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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: hello 5i:
could you give me your opinion on incorporating BTAL into a portfolio and/or the strengths/weaknesses of such a strategy? Can you compare it with something like SH (ProShares Short S&P500)?
thanks
Paul L
Read Answer Asked by Paul on July 23, 2019
Q: Ray Dalio and David Rosenberg to opinions i highly respect sure paint a gloomy picture of the next 10-20 years.
Rays suggested Portfolio weightings 7.5% Gold 7.5% other Commodities, 40% Long term bonds and 15% Intermediate bonds 30% stocks and 7.5% other.
My question is on Bonds, Specifically Govt treasuries , this would be the TLT correct?
and wouldn't Govt treasuries be seen as much safer than say the XLB which are municipal bonds, I have heard some fund managers on BNN say they wouldn't touch an Ontario provincial bond because of the provinces Debt. So that being said is there a version of the TLT that is available for me to buy?
Thanks Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on July 23, 2019
Q: As a retiree who wants a diversified portfolio and also someone who spends a couple of months a year in the US, I certainly see the value in having say 25-30% of my holdings in US stocks. When the Loonie moves up and down this gives me some peace of mind because my US investments aren’t affected and I can relax and enjoy my time down there. My question relates to the Portfolio Analytics recommendation that I also hold 30% of my holdings outside of Canada/US. Sure, it provides more diversification, but I don’t see nearly as strong a case as for holding 30% in US. My instincts tell me to hold about 60% Canadian, 30% US and 10% Rest of World. Your answer may simply be that diversification is a “personal choice”, but I’m hoping you can go a bit deeper and explain how your holdings should relate to where you spend your money. For example, what if I spent a few months per year in Mexico, Asia or Europe, instead of the US? Thanks for the great service!
Alan
Read Answer Asked by Alan on July 23, 2019
Q: I used to think of bonds and stocks as generally moving in opposite directions so that bonds could be a safety factor in my account for when stocks go down. Stocks used to go down for economic reasons and then bonds would go up since the central bank would reduce interest rates to try to stimulate the economy. This worked marvelously for me in 2008-9. However, it is far more common now for them both to move in the same direction since stocks are dependent these days more on lower interest rates than economic news so they go up when there is a hint of interest rates going down and so do bonds as they always did. In reverse, when interest rates even hint of going up, stocks decline and so do bonds. Good economic news means the stock market is likely to decline since interest rates might go up. It seems that the market believes that it cannot survive any interest rate increases. So what do you suggest these days to balance against this unified stock and bond reaction?
Read Answer Asked by Maria on July 23, 2019
Q: I have a lump sum from a sale of an investment property. I struggle with the decision whether to invest the money now given the long bull market that we've had and the increase in trade tensions and the political landscape. I know returns rely on time in the market as opposed to timing the market, but its hard to justify psychologically. What would you advise to do with a large lump sum? Do you see areas that are undervalued? Is there better relative value in Canada or the U.S. or abroad?

Thank you,
Jason
Read Answer Asked by Jason on July 23, 2019
Q: I previously asked why ZPR has decreased lately with the trend for interest rates declining. ZHP the identical fund of US preferred shares is increasing with an increased trend of lower interest rates. Decreasing interest rate trends should increase bond and preferred shares yet the CDN version has not acted liked the US version. I can see no logical reason for these different trends?
Read Answer Asked by Edward on July 23, 2019
Q: FYI. MX was downgraded by RY to US$65 TP(from $70) & CM to US$46($53).In my humble opinion,I cannot understand management's decision to go ahead with the project in this uncertain time(slowing global growth & possibility of recession) & after the price has recently declined some 50%(1yr H $107.07 to $53.09 today)
Read Answer Asked by Peter on July 23, 2019
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