Investment Q&A

Q: I have tried asking this question at Questrade but still haven't got a straight answer. It's about DRIP and cost base. My example: I buy 100 shares @ $10 and then I get $40 of dividends, which DRIP turns into 4 more shares. I have to declare and pay tax on the $40 of dividends I got, so my take is that I have "purchased" 4 more shares. When I go to sell, is my book price then $1040 for 104 shares?

Q: Hi Gang,
After doing my PA, it says I am short in US holdings and the following sectors; consumer defensive, consumer cyclical, health care and industrials.
Suggestions of your favorite US stocks within each would be great. I don't need the $ for more than 5 yrs, reasonable risk ok. Looking at my portfolio as a whole, I plan on holding these in my RRSP. does that make sense re US tax with holding?
thanks
Michele

Q: I read/hear on BNN and on this site regularly that inflation is low. To anyone who does grocery shopping or shopping of any kind, inflation is definitely "not" low. Prices have increased dramatically over the last few years on pretty much everything. I realize the low Canadian dollar contributes to this, but I think Economist are too busy looking at charts and not actually paying bills. This has at least been my experience, can't talk for anyone else.

Q: I have no fixed income/bonds in my portfolio.
Please recommend your top picks in the Canadian, American and International markets. Thx.

Q: Thank you for your timely e-mail this afternoon regarding Pensions as Fixed Income. I have always considered a DB Pension as good as a fixed income investment and when I set up my Portfolio Analytics yesterday, I was wondering how to tweak it to include my DB Pension. Your PV of an annuity idea allows me to test various values and also test it using a lower PV for a reduced % spousal survivor pension.
Thanks again and I think I have more to uncover in the use of this tool.
Paul

Q: WHAT DO YOU ADVISE FOR TSF FOR A 78 YEARS OLD SENIOR ?
THANK YOU
EBRAHIM

Q: Portfolio Analysis shows I need to add stocks in Communication Services and Utilities.

Can you please recommend any stock or ETF in the above sectors.

Thanks for the great service
Hector

Q: How do I enter a pension into Portfolio Analytics?

Q: How do I enter GIC's into the portflio analytics ? I can only show them as cash and this distorts the composition big time. Thank you.

Q: Hi there,

I was wondering if you knew of any Canadian listed ETFs that would be suitable for cannabis US MSO exposure.

Also, if one wanted to exposure, would you recommend an ETF such as MJJ, HMJR or HMMJ - or would you sooner buy a basket of a few big Canadian players?

Thanks!

Q: Re Gary's question on fund sorting. I find fundlibrary.com useful. Click on funds, then on browse funds and then sort by fund name, category, or asset class. Then sort by time frame, short or long, and then drill down to specific time frames by clicking on the column year header to sort by 3, 5, 10 year performance etc.
Peter.

Q: As a mid 70's retired couple with no dependents and cash available from TFSA's we find little need for our 10k whole life policy with 11k dollar surrender value earning 1.7% per year total. Please comment on our plan to surrender same for input to our TFSA for increased growth and income.
Policy is non taxable as income from Sun Life. Thanks

Q: Regarding Bill's question about parking money for short term, EQ Bank and Achieva offer daily savings rates of 2.3% and are fully insured. There is no term period required, it's purely daily savings.

Q: Please advise the best 10 stocks from the 3 portfolios to buy today with 1 or 2 lines of reasonimg if appropriate. Pleasestart with best,Txs for u usual great services & views

Q: Can you please give me your top 5 USA stocks, various sectors, with approximately a 4% dividend. Looking for a longer term income stock, with a bit of growth. Thanks

Q: Hi All at 5i! Is it possible to buy shares of a company prior to its IPO? Uber is set to put forth an IPO in April. Thanks, Tamara

Q: Inverted yield curve(US 3mo higher than 10yr interest rate).2 great views by Ryan on BNN on 3/29 & Peter in The Van Sun,3/30. My observations.1)As at 8pm pst 3/31 10yr is higher than 3m (2.439 vs 2.408) 2)A popular yield curve is 2yr & 10yr(2.294 is lower than 2.439).3)This will help the big 6 can banks as pointed out by 5I as they borrow short & lend long(better interest margins.Ryannyou were great on BNN Thanks for u usual great services & views

Q: I have signed up for the new portfolio tool. I have a Prov Gov't Pension (coming to me in 5 years when I reach 60). How should I add that to my portfolio value/holdings ? I can't seem to find a "symbol" for it ...

Q: Hello 5i,
Great job on the P.A.!! I found it extremely quick and easy to enter my data and will go through the resulting report soon.
One question I have, however, is: can I (or how do I) add our investment in our daughter-in-law's company? It is a private company and it represents slightly over 3% of our total PF. The easiest would be to add the cash value, but then I wouldn't want it categorized as Cash. One of your previous answers alluded to being able to add holdings that fall outside the box, but there were no specifics.
Also, I can't remember if you have a FAQ on the P.A. page or not, but it if not, it might help a bit.
Again, congratulations on a great job!!! Everyone at 5i should feel very proud indeed!!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: How secure is your site against hackers? I would be concerned about someone accessing info on my holdings. If I try the service and decide its not for me and cancel does that affect my existing subscription?