Investment Q&A

Q: A new round of rate reset preferreds supposedly will be hitting the market sometime in the next few months. Thoughts please on picking up some in our cash account. We currently have about 15% of our total portfolio in preferreds (POW,TD, ALA, AIMIA, GEI, & CPX) We are conservative investors in retirement without the need for income.
Thanks,
Ted

Q: I'm seeking your view in regards to my grand kids RESP's. One is now 11 and the other is 16. I have been fully contributing over the years and using a growth with small div selection method. I have good 20% plus returns overall. Last year was very good. ECI,ENF,BRE, SIA,DIV, AND CHE.UN are equally weighted holdings. As the older one approaches graduation should I be starting to ease up on stocks and using forward years contributions more on ETF's and less risk oriented holdings. I cannot really bring myself to using bonds at this time. I do want to protect what I have gained for him.Something like a ZUT,or ZPR for this year as opposed to another stock perhaps. Thanks as always guys

Q: Hi Peter
There a few gloomy predictors in the US predicting a very serous correction due to the very high margin debt it seems to be getting a bit of ink .
Do you have any comment on the subject of margin debt?
Kind regards
Stan

Q: I would like to add several US shale oil producers to my portfolio. Could you suggest a few good companies?

Thank you, Peter

Q: i am looking for 2 companies one in canada and one in the u.s.that have huge growth opportunities, risk does not matter for me, the more risk the better.
i own lots of ivanhoe in canada and you cannot get more risky than that, it is already a double for me.i also own lots of shopify, kinaxis and facebook options and bank of america options,so you know where i am coming from. dave

Q: Since many of the ETFs have a very low market cap and are thinly traded, is there usually a market maker for each fund or is the investor at the mercy of a possibly large spread in the bid/ask making it difficult to exit large positions? If there is some bad news that affects a sector ETF, the door could be too narrow for all the investors wanting out.

Thanks in advance ...... Larry

Q: HI Peter and team, I am interested in investing in the Canadian Renewable energy space. What are the forecasts for the growth expected in the renewable energy space over the next 5 years. I am interested in % growth and growth in absolute terms. What are your favorite companies in this space? Thanks

Q: Is there a way of reviewing the "Member Updates" section -- i.e., the monthly commentary where you make changes in the portfolios, etc.? I'm usually pretty good at keeping those notes, but I didn't for last month, and wanted to review your comments on your portfolio changes. The rationale you provide behind your choices is always of interest. Thanks. (I know what the changes are, just looking at the portfolios, but would want to look at your notes from that time.)

Q: Peter and Team,

I hold basically the balanced equity portfolio with CSW.A,KBL,and L added plus a portfolio I've been building to US/International. In the US/International portfolio I currently hold XYL, SBUX, V, JNJ, and VXUS. I was considering selling some or all of L and CSW.A to add some more international names and was thinking initially of GE and PFE. These changes would be made within an RRSP (the entire portfolio is spread over TFSAs, RRSPs, and RESP).

What are your thoughts on such a move? I should point out that L is less than 1% weighting and CSW.A is approximately 3% of total equity exposure.

Are there other US/International names I should focus on?

Thanks,

Marc

Q: I own mostly BE stocks. I've never used a DRIP plan. Do you recommend it? Or is it better to invest the money received in dividends based on sector/stock allocation and valuation considerations? For context my portfolio is growing and I actively invest what I have, so dividend cash usually does not sit idle any significant stretch of time.

Q: If someone only has a TFSA account and no other investments should they still add a ETF like VEE? They have a long time frame or just invest in the different sectors of the Canadian markets?

Thanks

Q: Topic: interest rates and income stocks, particularly utilities in a "stagflation" scenario.

I understand your message regarding higher interest rates reducing the appeal of income stocks in a growing economy.

But what about stagflation? If interest rates spike, but the economy stagnates (some us remember the 70's) .... would stocks like the utilities still likely "stagnate" or drop as well?

Would anything do well in a stagflation scenario?

Thanks for any information or guidance you can provide.

Q: Hi Fellow Investors!
For those that haven't read the recent 5i blog on averaging down yet I would like to recommend reading it. It is an important topic and well written.
I would just add that averaging down beyond a normal portfolio weighting can put a big dent in one's longterm returns if things go wrong. In my experience you need a very high degree of conviction to average down and by definition such opportunities will only present themselves very rarely. Most investors cpuld do well to avoid the practice entirely, IMHO.
Cheers
John

Q: Hello 5i,
Which do your prefer at this point in time, ko or bud
Thanks,

Q: What REITs would you prefer to invest at this time?

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

In our portfolios (TFSAs, RRSP, RRIF, and Margin, we are moderately overweight in ATD.B, CCL.B, and KBL; (about one and a half positions in each) and are somewhat more overweight in CSU (slightly over two positions).

In the case of KBL, it has come down over 15% over the last year, so would it be prudent to reduce its weighting (we're still up)?

Should we keep the slightly overweight positions in ATD.B and CCL.B?

There was a recent article in the Globe pertaining to CSU by Andrew Willis "A Canadian firm's strategy for deals finds new roadblocks". Possibly the premise of this article isn't valid, but due to having a bit more than two positions with CSU, would it be wise to take some money off the table here?

It's so hard to sell shares in good companies!

Thanks in advance for your valued recommendations.

Q: I have 21 holdings in my RRSP. All dividend payers and am interested in diversity,safety and income. I have 5% USA and 6% CDN bonds the balance are CDN equities. With the unclear future going forward what do you think my weightings should be for diversity and can you suggest some emerging market holdings.

Q: Would you be able to provide the rates of return of the ten sectors of the TSX for 2016 please? Do you expect similar returns by sector in 2017?

Q: I am fine with my weighting in the Energy Sector and rebalance at least bi-monthly.

Within the energy sector I have the following weighting in dollars:
WCP 30K
PKI 105K
TOU 72K
VET 11K
PPY 9.2K
PEY 10K

Since I am losing the most from initial buying price in TOU as I have had it for some time, and it provides no dividend.. and seems not to be anyone's favourite, would you suggest selling any of the above such as TOU and buying more of the other?

Q: Hi 5i team, my IA has me in FID269 in my LIRA and RRSP, do you think that this is a good fund to hold in either of these funds? I won't be accessing either for many years so I would like to take advantage of both these registered accounts during that time. Can you suggest an alternate?
Thanks