Investment Q&A

Q: My understanding is that financial stocks are rising due to the prospects of higher interest rates. Is the risk of defaults on consumer loans and mortgages due to higher rates and the impact on financials being overlooked?

I read consumer debt in Canada is at an all time high, a housing bubble and notice new billboards for debt restructuring services in my town. Am I valid in my concerns with the run-up in financials? I have my doubts that main street is prepared for higher rates without some sort of a crisis unfolding.

Q: Good afternoon,
Wisdomtree has been quite volatile of late.I have a small position but am wondering whether it is time to move on. Would you continue to hold this company?
I appreciate your advice.

Q: I currently hold MAW102 Mawer Int'l Equity in my RRSP and am contemplating a switch to ZDI which has a distribution yield of
4.9%.My purpose is to generate more cash within the RSP.Your thoughts are appreciated. Joe

Q: I own 3 banks - TD, BNS and RY. TD has handily underperformed the other 2 banks over the past 3 months. Any explanation? Also, could you rank all major banks in order of your preference?

thank you

Q: Can you please comment on today's earnings report?

Q: When buying a US stock is there more than the exchange rate to contend? I believe I read somewhere there could also be a fee. How does one find this out ?
Thanks
Jean

Q: Please comment on ProReit's recent quarter. Their recent acquisions should help its small cap problem but it still continues to languish. Perhaps higher rates are a headwind but co. says it should not affect them that much. Thanks

Q: I have been watching Bevo for quite a while now. My wife took a very tiny position in it at 200 shares at 0.44 Now it is trading at $1.13 It is a very small company but to my wife and I it looks very interesting for a 7-10 year hold. Their financials look ok to me but what do you think? How big of a position would you start at in this company?

Jimmy

Q: In answer to a recent question about real estate exposure, you noted that you prefer apartment-focused REITs to office REITs and office REITs to retail REITs. Is this preference only if you are purchasing a REIT for income first and foremost as opposed to hoping for some growth as well? It would seem to me that the residential REIT does have almost a guaranteed income stream but very limited growth potential due to rent controls (aside from takeovers). The office/retail companies eg. REI, however, are able to participate in a growing economy as rents are often based partly on sales and there is the ability to raise rents in an uncontrolled market albeit while benefiting from long-term contracts. If a company has a greater mix of assets, is that not better than being reliant on one sector? So, is this just a case of risk/reward as to what REIT to purchase or is there a lot more risk in REI than I realize?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: What is your outlook on these companies for 2017?

Q: Please advise if this is a seasonal sensitive company and when from a seasonal aspect would be a good time to sell re the significant xmas season exposure

Q: can you comment on Platform Specialty Corp. they have recently addressed their balance sheet ,although still highly levered and looking at amending their current credit arrangements. Is it an attractive high risk investment?.

Q: My portfolio closely matches you balanced equity portfolio. As it looks like the US will outperform Canada over the next year I am thinking of picking up some US ETF's for about 20% of my portfolio. What do you think of this strategy and if you agree, what ETF's would you suggest?

Ray

Q: Bonjour, please provide general comments on these two funds (MER, growth prospects, suitability considering a 10 year time-frame.
Merci
Ronald

Q: I have about a 1.5% position in LTE which includes a 60% gain. It has gone up - up since I bought it, how is the valuation today? I am wondering about adding another .5 - 1% to this position. What are your thoughts on this idea at today's price, and what is the company's outlook for the next couple of years? Thanks as always, Kim

Q: I thought I was being careful but I've still ended up overweight in industrials ( 17%) owning the above 5 companies. Is there any chance I could relabel any of them to get down to a better level, or must I drop some? If i "relabel" ECI as consumer staples, and SIS as health, I bring my holding down to 12%. Still high, I know, but acceptable? If I must sell some of them, would you rank them in order of reverse preference ?( Keep to not keep) Many thanks for your steady hand as always. I'd be on Advil without you!

Q: Hello 5i,
Made a nice profit with Opsens. Is it time to move on or there is still nice growth ahead? Would you recommend to maintain a full position of this company? Thanks.

Q: Recent guest on Market Call said ATD.B is overvalued, "watch out for a fall". Your opinion please. Thanks.

Q: Is there any explanation as to their recent 10% drop in share prices. Last quarter was good, something new come up? Is this a buying opportunity to increase my shares in a diversified portfolio?

Q: Follow up question re graphene if I may. I'm wondering if a better strategy would be to invest in the technology developers and patent holders rather than the raw material miners. If I understand correctly, the technology requires miniscule amounts of material so I'm not sure if the miners are the real play here. Thoughts?