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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: Hello Peter & Ryan,

After 2 incredibly gut wrenching months on the markets and the so-called repricing of equities, today the markets were cheering and have pushed indexes on both sides of the border into what appears like a 'relief' rally>
My question is a 2 part question:.

1. I would really like your insights into what were market participants betting on today and perhaps going forward. Is this possibly a "head fake" setting the market up for another wild journey or do you think that the market believes that concerns around: (a) interest rates (do not have much further to go) and, (b) that the US and China might be able to agree on a truth of sorts this weekend.

2. If the above concerns (question 1) become reality in the next month or so, what is your advice to members? What should investors chip away at in order to perhaps recover losses and defend their positions. I realize this a very broad question, but would appreciate your top 6 defensive picks, regardless of asset classes, that will boost our portfolios in the next 3 to 5 years.

Thank you very and much appreciate your opinion,
Joseph
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on November 29, 2018
Q: Dear 5i
I'm very much interested in the conservative portfolio for when i retire with in the next 6 months . I especially like bank , utilities and reit ETF`s as the yields seem reasonable and the fact that the ETF`s pay the dividends monthly which provides consistent income during retirement .
My dilemma is that i think i prefer to hand pick similar stocks myself within each of those categories most of which have been recommended by 5i .This way would all likely offer a higher average yield as there is no MER to consider . The problem is that most of the stocks in those 3 areas (utilities , banks and rents ) only pay the dividends quarterly so as a retired person there is not the consistency on monthly income as there would be with buying the corresponding ETF`s . Is this generally a personal preference thing or is there one way you would advise for a soon to be retired person .
Thanks
Bill C.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on November 26, 2018
Q: Thanks to your stellar advice my portfolio is stacked with market leaders. Consequently I felt like a hero during the summers peak. Not so much these days. I felt a little better after reading that market leaders tend to plunge 1.5 to 2.5 times the market average during a downturn. Thought I'd share that with you.
Question: will those that lead the downturn e.g. tech, lead the upturn?
Thanks
Peter.
Read Answer Asked by Peter on November 23, 2018
Q: Hi,

Donald's analysis regarding Fairfax returns was quite interesting. You mentioned that timing is everything. The long-term MACD (a monthly trend/momentum indicator) for the S&P 500 now making a bearish crossover.A bearish crossover (sell signal) occurred at the 2000 tech bubble peak, the 2007 market peak, and the intermediate market peak in 2015. I came across this article and would like to get your opinion on it and keeping in mind timing as a big factor should we reduce the risk by lowering our percentage of stock holdings and get back in at a better time.

https://www.financialsense.com/blog/18799/markets-long-term-momentum-just-went-negative

Great service
Thanks
Ninad
Read Answer Asked by Ninad on November 23, 2018
Q: Hi guys:
In this correction, companies are so called on sale. Unfortunately retail investors only have so much money to deploy to buy shares. For example I own cargo jet and have done great on the name. Would it be wise to sell the winner and take the cash and add more shares to a savaria , New flyer , ccl , or pbh for example and dollar cost average. Or should I just stay put for my entire portfolio.
Thank you
Mark
Read Answer Asked by Mark on November 21, 2018
Q: Dear 5i
I'm trying to understand how companies actually get paid when we own for example an ETF that has a MER of for an example .5%. If the anticipated yield is say 3% you had stated in an earlier question of mine that the 3% is inclusive of fees . So all yields posted are generally always inclusive of fees right ? This means then that the actual yield is 3.5% minus the MER of .5%. So its a matter of the company in question holding their fee back from the yield rather than a case of the said company getting paid the fee which comes out of my brokerage company account directly .Sorry if this sounds confusing . I'm just trying to understand the process and be sure about what yield I'm actually getting and what fees I'm actually paying .
Thanks
Bill
Read Answer Asked by Bill on November 20, 2018
Q: Dear 5i;
With regards to the latest conservative ETF portfolio ;
With the average yield of all the ETF`s being 3.23%, is this before MER`s are taken into account or after ?
Also what's your rational for using HYGH vs XHY ?
Also tax loss selling generally only applies to non-registered accounts correct ?Please deduct several points .
Thanks
Bill C.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on November 19, 2018
Q: I’d like to invest in companies with excellent balance sheets, a clear catalyst for growth, and which are trading at a discount to their historic valuation. I’m hoping you can provide a list of stocks, both domestic & foreign, that meet these criteria. Are there any sectors or countries with an abundance of such companies right now? If so, please suggest some appropriate ETFs. Thanks very much.
Read Answer Asked by Brian on November 16, 2018
Q: I have a long time to wait on investments and don’t have much interest in trading, as I prefer value investing.
1)I’m still up 30% on Nvidia, with a long term in mind. Do you think it’s better to sell out now and buy back later, or do you see enough growth and value coming to make it better to just sit on and wait?

2)I’m trying to build the core of my portfolio around long term holdings in strong dividend payers (with a bias towards aristocrats) and use all drips available, and even proxy drips through my broker when I need to. Could you give me your top 1-3 dividend payers for each Sector (with a bias towards dividend growth and safety/ aristocrats).
Also, I’ve read lots of articles that state that dividend investing on average out performs the market by a few% per year, just without most of the wild swings. Do you agree?
Hopefully my rambling makes sense...
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by david on November 16, 2018