? Clayton

Q: A 2 part question - 1) How frothy do you find the market and would you take a bit off the table?

2) If you did take sell some stocks, what’s your favourite Money market fund/ETF, in terms of high yield and low risk/safety?

Thanks,

Cam

Q: I read an opinion piece in the Globe & Mail on July 25/25 titled "A billion-dollar bet on artificial intelligence is about to hit reality." The gist of the article was that companies are pouring billions of $'s into AI on the premise that it will "lift global GDP by trillions, create entirely new industries and transform how we work." That is to say, the underlying bet is that machines will eventually deliver what humans can’t: scale, speed and 24/7 output. The author believes that while there will be some benefit from AI, it will not be as big as people believe. He says, user results to date remain mixed. More than 80 per cent of businesses using AI technology are not yet seeing significant earnings gains, and most (new) AI deployments have a failure rate of up to 80 per cent. Yet, the spending keeps increasing even though results underwhelm. An MIT economist and Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu estimates AI may lift U.S. GDP by a mere 1.1 per cent to 1.6 per cent over a decade, translating to annual productivity gains of 0.05% (nowhere near the level implied by current valuations). If this opinion turns out to be true, I'm wondering if the (tech) market is setting itself up for a massive fall or correction down the road (not unlike the dot com bubble burst of 2000). I'm curious as to what 5i's view is?

Q: When I short stocks I start at the top and work my way down. Currently I am looking at problems in the U.S. economy which I think are somewhere between serious and more than serious. In this case I am looking at how a slowdown in consumer spending will dovetail with sectoral effects of tariffs and international policy responses to tariffs. So I have two sectors in mind for shorting, agriculture and manufacturing. Agriculture seems difficult because many of the companies seem to have been hit already. But if that continues it could put a squeeze on Potash. More interesting, at least to me, is the potential double (triple?) whammy that will be felt by U.S. automakers with a weakening economy, higher input prices and a less than favourable international sentiment landscape. These latter issues point me to shorting GM rather than Ford because I don't want to pay the higher divvy on Ford while waiting for the thesis to play out.
Apologies for the overly long question, but what do you think of my overall thesis, and specifically GM as a short and are there any other sectors and/or companies that you feel are vulnerable right now. Thank-you.