Investment Q&A

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor.

I've held Alaris just about forever and the current AD.UN iteration since 2018...bought in the $12 range. It has been on a bit of a run lately and hit $20 today. It is now in the asset allocation range I usually reserve for blue chip companies....instead of a smaller allocation reserved for smaller, higher risk companies.

With their portfolio of partner companies, I have also considered Alaris as almost ETF-like. I break out their holdings into the various asset allocation sectors, while maintaining a 50% weight in financials.

Q#1 = related to their valuations (P/B, P/CF, P/S, P/E), is Alaris on the cheap or expensive side?

Q#2 = do you agree with my thinking, that AD is almost ETF-like? If so, then I can live with the slightly higher asset allocation. If not, then I could comfortably trim and reallocate the proceeds.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Cosciens seems to be in a death spiral since the merger. Is there any hope here?

Q: Hello 5i,

Your thoughts please on KEI.CA, CRNT, and Idaho Strategic Resource. All three show growth in 2025.

Is the risk/reward too high? Please rank best to worst for a high-flyer in 2025 and beyond. .

Thank you
D&J

Q: Hello 5i,

Can you shed some light on Bloomberg's article into alternative off-exchange activity. The report indicated that 51% of all trades now are through this or alternative platforms called dark pools instead of Wall Street. It sounds like rich people getting higher value for their investments than the ordinary joe.

Thank you

D&J

Q: I have owned RY inside my RRIF for over 20 years and it has done very well. However it now seems to be trading at a premium to the other Canadian Banks. I hold it primarily to generate income, so I am wondering if I should sell it around the $180 level and invest the proceeds into another Canadian bank. I already hold TD, BMO and BNS and wonder which of NA and CM would you prefer? Or would you stick with RY despite its premium pricing and lower yield?

Q: Greetings 5i Team,
I hold these securities in a TFSA and am looking to add a new position. At the same time, I will be trimming some of these as they have done very well.
Could you make a few suggestions for a new addition? Growth is the objective and diversification need not be overly considered (I am well diversified within other accounts).
Thank you for providing this great service.
Steve P

Q: How would you rate this company? Looking to diversify some holding out of the tech. Would you consider this a save bet?

Q: Last October, WULF and BTBT were two of your recommendations in the crypto space. What are your thoughts on them today, in light of the broad selloff? For WULF in particular, does this seem like an overreaction and an opportunity to buy? Thanks.

Q: When the dust settles in this downturn, what would be your top 5 stocks to invest in for long term hold?
USA preferred.

Q: Of these two etfs HYLD and HHIS how safe is the capital and which one would you prefer. Also would they be better for a RRSP, TFSA or NON REGISTERED account

Q: I want to take a small position in Celestica:CA. Can you estimate what would be a good, great, and fantastic price. Especially in light of DeepSeek news. I know you like the company, but I've seen some reservations in answers to some questions in the past. Do you now have any hesitation, reservations? (One of the things I note is that they were around during the Dot Com days, and have survived.

Q: I'm sorry . I meant to ask on LIF as opposed to LAB
it has a low P?E, High dividend yield and a high payout ratio of over 100%
Just wanted to gather your thoughts as to the sustainability of the dividend and the growth potential given the high payout ratio

Q: Although I'm generally a fairly conservative retired investor, I do have a small portion allotted to small caps. I'd like to pick up some LMN. However I wondered about the potential negative impact on share price in a challenging economic environment.

Not sure if this is a good reference / comparison, but I noticed CSU had four significant drawdowns of between 24-29% between the GFC and COVID time periods. I actually thought it would have been worse than that. Considering LMN is already down 15%, and assuming possible similar stock price action, I'm getting a bit more comfortable pulling the trigger even now.

I don't want to make this a predictive question, but do you think this stock price action is a reasonable comparison? Perhaps this is oversimplifying? Do we know if the valuation of LMN today lines up with the valuation of CSU back in 2008 prior to its drop?

Q: Which stock: HPS.A, PRL, TVK or VHI would have the most growth going forward? I take after today, it's best to wait a few days?

Thanks for your service!

Q: Your answer earlier today suggested CLS was not reliant on AI sales and was lower valued than AI plays and should bounce back faster from this panic selling. Can you suggest a reason why it has plunged so far (-26% today) and performed so much worse compared to almost all the AI stocks?

Q: Hello team 5i:

It seems that for better or for worse utilities seem to have entred into a "union" with Technolgy sector, thanks to the perceived putative need for high energy demands !

Therefore utilites espcially in the US no longer have an inverse relationship with growth stocks. So it seems to me. I thought they will play the role of a "stabilizers" for my portfolio. That has not been the case.

Any thoughts? Should I consider something else (sector or stocks) to lower the volatility? Can you give me some names, say 3 to 5 stocks in the US utility sector that are NOT involved with AI energy demand craze?

My Canadian utilites fortunatlely remain "boring" and chugging along nicely :) Of course I can collect some nice dividends plus in my non-regd account, dividen tax credit helps!

Thanks for your help as always.

Q: What is your view of this fund for exposure to US Large cap Growth names, with an investor comfortable with higher risk, over long term ? Mark Schmehl appears to have done a decent job with the funds he manages with Fidelity for 30 years.

Thank You

Q: This stock dropped 29%, Monday, along with several other names after Chinese app news.

Is it a good opportunity to start a new position or wait for a further pullback ?

How is the AI related business risk to its growth profile, compared to other names in the sector ?

Thank You

Q: With stock performance possibly to be flat or down for a year or more, could you provide a list of EFTs that could capture extra upside in such a market using options
In particular I’m looking for US small/mid cap ETFs with covered calls/put options for the next couple of years in the event the market is flat to down

Also, is it possible to access a “search tool” for such an inquiry as follows:
US mid cap
CC options
In CDN dollars hedged
Defensive sectors like utilities

Q: Hi Guys

It seems the pressure to increase spending on defense in Europe is overwhelming. One assumes that European nations would much rather spend that money with European defense companies versus US ones. Can you give me your 3 best European defense companies., preferably with US listings. And if possible could you give a statement of how these companies compare to major US defense companies like RTX.

Much thanks

Stuart