Investment Q&A

Q: What is your general "gut" feeling about this meltdown? If the Dow does not breech 25,000, does that indicate a bottom forming or do you see a prolonged period of share price damage?
No one doubts the seriousness of the virus, I wish they would call it the "new flu" as the present name sounds so ominous, but compared to the 20,000 plus who have died this season from the flu, it seems the media reporting "each case" is causing some serious panic both in life in general and in the markets. What is your overall assessment of the present conditions and can you take a stab at how long you think this will be so dominant in the news cycle. I guess when it's the second or third top story, it will be time to buy a lot!
Thanks.

Q: I use the Globe&Mail online portfolio manager to keep track of my numbers. It costs about $25/mo. and is a bit quirky (i.e. it goes offline a lot). They also keep bombarding me with efforts to subscribe to their paper which I don't want to do (I'm not a GTA guy). Can you recommend another option?

Q: How would you feel about buying a call on one or more large gold stocks at this point?

Q: Hi,

I own the Alaris CVB. Is there danger here of insolvency or would you consider it safe to hold to maturity?

Sheldon

Q: Sell or hold after precipitous drop

Q: Has the Brazilian currency gone up or down much since Knight made the purchase of Biotoscan and do see it as an influencing factor overall or is the currency relatively stable?
Thanks.

Q: I was surprised at your answer about EQB. The stock has provided 500% return over last 10 years (before the recent decline). The reasons for not meeting expectations were explained adequately, Is this decline not a great buying opportunity for more than income (after things have settled down)?

Q: With the major down swings/upswings this last week or so, what type of investor are you seeing most active in the marketplace (and are we able to see this info publicly). Are these "mainly" the big institutional players unloading positions or loading up causing huge swings or is it the retail investor...or both
Also, are you seeing the majors starting to step in with more conviction on the dips?

Q: Retired, conservative dividend-income investor with a "buy-and-hold & trim-add around a core position" strategy. At times like these, I take a fresh look at my holdings and ask two key questions. #1 = are there any of my equity holdings that have alarm bells going off? #2 = how safe are the dividends (knowing that no dividend is 100% secure)? The portfolio capital may rise or fall, but it is the continuation of the dividend that is more important.

For asset allocation purposes related to individual stocks (as opposed to sector allocations), I use the following:
5% targets = AQN, BCE, BNS, PBH, RY, TRP, WSP
4% targets = AD, AW, CSH, NWC
2% targets = LNF, MG, NTR
ETF targets = roughly 3-7%

Q#1 = are there any of these equities that you hear alarm bells?
Q#2 = are there any of these equities where you foresee dividend risk?
Q#3 = any thoughts on how I have my asset allocations set up (knowing it is a very personal decision?

Take a bunch of credits. Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: I would like to start a small position in GC, in a corp account that is not looking for a dividend (5+ year time horizon). In your opinion, is GC a good longterm hold and is now a good time to buy? Can you please give me some insight into why they are buying back shares - is there a chance they wish to delist and become a private company? As always, thank you for your comments.

Q: The price of gold is up at the moment but most gold stocks are down. What might be the cause?
Thank you,
Bob

Q: Instead of buying energy companies, which have bankrupcy risk, for those of us with little to no weighting on the sector, what do you think of buying oil directly with Horizon's ETF?

Q: I never thought I'd see VET at $10.00 Is this a great buy or just a disaster - moreso than it is already waiting to happen?
Is this company sustainable at this number? With anyone but Trudeau at the helm I'd think theres a chance...but with him I fear its all downhill.
Your opinion....does this company survive??

Q: Sell or hold after quarterly report and further drop

Q: I am a recently retired investor who has held SYZ for a while; ridden it up and appear to now be riding it down. I see that insiders seem to be starting to buy again. At what price do you think it becomes a compelling opportunity? (I do love my dividends!)

Thanks for your help

Q: Can we get your thoughts on Vet results and dividend reduction? Thanks John

Q: I'm 27 and have invested in my TFSA in 8 growth compagnies so far for long term holding (retirement). I save 10% of my salary in my TFSA for my retirement since I'm 22 as I read in Rich Barber few years ago. I wait until I've got 1000-1500$ and then buy a stock.
1) Other part in my saving is to buy a house with my girlfriend in about 2-3 years. What will you suggest us to invest in for that short period?
2) My girlfriend want to start investing for her retirement. I suggested her to invest in ETF at first and than change for a strategy like Beat the TSX when she has enough money saved. Is it a good strategy? If so, which ETF will you suggest to invest in?
Thank you

Q: MFC was trading yesterday below book value and is down about 5% today. I would appreciate you comments on MFC.
Thank you

Q: Which stocks (US or Cdn) in your opinion may serve as something of a hedge during the virus scare. Kinaxis, for example, doesn't seem to be getting beaten up (yet). I'm thinking of online shopping support stocks, streaming networks, or other businesses that won't be affected, and may even see a boost, if people choose to stay in.

Q: Is there a particular reason why PKI falls like a rock?