Investment Q&A

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

Q: would you take some profits from the market or stay the course?

Q: Most sectors have done well as the market has reached all time highs in recent weeks.

Assuming that interest rates will continue to be cut over the next one to two years, what sectors do you think will continue to do well in this environment and what sectors do you think will struggle. What sectors would you avoid?

Thank You
Tim

Q: If we do go into a significant recession over the next year, what sectors will do poorly and what sectors will likely be more stable? How might REIT ETFs perform?
Thanks!

Q: An addition to my previous question about bitcoin. Feel free to take another credit.

Do you think now is a good time to buy bitcoin?

Q: Everyone, what are your thoughts on the markets for the rest of the year? Clayton

Q: Why are the markets so insensitive to what’s going in the world? Near war in the Middle East, genocide in Ukraine, far-right parties everywhere in Europe, vicious comments in the US . Not close enough yet to North American pockets? Publish if you want. Thanks.

Q: I am wondering how often your members look at the posts in the forums section. There are a small number of us that post there fairly regularly, and I have been hoping that regular posts there would encourage more people to join in. Hasn't happened. How difficult would it be to put in a "views" feature on posts there, so that we could see how often people were even seeing the info being posted there. There is valuable stuff there - I have made over $100,000 based on stocks mentioned by others there, and the stock picks I made at the start of the year were up about 33% on average when I did a review a few weeks ago, but if people aren't using it, maybe the few of us are just having a small private conversation.

Q: I am Heading south for the winter end of Oct. Looking into your crystal ball do you think the Canadian dollar will continue to rise?

Q: It was less than two months ago when the Bank of Japan signaled its intention to increase Japan’s interest rates—a move that triggered a massive sell-off in US stocks. Now, the question lingers: If Japan indeed raises interest rates in the future, will history replay its enigmatic melody? Will this time Japan’s interest rate hike cast its spell upon the US stock market? Thanks

Q: What is the best way to reduce the max drawdown in a long term growth investment portfolio that has increased a lot in value over the years? What are some strategies or things for investors to be cognizant of or do over time?

My investment strategy is to buy high quality compounders and hold them a long time. My top sectors by weight are tech, financials, industrials and cons. cyclical. My bottom ones are utilities, materials and communications with energy and staples in the middle.

It always seems like my portfolio takes the stairs up and the elevator down. I'm happy with the returns so far and hold high quality growth names. Are there strategies to reduce the downside while enjoying the max upside? : ) Such as raising cash or hedging (PSQ, SH) at certain times, although this is market timing which I tend to try to avoid. Your thoughts? Thank you!

Q: So, with all the uncertainty of just a few weeks to the US election and all the Canadian election uncertainty, why not sell, sit with cash and wait for.a couple of months to see what happens. The dive that the stock market took a few weeks ago is a reminder of how fast things can change. Before the dive a few weeks ago I was up about 35 percent for the year and was kicking myself for not selling and putting my feet up for a while. Now my stocks have recovered, I am in almost the same situation again and wondering if I may make the same mistake twice.

Q: In response to a recent question, you had suggested an appropriate portfolio weighting for the tech sector would be 20-30%. Strictly speaking, I hold about 19% tech ( LMN 4.5%, MSFT 5.55%, NVDA 6.5% and UBER 2%). That said, I also hold an additional 17.6% of what I would consider 'tech-like' stocks: GOOG 5%, AMZN 6.75%, and VRT 5.85%. Would you suggest I am overweight, underweight or nicely balanced in terms of my tech holdings? By way of context, I would describe my investment style as risk-managed growth. Thank you.

Q: Hello Peter,
Given your last reply on well at 16 times forward earnings, is this stock mis priced by the market? I would think for growth company, investors would pile into the stock given the current decrease in rates which help small caps.. Any comments? Also, do you think xsu can go much higher or has it rallied already in expectation of rates going down? Lastly, i know you don't believe in market timing but when some stocks surge due to recent announcements on lower rates, is it worth selling and buying it back when markets settle.. much appreciated.

Q: On July 19/24, you indicated buying IWM before the election would be risky. So, does one wait until the elections are completely over, or gradually start buying now. I appreciate your insight on this matter. Is their website for seasonality that you would recommend. Thank very much appreciate your good service.