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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: So my question is a general one and maybe kind of dumb since I'm far from an expert. But why is it that I wake up some mornings and the market is up 250 points - or down 250 points before it's even opened? I get that there's a limited number of people who can do 'pre-market' trading. And that this trading is very thin. This means a very few trades can have an outsized influence on the market. But how is it this can set the tone for the day, with almost everything being down or up 250 points at the start? This rarely reverses, so it seems like what people do in the daytime has less influence on the market than these nighttime or early morning traders. If there's some huge event overnight I could understand, but some mornings I wake up and gold is down, bitcoin is down, commodities and oil are down, and all the markets, from high flying tech to utilities are way down, for no understandable reason.
Read Answer Asked by John on January 25, 2021
Q: Good morning.
I am looking to buy one of the 4 listed. My distillation of reading your responses to questions is that you would recommend NVDA. Is this correct? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Danny-boy on January 25, 2021
Q: I own ICLN but have been looking at the description for HCLN and think that they are different enough I could hold both if I really want to catch the clean energy wave. What do you think? And what do you think of HCLN realizing that it is brand new and small? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by David on January 25, 2021
Q: Re the question of withdrawals from RIF's rather than RSP's it is my understanding that RSP withdrawals are not considered pension income by CRA and thus do not qualify to be income split. Also I believe the $2000.00 dollar tax credit does not apply.
Am I correct in this belief?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by DAVID on January 25, 2021
Q: Good Afternoon I am looking for your thoughts on VISA,

I held it pre-covid as I love the type of business it is and the margins it has, and at the times I figured with trends and expecting e-commerce to grow steadily I felt it was a good long term hold and certainly still do. Now with Covid transforming the way we live our lives, I feel like its dominant position as a payment processor should only help its business, with the accelerated growth taking place in e-commerce and contactless payments. The stocks is essentially even since Jan 2020, PayPal is up over 100%. I own both so I am not complaining and I get why PayPal is up a ton, as its more of a true cash-less play with bitcoin helping it gain more exposure. But any reason as it why it has lagged so much?

Considering Visa's moat, financial health and the fact that consumer trends are aligning perfectly with its business, where would you rank Visa in the realm of the other large cap stocks (FAANGM etc)? top 10, 15,20.... I look at it as "set it and forget it" stock for 15+years but I am very tempted to add more. Have a great weekend!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on January 25, 2021
Q: Should investors change their goalpost metrics of valuing companies when investing?
Nowadays many complain about seemingly high valuations of many companies.

In the past, companies with a high P/E ratio would raise alarms - now it seems it's de rigeur - Apple has a P/E ratio of 43 for example! Does this go hand-in-had with investors accepting very low interest rates?

At first I thought it crazy that a company like Apple would earn $1 for every $43 dollars of share price but then realaized the US 10yr treasury currently gives me $1.09 for every $100 of principal .

Should the yardstick of what constitutes fair value be changed in light of these lower interest rates?

I know there are many ways to value companies but what would you say would be a 'fair' P/E ratio nowadays? Benjamin Graham had a formula and I'd like to see your opinion.
Read Answer Asked by Neelesh on January 25, 2021
Q: I am low on utilities as per the portfolio analytics. I currently own the above stocks. my question is would you add equally to these or do you have a preferred stock of the three or perhaps one more to add to the group?

thanks Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on January 25, 2021
Q: "WIR's historical tax allocation has been 40% foreign non business income and 60% return of capital (ROC). ROC is included in the distribution and is not a separate payout. There certainly is no Canadian dividend tax credit. We would be fine with this in a cash account".
One more question on this CDN Cie !
I keep WIR.UN in my non registered account, since 1) the dividend is excellent and 2) The Cie is well positioned ,are those 2 arguments are enough to justify keeping WIR,UN in my non registered account and to pay the 15% US withholding tax + CDN tax ? any other argument ? since the dividend is 4.8% -15% US tax - CDN tax on 40% foreign non business income ? Thanks again !
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on January 25, 2021
Q: Howdy,

AYX seems to be at a crossroad. It may turn things around and resume high growth by upgrading their cloud offering or perhaps be displaced due to their older server based software architecture. Should I sell AYX to initiate a position in NVDA or increase an existing CRWD position? Or just stay put with AYX to see how it turns out? Appreciate your opinion.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Joel on January 25, 2021
Q: Re: Grant's Friday question about reducing the tax liability for his CCPC.

Instead of changing the investments, another option to consider would be to purchase corporate life insurance which can be the vehicle to pay that tax bill. And the life insurance premiums can be paid with corporate dollars, not personal after-tax dollars.
Just looking at it through a different lens here.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on January 25, 2021
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