Investment Q&A

Q: Artificial intelligence and cyber security. What are your 2 favourite etfs in each of these areas of investment ?
Thanks ,
Philip

Q: Hi Peter,

Over the next five to ten years, what is your expectation from a risk-return prospective for the following asset classes? Please provide your ranking with a brief explanation for your rationale.

Annualized returns for the past ten years are noted below as per BlackRock:

U.S. equities – 13%
Canadian equities – 8%
Infrastructure – 7.3%
Japan equities – 6.6%
REITs – 6.1%
European equities – 5.3%
China equities – 4.9%
High yield bonds – 3.4%
Emerging Market equities – 3.3%


Thanks George

Q: Refineries seem to be in a sweet spot with no new refineries being built recently and anticipated strong demand in the near future. Would investing in this sector be prudent in these volatile times and if so what company would be your best pick. Thanks

Q: Which company(s) would be a good way to play biotech via the picks and shovels method (A, TMO, etc.)? Thanks

Q: Hi,

Can you give 5 small and midcap stocks US and Canadian that fits the category "that have purely domestic revenues and don't have to worry about recessions" as mentioned in your article in National post.

Thanks.

Q: NVDA has dropped over 25% since 21 July, of which there was a 9.7% drop on 13/09.
MSFT has dropped 13.5% since 8 August, of which there was a 5.5% drop on 13/09.
For one, both or none of these stocks, would you recommend taking a tax loss now with the intent to buy back in a month?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I own LIFE as my proxy for healthcare, with a current 6% weighting of my equities. I have money set aside to top it up a bit, but I wanted to check on two things first.

#1 = regarding where we are at in the overall market cycle is now a reasonable time to add to the health care sector? I have read that HC should be "ok" during a downturn. Would you agree?

#2 = is there any seasonality to healthcare? It doesn't appear to my eyes, but wanted to ask.

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: I'm looking for some inflation protection via investing in REITs and came across RQI and ICF. I'm trying to determine the difference between these two. They appear to have similar holdings, yet the payout appears to be quite different. In a response to someone's question back in May you mentioned that RQI's payout is taxed quite a bit more than a Canadian dividend - even if held within an RRSP, which by the way is where I would plan to hold it. Is it the same case for ICF ?

Which would be the better buy? Or is better to stick to a similar Canadian alternative?

Q: The headline from the Globe and Mail, after the stock market closed on the 13th of this month - Surprise jump in U.S. inflation sends stock markets tumbling, and this - Dow sees worst one-day selloff in more than two years as fears of another large Fed rate hike rise. For me, dipped my toe into the turbulent waters and added to existing positions, well, somewhat. Now I'm wondering  - what the rest of the week will be like. and even for the next week??? Your observations from past experience would be much appreciated....and ready me with some insights about what to expect and also ready myself about what to do next..........Much thanks........Tom

Q: These four stocks that I have an equal weighting in came to my attention because of the insider buying. Could you please comment on if this insider buying and overall ownership is significant and rank them from best to worst based on that information only. Then please rank them on which would have the best overall return based on dividends and capital gains for the next 3 years from best to worst and explain why (the pros) for the one you ranked first overall and why(the cons) why you ranked the fourth stock last.

And lastly is there any of the four you just wouldn’t buy today. Thank you.

Q: Why Shop has such high volumes yesterday, over 12 millions shares? Thanks

Q: Structurally what is the difference between CBNK and HCAL ? One yields 6.95% and the other 8.84% ..... If they are more or less the same product I can't see any reason not to opt for the higher yield .....

Q: Growth Stock Set to Soar 163% From Its 52-Week Low, According to Wall Street. Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) is one of them,

52-week low of $81.12 in June, and one Wall Street investment bank predicts it could soar to $214 within the next 12 to 18 months. It has already recovered to $103.84

Do you concur?

Thank you.

Q: Hi Guys
I hold a large amount of U.S. stocks, my concern is i have been paying a high exchange rate over the last 4 years purchasing them. If the U.S. dollar falls 20% over the next 5 years or so I'm going to take a substantial haircut on my overall returns if i sell and move the cash proceeds to the CDN side of my Portfolio.
I guess the answer to my question is don't sell them, they all have a great record of dividend increases over the years, and they are in the U.S. side of my non registered Portfolio.
My other thought was to use GLD as a hedge, my thinking is a falling U.S. dollar would increase the value of Gold owned in a U.S. Portfolio
Thanks

Q: TV recently announced:

Trading of the Company's shares has been suspended since August 22, 2022 as a result of the Company filing for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") and this suspension will continue until the delisting takes effect. In addition to the TSX delisting, the Company expects its common shares will also be delisted in due course from the other exchanges on which the common shares currently trade.

Shareholders retain their legal rights and equity interest and are advised to contact their brokerage where shares are held regarding retention policies for unlisted shareholdings and potential for shares to trade in over-the-counter markets.

Can you please guide me as to what my options are.
1) are the shares I hold virtually worthless or is there a decent possibility that if I hold onto them I will receive something? what would you put the odds of getting something at and what do you think it would be relative to their last closing price of $.205
2) If I wanted to sell the share in the "over-the-counter" market they refer to, how do I do that
3) if it were you, what would you do?

Thank you for your advice

Scott

Q: Hi,
In your recent blog on 5 investing principles, you say it is important to distinguish between permanent and temporary market losses. However, you do not say how to do that. DOCU, PTON and NFLX all did great in the pandemic. All are floundering now. So, do you view the market losses in DOCU, PTON and NFLX as permanent or temporary and why?
Thanks.

Q: News this morning that this company is suspending aquisitions. Can you explain how this could be a positive for the stock and the company. Stock is up nicely this morning. Tnx for the great work.

Q: You had a question about how to view Topicus’ mergers and acquisitions activity. It turns out that Total Specific Solutions (one of Topicus’ three business units) has a Linkedin account and they post their acquisitions there. For you to post if you wish.

Q: Hi there. In light of last week's BoC's decision to raise interest rates by 75 basis point I was hoping you can help me understand why the banks have yet to raise the rates they offer on their 1-5 year GICs. When I look at the rates that were offered last month vs. now they are basically the same. I was hoping, maybe naively, that I'd see at least a 50 point increase across the board but nothing yet.



I know when the BoC raises rates the banks will increase their variable mortgage rates the next day so what gives? Did the banks already raise their GIC rates in anticipation of the announcement, is there a lag and they’ll raise rates in a few weeks or will they gauge market demand and offer the lowest rates they can get away?


I'm looking to create a 1-5 year ladder and I'd hate to do it now only to see the rates offered on GICs go up 50-75 basis points in a few weeks. Thanks for your insight.

Q: Hi Team,
I am looking for your opinion. I am thinking of adding 5k to my kids RESP after todays ugly selloff. I am banking with the ATB and most of the resp is currently in the atb compass growth fund. My question is...do you feel that I am best off adding to this fund, or buying an idividual stock? As far as stock I was thinking stable growth with a dividend. I had either BNS or SLF in mind. What are your thoughts? Or any other better suggestions as opposed to the ones mentioned? I don't plan on using any funds for at least 2 years. Thanks

Shane.