Investment Q&A

Q: Hi.

Though the valuations are reasonable and I'm still invested in many 5i stocks, I foresee a correction coming some time in ~ 2015. To mitigate this, I plan on moving 'a bit' of my equities into Vanguard Total Stock Market (VT) - the ETF of everything I call it ... My thinking is that North America (TSX) will be hit a little harder than the world in general when this occurs. When it does, and it will, I will sell VT and buy 5i stocks back at a discount. I know you can't time the market, and this is a bit crystal ball-ish - but the downside of doing so seems low ... Any advise or comment? Many thanks.

Q: i think Big Data will be an important trend for the future. I am looking for ways to invest in this concept but so far have only found Wanted. Do you know of any other investible companies which are big data or have a significant big data component?
Bryon in Elmira

Q: I saw you commented on VTSMX in an earlier question. VTI is a vanguard fund with the same title "Vanguard Total Stock Market". Is there an advantage of going with one over the other?

Q: Hi Peter/Team,

Good luck on your ride Peter. Come back safely - we really need you here! ;-)

I have a question about some US funds I read about on Seeking Alpha. I know you focus on Canada but would appreciate any general or specific comments about these funds.

I paraphrase the description by a poster: "...funds are around half US stocks and around half foreign stocks, and write covered calls against some of the shares in the portfolio and have payouts over 8-9%."

Here is the list:

EXG.US Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Diversified Equity Income Fund
IGA.US Voya Global Advantage and Premium Opportunity Fund
IGD.US Voya Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund
IDE.US Voya Infrastructure Industrials and Materials Fund
BOE.US BlackRock Global Opportunities Equity Trust

The poster also mentioned the following fund that "...writes call options against some of the shares in the portfolio."

GNT.US GAMCO Natural Resources Gold & Income Trust

Any thoughts or advice you may have would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for long term income with low to moderate risk. I suspect these are high risk though.

All the best, Michael.

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

I am currently an owner of American Tower (AMT.US). I bought this sub $60 based on people I know in the business who believe the demand for Tower Space will be strong over the next foreseeable future. There are a lot of naysayers out there on this company but I cannot find anything in their financials or results that would cause me concern. Am I missing something. I like both the growth and yield on this one.

thanks for all you do!

Q: What do you think of Warren Buffet's investment into Tim Hortons & Burger King. Is this a good time to get into BRK.B? Or, should I wait for a possible market pullback to make the stock 5%-10% cheaper? Is there is discount or premium to NAV on this stock?

Q: Hello 5i,
I’m looking to better my portfolio incrementally, in the financial sector, I have three companies which I like, Mercury General Corp (MCY), Oritani Financial Corp (ORIT) and Old Republic International Corp (ORI). I have cash to buy one of these companies and will sell Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZBY) to buy the other. Does this make sense from a long term perspective? I was looking at the Beta of ANZBY and thought I could do without that.
Thanks,

Q: Hi Guys,

Can you suggest a Technology ETF. I would assume to hold Google, Amazon, and those types it would have to be American.

Thanks,
Charlie

Q: In the latest email from 5I, I was reading about ETFs and saw the symbol VTSMX as a suggested Vanguard fund ; however, when I looked it up no results were found .I rechecked and had copied it correctly but once again no results . Could you give your comments on this fund? Thanks, Dave

Q: I have 4 half positions in my US account and want to top one of them up to a full position, which would you suggest? NWL,KMP,JPM,CPG

Q: I have been considering buying a small position in PCLN.US is it a better buy today and in your view has the risks increased with American Arline's pulling out of Orbits. Thanks for the great service.

Q: Hello team,

I realize the focus here is not US stocks, but wanted to ask if your thoughts on WFM and FEYE for a year or two. Do you think they represent value at these levels?

As always, thanks for your wisdom

BK

Q: Hi Peter and Team - Cloud technology has been a very popular topic in the past year or so from both a technological standpoint and a business perspective. Do you have any general comments as to investing in this field and are there any companies in particular that you would recommend investing in. Thanks.

Q: Hi - any comments on ftnt.us would be appreciated- they are apparently well positioned in the IT security space. thanks

Q: Peter, what do you think of the upcoming ipo for Ali Baba? What are your thoughts on when and how much to pay when demand will be massive and the price will likely be driven up rapidly?

Thanks.

Q: Hi Peter

What do you think of buying Mobileye (MBLY) as a way to get in on a fast growing area?

Thanks Peter and all the best on your upcoming ride.

Q: Hi, Peter
I have hold tsl.us for a few years and lost money. What is your thought about the stock, should I sell or hold.
qihu.us just reported the results for last quarter, it seems pretty good, but the stock keeps on falling, your thought on the company going forward. thank you very much.also I am thinking to replace SU with TOU, is it a good idea.

Selina

Q: Hi Team,

I have a number of quality US$ equities in my portfolio. I would prefer to hedge the US$ exposure if I could find an affordable way to do so. I tried a 2X leveraged ETF a few years ago but it had a 2.5% MER and I seem to recall that the leverage doesn't work well with volatility. Do you have any suggestions on how I can hedge the exposure? Thanks

Q: If the company is familiar to i5research, can you comment on Gogo Inc. (GOGO), as a 5-10 year investment.

Q: re: Flextronics Int'l Ltd FLEX

Received a good recommendation on Market Call and it was mentioned they recently instituted a dividend. Your opinion please. (wasn't very rosy when last discussed in January of this year)

Thanks for all you do

Gord