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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 was reading an article in today's Globe and Mail where they were commenting on Investors fleeing the US trillion dollar debt market (leveraged loans)- and they felt they were becoming riskier in the current environment where interest rates were not expected to go up as much as predicted - MFT holds leveraged loans I believe - how safe do you view this ETF in this environment? - I looked at the price and it has a good current yield of 5.057% and although down a bit from its year high of $21.64 (currently trading at $20.72)- it has hung in there pretty well. I know it is hard in this environment to try and figure out which space to be in with the current unpredictable and uninformed US President - but I am just interested in your feeling about the floating rate space right now - hold, or sell. Right now I am interested in preserving principal and willing to take some risk. Was thinking of selling and maybe looking at it again once everything settles down to a more normal investing environment where rates might start going up again. Appreciate your insight - Karen
Read Answer Asked by Karen on December 27, 2018
Q: Would you be able to list a number of convertible debentures from’safe’ companies and at reasonable rates?
Thank you, Team!
Happy Holidays! Let’s hope for a better 2019...
Read Answer Asked by Sigrid on December 27, 2018
Q: for us residents and taxes, does trade date or settlement date matter to enter into 2018 tax return, where in Canada settlement must fall within 2018. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by george on December 27, 2018
Q: In addition to your response to James about parking money for a short term with absolutely no risk, I would suggest EQBank and Achieva Financial. The latter is particularly good as the daily savings rate is 2.4% and all money (no limit) is insured by the province of Manitoba. EQ's rate is currently 2.3% but insurance is CDIC and capped at $100,000.
Read Answer Asked on December 27, 2018
Q: I hold SHOP in diff accts; one is listed on Cdn exchange, other on US exchange. I notice today that the Cdn listing SHOP is up $14.27/share, the US listing is down $1.22/share. The difference is not the currency. Does this possibly illustrate the negativity of US investors, or what is/are the probable reason(s) for such a spread? Usually the diff is small once the currency is factored in.
Read Answer Asked by Bob on December 27, 2018
Q: Now that tax losses over would be wise to hold the stocks even though most of them are in loss
specially TSE stocks mentioned in our portfolios.
Some how it apears to me that TSE stocks are much lower comparatively to US stocks. possibly better return,your opinion?
Read Answer Asked by Nizar on December 27, 2018
Q: Hello,
Back in 1998 I purchased my first ever shares in a public company called Ontario Hose Specialties Inc. It was such a poor investment I have forgotten all about it until the share certificate materialized recently. The certificate is for 500 shares but the company no longer appears to be publicly traded. It does however still exist and appears to be a private company. I am wondering if my shares have any value today. If the company went private and they had to buy out the shares am I entitled to that payment all these years later? Any assistance is appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by Morgan on December 27, 2018
Q: I am curious about stocks such as Shop which are listed on Canadian and US exchanges.
I have noticed that the actual dollar value per share is almost identical( when I do a currency rate check) even though the trading exchanges are different. Is this happenstance or is there a mechanism that does this.
This is probably a freshman question but I thank you for your work.
Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on December 27, 2018
Q: Hi 5i team,
With the maximum pessimism prevailing in the market, it is the ideal time to invest now at the beaten down price. My question is how an average Joe with limited resources can take advantage of this stock sale. Unless one had sold all holdings to raise cash prior to the big drop, now is too late to cash in and bet the stock market to drop further. So what will you do without going into debt to raise cash to buy? What steps would be advisable?
Let’s take the Growth and Balance portfolios, and let’s ignore the tax consequences and tax loss selling. If I hold most of these two portfolios, should I sell those names that drop the least and buy those that drop the most? Should I sell those that drop the most? Should I sell those that are unlikely to advance in the next half year, and buy the stocks that will most likely have a big rebound? Which are the candidates from the two portfolios that will fit the last approach for sell and for buy? Thanks and merry Xmas to your team.
Read Answer Asked by Willie on December 27, 2018
Q: I have $300,000.00 saved to go toward a house purchase. Where is a safe place to park it?
Read Answer Asked by James on December 27, 2018
Q: You may be aware of this already, but recently the Globeinvestorgold website was folded into the main Globe Investor website, and a lot of functionality has been lost (as far as I can tell). For instance, I used to be able to search headlines based on text such as "normal course issuer bid" to see what companies are doing buybacks, or I was able to do very specific searches of companies based on industry, size, and financial metrics (ie: all oil & gas services companies trading on TSXv with market caps under $100 Million). Both of these functions, and I suspect more, are now gone. Do you know of any websites or platforms that provide similar functionality ? Since I was (and unfortunately, still am) paying for the Globe & Mail services, I am open to a monthly subscription type services. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Mike on December 27, 2018