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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: Hello team, I am fully invested (stock/etf's leaning toward growth) but am getting somewhat concerned about where the market is at. It seems (in my layman's eyes) that valuations across the board are getting stretched relative to fundamentals. I can take some profit and am wondering about some "insurance" in sectors such as gold; either cdn stock or etf's. For context, this is a registered account, 5 to 7 year horizon, mid 3 figures. Any suggestions
Read Answer Asked by Harry on May 08, 2017
Q: Good afternoon 5i. I am currently sitting with 25% cash on the side lines. I know that's much too high. I have avoided gold/silver sector as well as oil sector(I do have enb, trp, fts)I've also avoided consumer goods sector. I'm light in industrials (dow & cbi) and property sectors (tcn). All other sectors are represented fully and equally ie health/financials/tech. I have a 65/35% split between US/CDN market respectively. With the stock market correction today and yesterday would it be a good buying opportunity and what sectors should I focus on going forward and if you can offer some stock suggestions in each sector. Much appreciated.

Robert

Read Answer Asked by Robert on May 05, 2017
Q: Hi there,

1) I have already greatly benefited from your service during the two months that I have been a subscriber. Previously, I had subscribed to ShareOwner, but sadly the founder Dr. Bart passed away. From ShareOwner I learned about ROE, debt/equity ratio, earning retention ratio, asset turnover etc. However, I presume there are some differences between the analysis for small to mid-sized stocks. For small to mid-sized stocks, should I focus on cash flow growth ratio, revenue growth ratio or any other specific ratios? What reading material would you recommend for learning about analyzing small to mid-sized stocks?

2) What is the relationship between the price of crude oil to the stock performance of oil-related consumer stock (eg. ATD.B, PKI)?

3) Having recently seen in the news that Puerto Rico has filed for bankruptcy, how do you think this will impact the financial market as many financial institutions hold Puerto Rico's bonds. Do you think this will impact Canada's mortgage rates and how so?

Thank you,
Lai
Read Answer Asked by Lai Kuen on May 04, 2017
Q: My portfolio is a combination of the Balanced and Growth model portfolios. I'm torn between your advice to "let winners run" and your advice on keeping sectors reasonably balanced. Tech is up and energy is down....so in theory, I should be selling some Shopify and Kinaxis and buying more Whitecap and Raging River. SHOP and KXS are not yet over 5% of my portfolio so I don't need to sell them to reduce risk. My instincts tell me to let the winners keep running until I see some life in the energy stocks, even if that means being very light in that sector. Your advice, please. Thanks!

Alan
Read Answer Asked by Alan on May 04, 2017
Q: The recent decline in CAD/US exchange rates has me somewhat concerned for my US investments. If you believe,as I do, that the CAD has reached its low point and may move up slowly from here, should you buy US shares in CAD funds? Or is it best to convert now and hold these in US dollars? In general do you believe it is best to have a mix of US shares in an even split of US and CAD currency? What should the factors be to determine how this is handled individually? Or does it even matter?
Read Answer Asked by Barry on May 02, 2017
Q: Hello, I would like to "park" some money in a safe dividend paying stock. Your service provides lots of choices/recommendations. However, can you say with any degree of comfort which sector or particular dividend paying stocks therein would be less sensitive to an interest rate hike, and less of a bond proxy. Or, are all stocks paying a reasonable dividend subject to this risk. I was thinking of Enbridge. Thanks very much. Bill.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on May 01, 2017
Q: There is a link to an article in today's Globe by Meb Farber that calls into question the generally accepted wisdom that companies that grow their dividends are superior investments. (at least I think it is a generally accepted theory) Is this a theory that you have come across before or do you think that his argument has merit?

http://mebfaber.com/2017/04/26/dividend-growth-myth/

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 28, 2017
Q: Team,
My full service brokerage account currently has a cash position of 16% and my broker's position on this is that the account will be positioned for an anticipated market pullback and her thought is then to enter with the cash.
I am retired and live off the income provided by the account. The account is entirely Canadian dividend payers ( total of 23 equity positions) which range from 3% to 7% yields. The portfolio is largely banks/insurance ,pipelines/processors and some telecoms. My thought is to reduce the cash to around 5% and add to existing positions or else add a few defensive positions.
Appreciate your comments on the current position and thoughts as to best way to proceed.
Thx
Read Answer Asked by Peter on April 21, 2017
Q: We have 2 RRSP portfolios 2 TFSA portfolios 1 locked in pension plan portfolio which I manage. I have recognized that there are different tax implications for the investments in each type of account and have invested accordingly to suit.I'm now drawing income from our investments and work with my accountant to withdraw as tax efficiently as possible.The question I have is would you manage these accounts as a separate portfolio in each account or as one overall portfolio when looking at percentage allocation of a Stock,ETF,or Fixed Income.
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on April 18, 2017
Q: Hi 5i team,

I want to sell into the market now to raise the level of cash in my portfolio. I need advice as to what stocks to sell first, given the current market conditions. Should I sell growth stocks first? Or income stocks first? Should I sell certain sectors first? Should I first sell stocks that are in a loss? Or stocks that have the highest % of gain over book value (ignoring tax)? Should I sell stocks that are close to 52 weeks high first? Please explain your strategies if you were to reduce the equity holdings to raise cash for your portfolio. Thanks for your guidance.
Read Answer Asked by Willie on April 17, 2017
Q: I don't usually like market timing and don't really believe in this "sell in may..." stuff, but this year is a little different. What are your thoughts if the Trump administration is unable to come up with a concrete tax reform plan by may/june? Would they have time given congress goes into break shortly after? I would expect there would be volatility ahead, but have you experienced similar events like this in the past where there's been bets on policy changes that don't materialize?

Read Answer Asked by dan on April 13, 2017
Q: WHEN A COMPANY SAYS IT IS EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES AND HIRES AN INVESTMENT
BANKER TO EXPLORE THOSE ALTERNATIVES; HOW OFTEN WILL A SALE HAPPEN IN YOUR OPINION? I REALIZE THE BOARD WILL ONLY SELL IF THEY GET A GOOD PRICE BUT I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHTS AND DO YOU THINK CDI-N IS WORTH HOLDING FOR A POSSIBLE SALE? I DO NOT OWN THIS COMPANY YET BUT WOULD CONSIDER PURCHASING IT. THANKS
Read Answer Asked by John on April 13, 2017
Q: Hi Peter and group as always I value your opinion. I am getting increasingly nervous about world affairs (Trump)- do you have an opinion on taking some risk off the table?If I decide to take some profits on my cash trading account do you know any way that can off set the Capitol gain?. Just to confirm my understanding is that the Capitol gain is due and payable immediately. Does leaving the cash in the account make any difference as to when the tax is due and payable. Thanks PS I understand this is 2 questions
Read Answer Asked by Terence on April 04, 2017
Q: Good morning 5i team!
I have a joint RESP account for my children who are 11 and 9.
At this time I have approx $85k in the account distributed as follows
$23 bond 2.10% mat June/2018
$22 k in VDY
$32K in VFV

I have a remaining $7k+ and wanting some growth, dividend with stability so I won't lose as it is a more short term time frame.
What do you think of the overall weighing of the portfolio and what would your suggestions stock wise be for the $7K.
Read Answer Asked by Sarah on April 03, 2017