Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter,
I was not able to find the symbol XLF (the US financial sector ETF) on your site so am hoping you can assist. The ETF contains Brk.B, BAC, etc Today, the index fell more than 15% and the news appears to be related to the following:
"Effective on the date of index reconstitution, the Financial Select Sector Index will include securities of companies from the following industries: diversified financial services, insurance, banks, capital markets, consumer finance, thrifts and mortgage finance, and mortgage real estate investment trusts (REITs). The Real Estate Select Sector Index includes real estate management, development and REITs, with the exception of mortgage REITs". If this is true, I am assuming the company that creates the ETF wants to make it more diversified. If so, why would the index fall so much? Is it because investors wanted a concentrated ETF as opposed to the diversified one. From my understanding the XLF before today is similar to the XFN for Cdn Banks and insurance. Thanks very much.

Q: What do you think of this company? Their technology is very futuristic. The next Intel, Qualcomm, Nvdia? Not for the faint of heart but what if investing in this company is a 10 year ticket to tremendous wealth building? Based on what I have read and seen I am tempted to park five grand.

Q: What do you think of investing in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat index, instead of (or in addition to) the S&P 500 index?

According to this web site (http://www.simplysafedividends.com/dividend-aristocrats/) that index has outperformed the S&P 500 index quite nicely over the last 5 year and 10 year period.

So far I have found only one ETF that tracks the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat Index. It is NOBL (Prdhares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index) and has a MER of 0.58%. Do you know of any other ETFs that track this dividend aristocrat index, and if so, which ETF would you recommend?

Paul

Q: I am scratching my head on the consumer discretionary sector. Although the trends seem favourable, I am just not thrilled with what I see available out there. One name that intrigues me is PVH. It avoids the potential pitfalls of brick and mortar stores and seems fairly cheap on a valuation basis. Do you agree with the latter and can I have your general thoughts on PVH?. Or is some name in the sector that you find compelling? Thank-you.

Q: Hi Team, For a play on Medical devices or the health space what are your thoughts on Boston Scientific? Is MDT Medtronic a better play or maybe JNJ with some Medical Devices. Thank-you! Sam

Q: I bought CUB.us thinking Cubic had a wide moat and/or a provides a specialized service for which the demand could rise soon. CUBIC appeared to be in a reasonably good sector. Is it? It seems to have stalled. Before I sell CUB.us I ask your opinion. (If you have other suggestions in this or adjacent sectors , I would welcome ideas).

Q: Hi; I know US stocks are not your focus but I wanted to ask your opinion on CVS. It seems like a great, stable US franchise not unlike Shoppers in Canada. It trades at a historically low valuation and below the broader market multiple. It pays a dividend. It seems like a great long term buy and hold for my RRSP. Is there something I'm missing?

Q: I have been reading up on solar energy which represents only 1% of the total energy used for now, but that should change dramatically in the years to come. Can you suggest a company or campanys which are involved in solar equipement .

Q: Is now a good time to buy Wells Fargo?

Q: Good morning! Could you please give me your thoughts on adding Blackstone Group (BX) to my RIF account? I hold mostly dividend paying low beta stocks and some bond etf's. BX has a good dividend and appears to be at a low for the year.

Q: ULTA update:

Since I 1st asked about ULTA I have been waiting for an entry point as it pullbacks a bit.

There was a big ULTA block print of 900,000 shares at $232.75 via Goldman Sach. That is $209,475,000.

Was Smart Money buying or selling is always what needs to be figured out.

It is sitting around that price today and bounced off the $230 support level.

Will be interesting the next few days I suspect.

Q: In my RRSP, 28% of my portfolio is in U.S. stocks. I am getting concerned about the US election, and what it might do to the markets, in the short term, as well as the overall U.S. economy in 2017/18. With the Cdn dollar being down around $.76, would it be advisable to take that down closer to 15%, instead of the 28%, for a while?
Also, I presently have 25% in cash, and want to put half of that into something low risk,but better return than cash, for up to 2 years. Would ETFs with a stable history, be a good place to put the cash,and if so, can you recommend a couple? Or another idea, instead of ETFs...
The remaining 47% of the portfolio is in the Cdn market, and some Emerging Market ETFs.
Thank you
Grant

Q: There was a quest on BNN yesterday that said he is short RDS.B because he believes that the dividend will be cut. Can you please give me your comments on the likely hood of this happening.

All the best, Darcy

Q: Hi Peter and team,
I own a reasonable amount of St. Jude medical which is being purchased by Abbott - approx. half cash and half stock.
My other large cap medical holdings includes.
Pfizer, Merck, Medtronic, J&J
I also own GUD & recently bought some Savaria, small portion of EXE
Each has approx. a 1-2% allocation.

Would appreciate your thoughts about when & / or how to get out of St. Judes and what to replace it with.
I don't want more mainly pharma so probably wouldn't add Merck or Pfizer.

I like stocks with a moat such as SJM, MDT, Stryker, Zimmer Biomet and Savaria.

I don't know enough about Abbott to decide if I should simply take the shares. If Abbott is going to be more of a device / equipment company and looks good here I would take the shares.

I am happy to hold these 5-10 years (probably longer) and am close enough to retirement - 3-5 yrs that income and lower risk become more important.

I would appreciate your input as to strategy here and what to do with the cash / shares.
Could you rank the above names taking these factors into account?

Thank you in advance for the great service and your input. ( Please subtract the number of questions you think is fair.)


Tulio

Q: What are your thoughts on the insurance companies in Canada versus US in general. Interest rates seem to affect the performance of the insurers and with the US on track for at least some small increase in rates in the not too far off future, I wondering if switching from Manulife (my current holding) to a US insurer (Aflac perhaps) in a registered account makes sense.

Q: I bought Cracker Barrel due to its superior stability of earnings and return on capital and it immediately dived 13%, about half of the decline occurring after a profit warning yesterday. I usually hang on in these situations especially since it pays a dividend. What would your advice be though?

Q: I have just read a BMIS explainer on the PG sale to Coty. They offer an Option 99 for a PG shareholder to do NOTHING. My read of this is if you want to participate in this transaction you must tender some of your PG shares to enter a convoluted process to determine what you receive. My take on Option 99 is if you don't opt to tender any PG shares, you are effectively letting PG mgt to look after your residual value from this Tx.
Is this a correct conclusion? Is there any material value for a small PG holder to participate in this auction?

Tnaks as alway for your advice.
Ernie

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for an RRSP investment for my wife. What we have right now is a TD US INDEX fund. Chose this one because it has low MER and tracks the S&P 500. Can you give us other index funds that you can recommend be it US or Canadian with good performance?

Thanks,

Sunday

Q: Hello 5i,
Which would you choose for greater growth over the next 2-3 years NVDA or QCOMM?
Thanks
Dave

Q: 5i

Appreciate your comments in regard to the next USA President. What do you beleive the markets in general will do and what will happen with commodities, oil, gas and gold if Hillary gets elected or
if Trump gets elected. Some pundants Are saying gold will soar if Trump wins and markets will drop 20%. If Hillary wins then markets will be volatile as people do not trust the establishment.

Wayne