Investment Q&A

Q: QST VS XBC: Could you explain the differences between these companies? Which one has higher growth? As both are in the Growth Portfolio, I'm assuming you prefer both? Would you buy either today or would you wait for things to settle down?

Q: Could you please rank these consumer defensive stocks and why - STZ, DOL, ATD.B, MRU and PG.
Need to increase my US and International exposure, however considering selling STZ (in a RRSP)
What are you thoughts? Is there an ETF in this sector you favour with US /International exposure? Thank you

Q: Hi Team,
Your member question/s policy has been change ? As I see too many members ask questions of 2,4,6 or even 10 stock questions and looks like they use this service as "personal portfolio manager", your answer only good to that member only and do not benefit other members at all. It feels like waste of time to go through the question section these day !
I sure hope you goes back to your original policy - one stock per question - to the benefit of all members.
Thank you as always,
One of the starting members,
Tak

Q: I'm surprised nobody has already asked this. Maybe nobody has read the news about what is happening down south when people rely on wind-power and solar. What are your thoughts about the latest acquisition by this Canadian oil company?
Thanks Gord

Q: In my US account, I hold Berkshire, Disney and MasterCard. I was thinking of selling one of these to free up some USD to purchase CRWD for more growth. Which one would you suggest selling if you were in this position?

Or, if it were possible, would you suggest converting some CAD to USD to purchase CRWD, and keep the US stocks that I have already?
Thanks
Robert

Q: The Purpose Bitcoin ETFs have started to trade today. I have read some of the available information on these ETFs but would appreciate your "clear language" interpretation.
Do you expect that the price of these ETFs will essentially match the price of Bitcoin and move up and down with Bitcoin in a relatively real-time manner? Or will it move with market demand?
Can you explain the differences between these two funds? Is it simply that one trades in USD and the other in CAD?

Thanks as always for your clarity.

Q: Hi,
Could you please explain how the dividend tax credit works in a registered account compared to a non registered and corporate account. Is dividend still considered income in all of the above accounts?

Q: I am looking for some ideas on how to strengthen my healthcare holdings. I have a small position in BMY, and a full position in WELL. Present asset weighting is 3% of my portfolio.
I have room in registered and non registered.
Looking for quality, slow and steady, dividend paying, Thank you.

Q: Hi 5i
Currently considering SHW for 1/2 position and a 2 year hold. Its down slightly off its high and offers small dividend.
What is your current opinion on this company going forward and would you consider taking a position at current price? Why /why not?
Would you consider the announced upcoming 3 for 1 stock split as potential catalyst?
Thx
Jim

Q: For New money to initiate positions which 5 stocks in each of the portfolios would you recommend investing. On a related note, is there a reason you don’t put buy or hold or buy up to prices in any of the portfolios, or is your stance if it is in there it is a buy regardless of how much a stock may have run up since it was originally recommended.

Q: Hi, I’am retired,(65) looking for a global dividend ETF . I have no U.S. or International exposure no bonds, only Canadian stock, so thinking to spread out a little. Do you have a go to all in one etf that pays 2%+ while you wait ( 6-8) years+.
I was looking at XDG ,good mer, good div. 3.4%, global holdings 56% U.S. etc. But not sure if it’s a good long term hold?
Would like your opinion on an etf that you like
Thanks

Q: Why has the dividend declined so much on this ETF? I see that they paid out .593CAD in December 31, 2018 and just .149 CAD in December 31, 2020. During this 2 year period, the dividend payouts seem to be highly volatile,

Q: Good morning, simple question... you are asked today to enter a contest and you need to pick 10 stocks that will appreciate the most in the next 10 years... no other rules other than you are limited to USA and Canadian listings.

Q: PDAC acquires LI-Cycle - nice write up in Globe. And Linico buying a stake in LODE. Is it good timing to buy PDAC ? Thank you

Q: MTLO Q3 just released. Microsoft DEM and the integration of GSX seems to be the future for this company. Legacy revenues are shrinking. Do you believe the growth rate for DEM (17% Q3 over Q2) is high enough to make a real difference? Their stated outlook says " will grow this 60% by year end 2022. In number terms that is
$1.85 mil + 60% growth = $2.9 mil (rev from DEM in Q4 2022) This seems like high growth but still relative. What is your take... are they really moving to a viable, profitable company?

Q: Hi,
When XBC report earnings? Will it be good report? Is XBC buy, sell or hold?
Thank you.

Q: In RRSP account I sold BEPC to decrease exposure to BEP (10%) and purchased ENPH to diversify. Plan was to hold long term. I see you like NEE and it is more diversified over renewables and pays a dividend. Does it make sense to sell ENPH to buy NEE since I don't really need an additional stock?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I have two legacy mutual funds...RBC Canadian Equity Income Fund...series D, with a MER of 1.04% and Sentry Canadian Income Fund with a MER of 2.35%. I have owed each for just over 9 years. My original thesis was to have some professional management look after some of my portfolio with the goal of consistent dividend income and some growth of capital. I have just over 5% of the equity portion of my portfolio in each of them.

Periodically I review their performance....the thinking being that as long as they are meeting my investment goals, then the higher MER may appear worthwhile. Here is my methodology, albeit very simplified...does it make sense to you?

I took my unrealized capital gains directly from RBC Direct Investing and divided it by the holding period to create the average annual return of the capital. Then I took the dividend yield and netted out the average ROC to create a "net dividend yield". Add the two together to create the Total Return.

Example: Sentry = 42.14% unrealized CG divided by 9.17 years = 4.6%/yr. Gross dividend of 5.1% netted down by 24% average ROC creates a net dividend of 3.9%. Total Return = 8.5%/year.

For RBC = 7.4%/year (3.6% + 3.8%).

When I look at the posted RBC-5 yr (8.3%) and 10 yr (7.9%) averages, my calculation looks low, but within reason. When I look at the Sentry-5 yr (5.6%) and 10 yr (7.2%) averages, my calculation looks high. Since the original purchases, there were no additional funds added. I have trimmed each position once.

Question #1 = I know you can shoot holes through this, but from a "very ballpark" laymen's point of view, does my methodology make sense? I understand I only used "simple" averages, not "time-weighted" averages.

Q#2 = I had to create my own average for ROC. I went back through my income tax receipts which showed how the distributions were broken down into CG, Dividend, Interest income, ROC. It was actually pretty easy to do. Then I simply averaged them. For the RBC fund, the simple average since 2013 = 6% ROC. For Sentry = 24% ROC. Does your data base show any better data on a longer term average ROC...long shot, but I thought I'd ask. My data only goes back to 2013.

Q#3 = should I have ignored the ROC issue? In real simple terms I wanted to compare the capital invested versus dividends received + capital received (if I was to sell out).

Thanks for your help...much appreciated...Steve

Q: Could I have your opinion on a switch from CNR to BAM.A with the intention of holding long term. Thank you.

Q: Which is the best ETF to track Bitcoin?