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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: I'm a new DIY investor who is 15 yrs from retirement with a full DB pension.
I will be transferring my big bank mutual funds into an online brokerage and borrowing a lump sum to invest within TFSA and non-registered accounts.
Currently, I'm considering XIC, XAW, and QQQ with, say, a 30/50/10 allocation. The remaining 10% would be for 'conviction' stocks.
Is this a reasonable approach? How would you improve on it?
Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on October 02, 2018
Q: Re. Oct 1 question, fwd p/e's can be found under statistics in Yahoo Canada Finance. I cannot verify the accuracy.
Read Answer Asked by Ken on October 02, 2018
Q: These ETF's are TRI or Total Return Index ETF's. They pay out no distributions of dividends and no ROC. I'm guessing that they reinvest all the payouts and subtract the fees. Since they do this would you expect that there is no CRA paperwork to complete unless you sell units which would trigger capital gains. What is your opinion of holding these in a passive corp as I think Canadian dividends would be taxed higher in the passive corp and these only produce capital gains? I am looking at the HXQ (Nasdaq 100) so I do not have to complete the T1135 paperwork and stay in CDN $.
Read Answer Asked by Terry on October 01, 2018
Q: I am retired and have significant positions in vsb and vab and both are valued less today than a couple of years ago.
I was thinking to sell one or both and purchase xhb and /or xcb and bep.un and/or ala.
I look forward to your comments. Thank-you
Read Answer Asked by JACK on October 01, 2018
Q: Hi,
if one wanted exposure to commodities (not stocks of companies), are there any investment vehicles available to small investors? For example, I know that we can trade GLD to get exposure to gold and there are ETF's for silver. Are there such options for a broad basket of commodities?
If so can you provide some names and whether or not they are eligible for RRSP and/or TFSA accounts?
Thank you.
Dan
Read Answer Asked by Daniel on October 01, 2018
Q: DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON THE WISDOM TREE ETF'S AVAILABLE ON THE TSX?
Read Answer Asked by Peter on October 01, 2018
Q: Some good Canadian stocks have dropped a lot will you advice to hold these stocks for long term or might drop more due to tax loss.Stock like Ala,mg,,cnq,enb,pbh,qsr,tsgi,psk,th,tcl.b and many more stocks which are referred as good stocks but currently at loss?.No tax consideration
for me do you advice to sell any in the list?.
Read Answer Asked by Nizar on October 01, 2018
Q: My question involves taxation of these two ETFs at death as a Canadian citizen. VSP holds the US domiciled Vanguard S&P 500 ETF whereas the BMO ZUE invests in the Canadian domiciled ZSP which holds the US equities directly. Once a Canadian individual crosses certain net worth thresholds they are subject to double taxation from both the US and Canada on their US holdings at death. Is the structure of VSP put an individual at more risk? Can you or any members comment?
Read Answer Asked by Gary on October 01, 2018
Q: I have given myself some exposure to Europe and Asia through ETF’s and have seen a down trend lately.Are these countries going to be in more trouble as the trade wars go on.I am thinking of selling and sit in cash or direct it into the US market which I already have lots of exposure.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Brad on October 01, 2018
Q: Hey guys,

Okay, I'm a bit confused on Alta Gas. They are splitting up the company into US and CDN operations. Now they've made a purchase for about $230 million.

My questions are as follows:
1. Does it seem likely that the dividend will be cut once the company is split?
2. Do you think management knows what they are doing? It's hard to tell if they are good at what they do or if all these moves are "Hail Marys".
3. Do you think the CDN operation, when it IPOs, is worth a look?

Thanks!

Aaron
Read Answer Asked by Aaron on October 01, 2018
Q: Hello, what do you think of Foot Locker (FL) right now? If you had to choose between Nike and Foot Locker as an investment in the US cyclical sector, which one would that be and why? Comment: I have tried to look up FL in the company profile section but just can't find it, there must be something I don't do correctly? Thanks, Gervais
Read Answer Asked by Gervais on October 01, 2018
Q: What five ETF’s would be suitable to hold in an RRSP? I am interested in technology, healthcare, financials, energy and industrials. I am a moderately conservative investor, am looking at about a 15 year timeline and am interested in Canadian, US, global and emerging markets. Many thanks for your insights.
Read Answer Asked by Heather on October 01, 2018
Q: In my husbands lif account we are going to need to replace enercare with safe dividend stocks. Sectors are not important. Current holdings are : A and W, BGI.un, Crius, Gamehost, RNW. Current dividends are greater than the withdrawal. We would be looking to add stocks whose dividends would be reasonable safe in an economic slow down.
How do you feel about the following strategy and please feel free to offer other suggestions or comments:
Bip.un, Bce, Alta gas, Bns-
Either fortis or Aqn
And then something with growth potential such as a corby ( as it has no debt) or transcontinental ?
We are also open to other suggestions.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Maggie on October 01, 2018
Q: Feeling that Canadian stocks were due for a post NAFTA bounce, I am "all in " on Canada. My thinking is that while some companies and sectors will get an immediate boost, there is also a good chance that other Canadian companies, even ones that don't benefit too directly from NAFTA, will get another look over the medium (3 months to 1 year) term due to the improved stability of the investment environment. Obviously things can happen, but, in gneral, does this scneario make sense to you? Thank-you.
Read Answer Asked by Alex on October 01, 2018
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