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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: I am a retired non-resident and living on dividend income. My portfolio is a collection on higher yielding dividend stocks such as TD, BCE, FTS, AX.UN, ENB etc. (80% of portfolio focused on income)
I also have some lower yielding but higher growth stocks such as SIS, GSY, CCL.B, PBH, WSP. (20% of portfolio focused on growth)
To offset the lower yield of my growth stocks, I am looking into covered call ETFs such as ZWU (yield=6.6%) to bump up my income. I am not concerned with capital appreciation with the covered calls, only safety of dividend. Is a covered call such as ZWU for utilities as safe as it appears for dividend income? Are there any additional risks to be aware of holding a covered call such as ZWU vs the individual holdings within its portfolio?
Are covered calls the safest strategy to generate a 6-7% yield in a portfolio? Any other recommendations for higher yield (such as CEFs, BDCs)?
I am considering investing 10-15% of the income generating portion of my portfolio into higher yielding investments.
What 3 funds/stocks would you recommend I invest in to bump up the yield and thus offset the lower yield of my growth stocks?
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on October 02, 2017
Q: After building a portfolio in a TFSA account from a mixture of your portfolios I would like to broaden my exposure with these three ETF's. Is their any considerations when purchasing a fund like IWO that is not sold on the tsx?
Read Answer Asked by Matthew on October 02, 2017
Q: Hi 5i, could you please give me your take on todays earnings release and conference call (if you listened to it). also your updated overall opinion on the company? do you think this stock is a buy here and worth holding for a few years.I have about a 1% weighting looking to add to 2% or eliminate my position. my average cost is about $1.50 and it is in a registered account.
thanks Tom
Read Answer Asked by Tom on October 02, 2017
Q: Good Morning.

I have a small position in FTG and note from past news releases of the company that they are a supplier, either directly or indirectly to BBD.B. Trying to quantify what the impact of the US penalty on BBD might be on FTG. Any commentary you can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Robert on October 02, 2017
Q: I recently read a recommendation to sell rate reset preferreds because "the 5 year GOC has moved too far too fast from 0.40% one year ago to 1.80%+ now." They further worried that upside is limited from here, and downside is huge if there are no buyers.

I thought that we seemed to be in a period of rising rates and that a laddered portfolio of rate reset preferreds was a healthy option for part of one's portfolio, given a desire for some income. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks in advance.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on October 02, 2017
Q: It has had an 8% drop at the end of the week. When I checked with Globe Investor there was an indication beside it - upgrades and downgrades. Do you know anymore than I do? DOO - (BRP) I notice that people have written in about the decline in the stock and you had mentioned about a secondary finance. What does that mean? Does that mean they issued shares, they borrowed money? Could they be falling in sympathy of Bombardier's court loss to Boeng? Thanks Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on October 02, 2017
Q: I have two unrelated questions. In a $3 million portfolio, I have about 100 holdings, which I would like to greatly reduce. I have ENB, ENF, IPL, PPL, and TRP. I would like to reduce the number to one or two of those names. My interest is capital gains and a good dividend. Which pipeline company will give me the best capital gains and divide over the next five years?

The second question relates to REAL. I bought the new issue at $ 13 and the present price is only $10.62. Should I sell and repurchase in 30 days or just sell the stock. What is the future outlook and the next reporting date?
Read Answer Asked by George on October 02, 2017
Q: Do you believe Equitable Group is an atractive buy now with its P/E a low 5.6? I am of the opinion that there is to much debt in Canada right now and we could be in a position where many people will default on their mortgages in the next 2 years as real estate prices go down and wages remain stagnant. What do you think about the mortgage environment in Canada and do you think Equitable Group is a safe investment with big upside potential?
Read Answer Asked by eric on October 02, 2017