Investment Q&A

Q: I find it quite interesting that there may be a possible correction in January due to tax-related selling. I own most of my securities in a TFSA and/or RRSP so i am not (in the short term at least) motivated by tax implications. Should I sell now and try to pick up shares at a discount in January?

Q: Thanks for helping guide my families investments in such a crazy year. With my twins having only 4 years until university 5i's advice was a game changer in terms of returns and helping one sleep at night. Over the last week I bought two of my nephews in there early 20's a 5i subscription (which due to your generosity also gives $70 to the food bank!). I am so excited for the potential your teams sound advice will give them for years to come

While I have you, a couple questions (please charge accordingly). I am full up on tech (and then some) but was intrigued by your recent responses on MITK and RDFN. If you were to pick one which would it be? Would you use DOCU as a possible sell candidate if you needed to raise cash to buy one of them? Secondly, would you buy either QS or CRSP after there meteoric rises?

Thanks and happy holidays,
Brian

Q: Thoughts please on the latest move from Magna with the JV with LG to develop electric powertrains, Thx

Q: In your answer of December 22 about allocations, you mention "consumer durables 5%." and got me ponder. For me, I think durables as bricks for example. Is DOO such a company, being "play toys" that last for many years? Are there other companies that you have in mind for investment purposes? Thanks for the insights....Tom

Q: Hi
Besides the amazing science a lot of great investment ideas here. Protein predictors AI grabbed me.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/dec/20/the-virus-free-scientific-breakthroughs-of-2020-chosen-by-scientists

Best of the season to all.

Q: I am getting scared! This is way too many profits in such a short period of time, in a pandemic, the world shut down, how can that be? So many unemployed. I have never made this kind of money, EVER! Fear and greed is setting in. I am fearful of the market, greedy to let it keep moving up even though it does not look anywhere near sustainable. Help us out here, Peter. Have you ever seen increases in prices so quickly, what is going on? P/E, revenue, earnings, sales, nothing seems to matter. A vision of 2000 keeps rolling around in my head when I guess something like that happened and then everything came crashing down, HARD!

Q: Hi, recently PFE, AZN & Moderna have all dropped a lot from their highs in early December. Why do you think these stocks have dropped so much? Thanks.

Q: 5i staff and readers might be interested to hear (and comment on) the outcome of my recent (Oct-Nov 2020) Nutrien tax loss sale/repurchase in a taxable account. When I sold my 2500 Nutrien shares for ~$137,000 (realizing ~$18,000 loss), I purchased (per 5i suggestion) an offsetting position in Mosaic (MOS.US, another fertilizer company). Over the next 30 days, Nutrien stock price rose significantly, and so when it came time to repurchase the Nutrien shares (after 30 day waiting period), they now cost $153,000, i.e., an increase in price for the 2500 shares almost as much as the realized loss (~$16,000 versus ~$18,000)! Fortunately, the Mosaic position rose in the meantime by ~$21,000, rescuing what otherwise would have been a disastrous tax-loss sale. In the end, I am now back in Nutrien (a long-term hold in my portfolio), but the whole round trip experience ended up with no tax savings (in fact, my net capital gain position increased by ~$3000 (i.e., ~$21,000 Mosaic share gain minus ~$18,000 Nutrien realized loss), making the whole effort unhelpful re: saving taxes. This tale illustrates well the potential peril of tax-loss selling. But thank you to 5i for the suggestion to hold Mosaic during the 30-day period, preventing a really bad outcome.
Ted

Q: It would be good if you had a page that provides an overview of your different products.
I see you have a $50 +/- upgrade to the basic 5i called Research - I can't find anything on the site that describes the value it provides.

Q: I am light on Industrials and heavy on Tech. Looking to the Balanced Equity P/F for inspiration I see a 29% weight (about my weight in Tech) with 9 names included, twice the recommended weighting. I know AC was recently added but are there one or two names you especially favour, and one that may be on the way out or due for reduction?

On a separate tangent, is there a reason this P/F has no representation in Communications Services or Real Estate?

Q: Hi 5i research team - Can I have your opinion on the ZCM, ZCS, HFR ETFs?
I am looking for ETFs in the bonds category that do not fall much if the market tumbles (relatively safe) and at the same time pays a good interest compared to money market funds. I dont have any in the US market.
Any other ETFs you can think of in the CAD and US markets?
Thanks for your input!

Q: I see this as the first time you mentioned this company. An actual US small cap! Could you give some colour to what you see in it?

TIA

Q: Hi,
Question 1: When do you plan to add the new positions in the growth portfolio? If you can't share that information, would you be able to share the short list of what you are considering?

Question 2: If you were able to add US positions what would they be?

Thanks again for your wonderful service and happy holidays.

Q: Any thoughts on Vistra Corp. Company on a valuation basis is cheap, the metrics from a p/e, cash flow , growth point of look good. Part of their revenues are from coal plants and that has held back the share price, they are however transitioning out of them with a future focus on renewable energy. BAM is one their largest shareholders and should aid the transformation to more renewable energy (primarly solar ). Thank you for the great work

Q: Hello,
I currently hold CNR and Waste Connections in my Industrials. CNR is in need of a trim. Suggestions about where to place the funds? I have looked at Finning, ATS, TRII, WSP, Xebec but only want, at most, a couple of others.

Thanks for you ongoing commitment to all of us.
V.

Q: Hello,
My Consumer Defensive currently consists of the above stocks. I am thinking of selling my ATD and buying some NWC plus something else. Any other possibilities that I should consider?

Thanks,
V

Q: I’m wondering if you could share your top three cyber security stocks. Thanks

Q: Hello Team 5i,
I own the companies listed above within a TFSA
REAL is smallest holding at 11% of this account = approx 12k
I will add 6k to TFSA in Jan 21

I am considering four options
Keep REAL and BUY more REAL with 6k
Keep REAL and BUY more XBC, STC, ATA and/or WELL with 6k
SELL REAL and BUY NVEI with 18k
SELL REAL and BUY more XBC, STC, ATA and/or WELL with 18k

-sector allocation not a consideration
-transaction costs not a concern
-concentration (# of securities) within TFSA not a consideration

Your thoughts please?

All the best to all the people at 5i who provide such a wonderful service.
Steve P

Q: I own all these in my utilites allocation (AQN 3.5%, BEPC 2.4%, FTS 2.5%, NPI 1.6%). I'm looking to pull some capital out of these to redirect towards industrials and consumer cyclicals for the upcoming year. Could you perhaps rank them on valuation, and/or suggest which way you might go, i.e. shave a little off each, equal weight them, drop one or more, etc. Thank-you as always.

Q: Hi Peter et al:
I had some EMC shares, and when dell tyook them over I received 7 Dell shares. I want to increase this to an even 100- 300 depending on your advice. I researched Dell a little and read a comparison with Apple. Ranks 3rd in the pc market behind HP and Lenovo. Has 45 bil debt, but might spin off Vmware ( 81% x 60 bil=50 bil for Dell. Investors would then get the rest of the company for nothing.Currfent debt/Equity 110%. Apple 6%. Apple cash 190 bil. At current valuations Dell looks more attractive. Apple p/s 7.5x Dell .6x. It has a peg ratio under 1. Apple 2.4. Please advise. Maybe I should just sell the 7 shares and forget it. I don't like small odd numbers. Thank you, as always.
BEN.