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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: On July 14 you answered a question from Donald about share buybacks. However, the screener you provided a link for was apparently for US stocks only, and required a monthly subscription.
I am interested in specific buybacks for a limited amount of Canadian companies. I can of course see in announcements that an NCIB has been approved and such, but is there any way to know whether or not they actually are buying back stocks? Must I wait for a quarterly or annual report to find this out after the fact, or is there somewhere I can go to see purchases?
I do know that the amount of stock they have would be reduced, but wonder if the actual share cancellation happens at the buyback, or at their leisure sometime later?

Thanks PK
Read Answer Asked by Paul on July 25, 2022
Q: Just curious what you guys think of this company. Pretty large at around 9B Market Cap, and roughly 44,000 employees, founded in 1885. My source shows a Forward P/E
of 22.6x and a forward P/S of 2.3x.
Do you like this Company, for diversification, and would the price get cut in 1/2 during a recession, as they seem to do a lot of Quality Assurance.
Thanks Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on July 25, 2022
Q: Regarding US Equity Power Buffer ETF (PJUN): what is your take on this etf to hedge some of the potential downward movement of the S&P 500?. Or would you just hold more cash to try to hedge and protect the downside? How does this etf work and is it worth the MER?
Read Answer Asked by Steven on July 25, 2022
Q: As we progress through the dog days of summer and possibly approach the winter of our discontent, the number of questions being asked of 5i seem to be lower at this time. Is this a summertime normal occurrence? Otherwise, is it possible that the number of questions asked day by day could be a useful metric of investor interest in the stock markets. If so, then as the number of questions increase, could this indicate that the market is in the road to recovery. This would not be a “bet the farm” metric but would appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
Thanks for your valuable service.
Cyril
Read Answer Asked by Pat & Cyril on July 25, 2022
Q: Not a question but rather a comment on the Q&A earlier today that included mention of TEF, the US ADR for Telefonica.

Investors should be aware that their final yield on dividends will be impacted by Spain’s Financial Transactions Tax, which is also levied on the ADR:

https://www.clearstream.com/clearstream-en/products-and-services/market-coverage/europe-t2s/spain/spain-financial-transaction-tax-ftt--2726042
Read Answer Asked by Aaron on July 25, 2022
Q: Hello,
In reading submitted questions and your answers about SU, TOU and even CNQ over the past little while, and seeing recent activities, I was wondering if you can provide the reasoning for having SU in the balanced portfolio as opposed to the other two. TOU in particular seems to be one of your favourite energy companies, albeit with a lower dividend. Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by jeff on July 25, 2022
Q: Lifeworks still trades below the deal price of $33. Is this because the closing date is far out or does this mean there is a high chance that the deal will not close? If the latter is the case, should I sell now and avoid the risk of what would be a huge drop in the share price of LWRK back to the pre offer level?

thanks again
John
Read Answer Asked by john on July 25, 2022
Q: Hi Team,
Social media stocks crashed today based on SNAP's earnings. Meta (-7.5%) GOOG (-5.8%). To me...the logic of crashing shares of companies like Meta and GOOG as they are being compared to SNAP is just insane. Did this similar instance not just happen last earnings season? Only to have GOOG crush earnings? I guess my question is...do you agree that SNAP is no where close to being in the same league when it comes to its current business model? And if so...this should be a great buying opp for companies such as GOOG and META? It's days like today that make a person really question the integrity of whatever goes on on the floors of Wall Street. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks

Shane.
Read Answer Asked by Shane on July 25, 2022
Q: Hello 5i team:
Without editorializing or getting too “grumpy old man”, it seems we have a productivity issue in Canada, and now a labour force participation and perhaps also a work ethic issue. Every employer where I reside is bemoaning “people problems”.
I’m wondering if you have done any work on identifying companies that generate high free cash flow with relatively fewer employees? I know you have mentioned ATA in the past as maybe a way to play the theme, but I’m thinking of companies that are already there because of the nature of their business.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on July 25, 2022
Q: I recently read that Wealthsimple was firing staff and cutting back on some services. I do use Wealthsimple Trade and have been very happy with its simplicity and ease of use. Should an investor be concerned about bankruptcy for a firm like Wealthsimple as opposed to investing/trading with a bank like National Bank or one of the big banks ?
Read Answer Asked by Robbie on July 25, 2022
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