Investment Q&A

Q: My partner and I are retiring soon on a portfolio of around a million dollars, comprised of more than 50 stocks. Compared to your Balanced model portfolio (22 stocks), the number of stocks I have in my portfolio seems to be too many. I have both large & mid cap stocks (85% of portfolio) and small cap growth stocks (15%) in the portfolio. The percentage I've allotted to each stock is not equal. Some of the smaller riskier stocks could be as low as 1% weighting in the total portfolio. My questions are (1) Is this a good investment strategy to include both balanced safer equity and higher growth riskier equity in a portfolio? (2) What should be the optimal number of stocks in a large portfolio? (3) Is there a general rule of thumb for the weighting of each stock category (large cap, mid cap & small cap)? I want to make sure that what I've done is correct, especially since we are retiring soon. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.

Q: Moody's have just basically downgraded William Hill's cash flow from Positive to Stable. I believe those ratings agencies may have self-serving motives in doing so but they must be considered nonetheless. The general slant of the article is negative. What is your team's opinion of the article and rating.

Thank you
Clarence

Q: Lumber prices have gone up, housing prices in US doing well, $C is down.
Why these Lumber stocks are not participating?
I own WEF,WFT,ADN what should I do?

Q: Can you provide your current assessment of MXG. Thanx Robbie

Q: Hi Guys,

Am I still fine holding these companies in my U.S. portfolio, DIS, SBUX, V, HD, BRK.B and eft's SPY, QQQ, and VIG (All have a 3% weighting). 5 year time frame and low/medium risk.
My concern is that most of the individual stocks are in the Consumer sectors and I am overweighted in my total portfolio (25%) in these sectors.
thanks,
Jim

Q: Hi,I will retire in six months so will need income and security,which do not always go hand and hand.
I have a 5% position in bam.a,but was thinking of just switching to bip.un for the higher yield. Do you feel bip.un is secure enough on its own,or would you go say, 3% of each?
Also do you have two or three go to names that have 3-4% yields for the 5+ year time frame.
Always seem to have a hard time not to panic sell when the markets or one of my stocks are down over 20%.Should my discipline always be to hang-on if I have quality stocks?
Thanks,great work.

Q: I've been looking at adding some Wajax to my holdings but would appreciate your thoughts first.
Many thanks
Bob

Q: Hi team

I own shares in IBG, WSP, and STN in different accounts. I like the global nature of WSP, its growth potential and dividend. Stantec is probably the safest way to play the sector, pays a dividend and seems to have predictable growth as it seems to be able to integrate acquisitions quite successfully. IBG seems to be recovering and probably has the most upside.

If you had to pick one of these Companies, which would you choose and why?

As always, thank you for your thoughtful analysis.

Don

Q: With the U.S. FED increased potential of raising rates in June and the resulting strength of the USD, can you suggest from the stocks covered by 5i that have an increased potential for capital appreciation?

As always, thanks for the excellent insights,
Angelo

Q: Would like to add one safe stock with good divi to my portfolio. Have sector room for finance and telecom. Trying to choose between BCE & BNS. BCE has a negative with the CRTC regulators forthcoming ruling on the MTB takeover and also encouraging competition. BNS will no doubt be affected by the Alberta problem. Maybe I should be looking elsewhere? Would really appreciate your insight on this as always.

Q: Hi Guys, Am I correct in assuming that if the Fed raises the interest rate in June that the US bank stocks will go up,the US dollar up and gold/gold stocks down in conjunction with that move?
On a personal note when I renew I understand that my unused question credits will be carried forward. Correct? Thanks as always
Mike

Q: In a question asked earlier regarding getting a small amount of shares from the upcoming stock dividend it was mentioned that selling bam.a before the xdate would avoid the tax mess in an unregistered account. Can you explain why accepting the stock dividend and selling the shares would be a tax headache. Thankd

Q: Network media group Inc. (nte.v) went up a lot for last few days with very large volume. Can you tell me what are reasons behind it?

Q: Hello, I am a new member and have some questions. I am almost 30 years old and have a new, manageable mortgage. My TFSA stock account values at appox $20,000 with additions of $250/ month. I'm needing to build up my emergency fund and currently own 500 shares of AYA, 220 shares of IT and 200 shares of SLF. I'm hoping for some guidance. Thank you, Katherine

Q: I have a full position (5%)in BCE, would it make sense at this time to sell all or reduce this position and take a position in KXS?

Peter

Q: One would think that DRT could provide services to the extensive rebuild in Fort McMurray, both residential and commercial. I don't hear anything to this effect, your thoughts please.

Q: It would appear that much of the success of leading tech/internet companies like Google and Facebook (which I currently have shares in) can be attributed to their ability to align themselves with, and then capitalize on, emerging technological and communication trends in society such as internet information gathering and social networking.

For investors, serious money can be made by identifying and forecasting such trends and identifying, at an early stage, the companies that can best capitalize on them by dominating the niche (think of the number of search engines that had proliferated before Google became the go-to web-browser of choice).

Based on this line of thinking, could you name a few companies that you consider best positioned to capitalize on emerging trends in communications and technology (Canadian or US)? Is there any hope for TWTR which seems to be in the right place at the right time but has been a basket case so far?

Q: What does it mean when a company is a good allocator of capital ? Can you please give a few exemples as part of your explanation ? Thank you.

Q: I bought Echelon Financial (EFH) about two years ago, it is now trading at my purchase price. Last quarter was a bad one and I am contemplating selling. Could you please give me your opinion if a switch is good idea and what would be your suggestion on the switch. Thanks

Q: Yr thoughts plz, esp now it has declined so much recently.