Investment Q&A

Q: Hello 5I team

I am interested in MRC, I see that the company is trading well below book value (although I think it trades below book regularly) and the P/E ratio looks appealing as well. The debt levels look reasonable compared to other real estate based companies. Would you add this company to a well diversified portfolio or would you pick another real estate company which ones would you pick if so? Would you consider their properties to be high quality ( they look good from their web site but then every company makes their properties look good)? Do you think that they trade below book value because of the low div yield? What do you think of the management, have they made good acquisitions in the past, have they kept their balance sheet strong? Is this company well diversified geographically as well as sector wise ( industrial, residential, commercial, ect)? What caused the almost $8 dollar drop at the end of July, I didn't notice any news that would have caused this.

Thank you for your opinion.

Q: Woukd like to add to John's comment regarding trades not going through CIBC investor's edge. I have accounts at both TD and Scotia discount brokerages.
At 8:45am Monday morning I could see the carnage about to happen and I put in "market orders" for CCL.B, CNR and EMA at both brokerages. I would have been very happy just to buy at the opening prices. The Scotia trades were "rejected" and at 9:40 am I got emails saying the trades could not go through. The TD orders just sat there, not being executed. At 10:00am they were still marked as "open". I had to cancel all the orders and reissue them just after 10:00 am. This time all the orders were filled instantly. I am frustrated with this to say the least, as I left thousands of dollars on the table in that 40 min or so that my trades would not go through. CCL.B in particular had a big swing in price. Is there any recourse for me? Any way to avoid this in the future?

Q: Hello 5i. Just wanted to acknowledge the message in red in the opening page of the Q&A section. Helped that, as a 5i subscriber for a couple of years now, I've been trying to heed your sage advice to remain calm (and 'do nothing') during major market downturns ... though I admit it hasn't been easy at times while watching the paper value of my portfolio shrink! So great to have that reminder given the current market turmoil.

Thanks as always for helping retail investors like me learn how to keep the emotions in check, and as a consequence do a better job of managing our self-directed portfolios.

Q: Hi Peter Can I have your thoughts on this company I am interested in the sector and wonder if this a good play on security the results in the last Q looked not bad .
Kind Regards
Stan

Q: Hi Peter & Team: I would like to take advantage of the membership offer. Can I renew my membership now even the anniversary date is mid-December?

Q: Hi
Could you please help me understand how the SDY ($US ETF) went from $74 down to $46 then back to $71 on Monday?
I don't believe the stocks it tracks dipped 37%. Or did they?
Seems way to volatile for such a solid $13B ETF. Seems like a missed opportunity. And on that note, do you endorse a purchase plan that has buy orders in place at say levels 10-15% below current market prices..to help catch the dips such as this case?
Thank you.

Q: Just a comment, really.

It's hard to avoid somebody talking about the stock market today if you have a radio or TV on. Now, if you also consider the huge volumes (which none of the talking heads mentioned - at least none that I heard) I suggest we are seeing the capitulation and the end of this rout is nigh. Maybe even tomorrow. That of course, doesn't mean we have smooth sailing from here. Only for now.

Q: As I attempted to buy couple of companies (SJ, BOS) when they were significantly off their open price I was confronted with "order pending" messages from CIBC Investors edge. I called the help line and they said due to high volume it all trades would take at least an hour to be looked at before they could move to "open" (or filled) status. I was also told "all firms are experiencing similar difficulties". Is this in fact the case with all firms that offer online trading? I am not a super active trader and prefer to buy and hold (usually based on your great advice) but I was very frustrated with the unacceptable delays I experienced today. I realize that tis was an extraordinary day but should their systems not be more robust than this? Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. If you are not comfortable leaving in the name of my brokerage firm feel free to omit it. As always thanks.

Q: Thank you for quickly answering my earlier question today on REITs. Can you please suggest some of the preferrd "larger, residential companies" referred to. Are you suggesting that individual companies would be better than buying an ETF?
Again, Thanks.

Q: Which is most likely to be able to grow and to pay dividends
for the long term ( ten years )

Q: Given the current market volatility, would you recommend buying Andrew Pellar in the $17.50 range or would you recommend waiting to see if there is a lower entry point?Thank you.

Rossana.

Q: I would like to add a utility to my portfolio. I've compared Emera and Fortis. Would you recommend one of these over the other or an alternative?

Thank you.

Rossana

Q: I have a balanced portfolio across my TDSA and RRSPs. I recently put some money in my non-registered and wanted to use it as a separate portfolio – the idea being to buy things that should bounce back well from correction. In the past I've sold on correction and this time I want to take advantage of low prices. I would but 1.4 position per week for the next 4 weeks. These are the positions I would take. Do you think this is a good strategy? Its a small amount of cash which is why I picked only 7 stocks. Please note I added a US and Canadian ETF to add some stability. I’m hoping fort gains over the next year but could hold for 5 years if need be.

Efn 10%
Xtc 10%
Aya 10%
Gib 10%
Csu 10%
Ccl 10%
Crh 5%
Vrx 10%
Cdz 10%
VGG 15%

Q: feel free to post if helpful. delete if not of use.

this second decline, from down 100 points to now down 660, has been occurring after the US Press Secretary appeared to be saying the White House and Yellen will not make any knee jerk reactions regarding QE4 or interest rates based on a few bad days in the market.

This morning, many "talking heads" were calling for Yellen or the White House to "do something". My favorite, so far has been Suze Orman before market open:

"I am taking this year off but it is hard to sit silently and watch these markets. Fed Chair Yellen help us out. Commit to no rate increases".

I don't know if I should laugh or cry at her tweet.

Q: Just would like to thank you for your RED "do not panic today"!!!!
Issaku

Q: I'd just like to thank you for your red letter notice trying to soften the panic among retail investors. It's odd but as I logged on I was thinking to myself it would be nice at times like this for an experienced adviser to try to calm people a little. People who sell in panic are foolish. The TSX was down 750 at the open, now down less than 100. As someone said earlier, for every panicky investor who screams "sell" there's a person at the other end of the trade thinking he's getting a great deal on that stock. Who's likely to make money?

Q: There were some big swings in lots of 5i covered stocks today, not just CSU. I'd like to add my thanks for the "Don't Panic" message up top! I almost regret not dabbling a bit in some buying today but I wonder if it's early for that game. I am assuming this could go on for some time. What do you think?

Q: Short Selling: I was wondering about Short Selling in this down Stock Market. What are the details in the placing the order and then coverings the order later. You can give an example to provide clarification. I understand, you have to pay the dividend while the Short is on. Herbert

Q: When the markets opened this morning, stocks appeared to be down sharply, and many slowly increasing. How do you time buying in a market like this, where there are opportunities. Is here a better time to buy during the day? And generally how do you buy in a market like this?

Q: Would you please elaborate on your answer to Joel as to which companies you would recommend to buy whose dividends have been increased and whose stock value has softened?
Thank you for your great service