Investment Q&A

Q: Hi, I would like to know from the 2 portfolios Balanced Equity and Growth which one would I use to invest in a TFSA account and which one for a RRSP account.

Thanks.

Q: Could you please give me your opinion on SPE. Could you comment on whether you think it's a good time to buy.

Q: hi folks. This was recommended on Bnn.MPG. Has it got some new news? alsoI notice you never discuss Splv and has been so good to me. Why ? Thanks in advance Cliff

Q: I also saw the movement by AYA stock on Tuesday and it was strange. There was high volume on the stock for most of the day, but in the last 30-60 seconds it went from 31 to 29.70 in the blink of an eye. I actually had 29.85 ready to go for the last 5 minutes and when it started dropping I hit submit. An error popped up and I hit submit anyway and to my surprise, it actually got through (It was still open when I went to bed that night). I've never seen a stock drop that fast before.

Somewhat off topic, sorry about that.
I know you guys prefer T and BCE in telecom, but I'm wondering if you think Rogers (RCI.B) is getting any better with the recent drop?

Thanks, Paul

Q: Hi,

Two quick questions on recent additions to the Balanced Equity portfolio:

1 - Do you think Alimentation Couche Tard may be able to acquire some retail locations in Canada or the U.S. from an integrated oil player that is looking to raise some cash? I heard that Suncor may be looking to sell Petro Canada? Not sure if its just speculation though.

2 - For Progressive Waste, the stock is near a 52 week high. Do you see growth in the U.S. market going forward or is this a play on lower oil prices improving margins and driving profit growth?

Thanks,
Jason

Q: Hello Everyone,

This might help others so I thought I would share. Every now and then we hear from a member that their question is not answered. I think I know what is happening here. If you take too much time to write and then send your message, the browser actually fails to send it. You need to make sure that you see confirmation as oppose to going back to the question box after you click on send. The best way to avoid this is to type your long message in word document and once you are ready cut and paste to 5i question box. By long message I don't mean just the wording. I mean if you take long because you are doing some research or getting information from your portfolio to share with 5i as you are writing. If you take long it is also prudent that you copy the message you typed on in the box before you send it just in case. This way if you don't see the confirmation you don't have to retype the entire thing again. Happy trading every one.

Q: Can you please post your note 'Alerts' versus stop sell orders. I have looked and could not find the answer that Rick had given.

SS

Q: On the topic of selling the stocks that 5i "dropped" from the portfolios, I wonder if a better way for us to think about this is to be aware that there are slightly more attractive opportunities in certain sectors for any new money or change of circumstance/rebalancing. Having listened to your advice on buying for the long haul, and finally desisted in trading so often, I find myself reluctant to sell companies ( SLF for instance) that are still "decent" even if I am a little underwater on them.

The new portfolios are great fodder for thought, but I suspect my reluctance to stampede after every idea is even better!

Any comments on the long haul hold vs better opportunity issue?

Many thanks,
Marilyn

Q: What is your view now of this company? It seems it may put itself up for sale. Would you buy it at the current price?

Q: With microcap stocks I sometimes see stocks where the number of shares on the bid is small, say 500 shares and the bid price is higher than the last trade. When I check later a buyer has bought say 3000 shares at that bid price. Do pros often conceal the amount of shares they want to buy by only putting in a small bid? Do you understand my question?

Q: I note you are referring to the equity portfolio as the "balanced equity portfolio". Typically a balanced portfolio contains a mix of fixed income and equities and as such the term balanced is confusing. Suggest calling it simply the model equity portfolio.
Steve

Q: That was really good advice from Rick to set up alerts rather that stop loss orders. I will be setting up alerts on all my positions. Thanks for a great service and thanks to the other members who contribute good tips too.

Q: Can I have your thoughts on BEK post their earnings report and strategic review not providing and immediate results? Environmental assessment seems begign and dividend is generous but do you feel it's sustainable? Wondering if there's a value opportunity here. Thanks for your service.

Q: In your response to Kenneth you mention "SLF was changed for sector reasons, as was BDI." As a matter of fact SLF is still in your model portfolio. Last March I could not understand why you would want to sell BEP.UN, KBL, TOU, VRX and IPL. These were mostly all solid stocks and were replaced by CCL.B, DSG, BDI, SJ, MDA and SLF. The average gain of the stocks sold was 26.2% while the average gain of the new stocks added was only 2.2% over the past year not counting dividends. That's a missed opportunity of 24%! Fortunately I kept BEP.UN, KBL and IPL and unfortunately I had not bought VRX which turned out to be the biggest gainer. I should add that I kept WPK which was also sold in the model but is up >84% in my portfolio. Regarding your latest additions to the model portfolio i own WSP and agree with the STN switch, BIN and ATD.B are great additions but it appears by selling BDI now you are selling low and replacing with stocks at all time highs. BLSH.
Steve

Q: why the high volume and drop in share price today?
Good time to buy now?

Q: Preferreds have had a rough ride with some pundits suggesting that the rate reset preferreds are driving the declines in an ETF like CPD. My understanding of the argument is that resets are occurring at "unexpectedly" lower rates and that future yields will be lower. The Globe had a pretty negative article the other day which seemed to suggest that rate resets are too complicated for retail investors to understand. I didn't really think the rate reset concept was all that complicated but perhaps I am daft and don't really understand them. My question for you is what happens when interest rates start going up? If issues start to reset at higher than "expected" yields would this have a positive impact and start supporting the price of an ETF like CPD?

Q: Hello, Peter & Co.
You have deleted a couple of stocks from your equity portfolio, should we assume that it is a sell recommendation if we hold them in our investment portfolio?
Ken

Q: I listened to their year end presentation and was thinking of adding some shares to a small position but your answer to Phil's question has me confused. The company reported over 11000 BOE/D for 2014 and said in Q1 2015 they are at 12500 BOE/D and when the Stella project comes online they will be around 26000 BOE/D. In your answer you say their production is going down. What did I miss? Thank you for all your help Your advice has made a lot of people a lot of money. Joe

Q: Could I please have your analysis on xsr,it has recently come down to the 5.50 mark. Looks to me its cash flow is fine and dividend should be save. Has this stock been beaten up a little too much or am I missing something?
thanks
Cal

Q: In an sector in which just breaking-even is difficult, RRX is defying gravity. Is this just herd buying, or does the market actually know something? In any case, with no dividend on-offer, shouldn't it make more sense to buy something like RMP, which has the chance to rebound significantly? Thanks for your insights.