Investment Q&A

Q: I'm thinking of buying a European large cap ETF like FEZ or ZEQ. What do you think of European equity prospects for the next year? I'm trying to understand the impact of the ECB QE policy, the strong US dollar/weak Euro and a possible Greece-exit factors into Euro equity prospects for the rest of the year
thanks

Q: I have been moving towards replicating, as much as possible, your Balanced Equity Model. I am with Scotia iTrade who now have a performance tracking system. In February, my return was 5.48% (March is not yet available). Your portfolio, on the other hand, returned 7%.
I do not yet hold AYA, CSU, DSG nor SYZ. But I do hold SLW and IPL plus some Low Volatility ETFs for international diversity. All holdings have a initial purchase balance of 5% or less.
Do you have any suggestions as to which I might sell and which I might buy with the proceeds?

Q: As an investor looking for more fixed income in my portfolio, would you recommend preferreds or bond funds to balance things up? Currently my fixed income exposure consists mostly of GIC's, with paltry rates.

Q: When starting to build the new Growth Portfolio,with $50,000.Is it better or more efficient to buy exact dollar amount ( $2500 per position for ex.) or by even lots? Also, should you start with the 5% positions first and then work you way to the 3% positions overtime?
Thank you very much for your expertise.

Q: I think you have mentioned in the past that for a retired conservative income investor, it would be appropriate to hold roughly 15-20% of foreign equities.

My first question is regarding 15-20% of what...the total portfolio of equities and fixed income or of only the equity portion?

My 2nd question is regarding each company and where they are domiciled. For example, BNS has 44% foreign income (based on their annual report). Do you count BNS as 0% foreign or 44%? WSP has 79% foreign. Do you count it as 0% or 79% foreign?

I have done it both ways. Using only where the stock is based (ex: BNS = 0% foreign), I get 14% foreign content. Breaking each company down by the income percent by geographic, I get 22%. Both of these #'s are a % of my total portfolio.

However, if you take the percentage of foreign content divided by only the equities (ignore fixed income), I get 35% foreign.

Back to my question...15-20% foreign content = based on what?

Thanks for your help.
Steve

Q: Noticed you took out CBO from income portfolio and added VCSH short term US corporate. Why ? what would you recommend for short term canadian exposure if any ?
Thank you !

Q: Hi, great job.I 'm looking to buy an ETF either Xiu or Cdz for of course,stability,income,and growth.It will be for 3years+.which one do you like or have you a better alternative,maybe in the healthcare sector?
Thanks,Brad

Q: Hello
My father in law gave me two share certificates (100 shares ea) of the following:
Northern Eagle Mines dated 1967
North Briar Mines dated 1966

The transfer agent on the certificates is Guaranty Trust Company of Canada

How can I find out if they are worth anything?

Wish they were TD or BCE shares from 1966.
But then he wouldn't have given them to me if they were..haha

Thanks

Q: Hi,
I just noticed that Amaya had sold Cryptologic and Chartwell
prior to selling Cadillac Jack and I am beginning to wonder
if AMAYA may be getting a little bit “ hollow” and may not have much
powder left (other than goodwill and cash) if gambling
restrictions are relaxed in the US.
Do you have any insight as to what strategic assets AMAYA
may still hold to capitilize further should gambling restrictions be relaxed
(if this a duplicate question please ignore one or the other. I felt that
My first attempt may not have been accepted )

Thanks

Q: The PowerShares BuyBack Achievers Portfolio (Fund) is based on the NASDAQ US BuyBack Achievers Index (Index). This etf has done well over 3 years and 5 years, compared to the S&P 500 Index. What do you think of this concept?

Q: Peter and Team:
I hold approx equal amounts of BDI,PD,DEE,PPY,QST,SGY, and SPE in an aggressive trading account where sector weighting is not an issue. All are down between 45 and 65 %.
Could you please rank from safest to least safe over a long term O/G downturn. Would you consider selling and redeploying some (or all) into one or two companies from your growth portfolio.

Thank you

Phil

Q: What are your thoughts on ENF at these levels ?

Thanks Ken

Q: A number of your stocks amongst all 3 portfolios seem to have options available to trade.

In the instances where options are available do you see a problem in buying long maturity options, then rebuying when they expire till they exit the ports?

A)That would give more leverage
B)Would require much less capital then buying stocks long.
C)Would limit downside risk in the event of a company blowout.

Would you recommend this type of approach? If not , why?

Q: Any reason to be concerned with this stock? Pulling back quite a bit in the past week. Would you be a buyer, seller or would you hold given the current price, market conditions and momentum of this stock? Do you have a price target or idea of what the 1 year consensus is?

Q: Ag Growth International in the last month has dropped from $57.72 to $50.80. Does this look like a good entry point for this stock?

Q: Hello, I have just consolidated my holdings and I am on the wait list for a portfolio review. In the mean time, could you please give me your opinion on my financial holdings which make up 35% of my portfolio. I feel this is rather high, what percentage would you recommend to hold for the average investor for financials and which holdings should I sell/trim in your opinion. My holdings are JPM.. 5.03%, AIG..5.73%, BAC..3.63%, C..2.57%, BNS 5.37%, COF..2.68%, AD...3.37%, TD..4.56%, CXI..0.53%. Also, my portfolio is approx. 40% US, 50%can, 10%bond etfs. Thanks for your insight.

Q: Appreciate your comments on this fund. What do you think it s 1 - 2 year prospects might be ? My $10K position would cost me $300 to exit.

Q: Is an RRSP the BEST place to hold these large US DIVIDEND paying Stocks? I know they should NOT b held in a TFSA.

Thanks! Austin

Q: Hello 5I
Is there a method I can use to review my question history where I can review my previous questions and the answer you provided, without having to scroll back in the hope of finding it?

Q: For those interested in dividend growth stocks I recommend the "Canadian Dividend All Star List". The list is comprised of Canadian companies that have increased their dividend for 5 or more calendar years in a row. The list is updated monthly in excel form and can be accessed/downloaded here:
http://www.dividendgrowthinvestingandretirement.com/canadian-dividend-all-star-list/