Investment Q&A

Q: Since your report on Firan Technology Group in early December, the move has been about 60% to the upside. Your report put the company on my radar, but I did not start a position. I am now considering jumping in and concerned about starting a position after such a big gain over then last few months. Do you see Firan continuing to outperform the market? Is this a longer term growth story that is still in the early innings? Is this increase in price being driven by defence-sector sentiment rather than Firan fundamentals? Any advice would be appreciated.

Q: Given that the market is broadening out and that I would like my portfolio to follow suit, I am thinking of switching half of my money in XUU, a market-cap weighted fund which makes up about 10% of my portfolio, to EQL, an S&P equal-weighted fund.

What would your opinion be on that?

Also, along the same line of thought, I'm considering trimming NVDIA and GOOG although the mere mention of it has my investing friends screaming "NO!". They understand the sentiment but think it's not the right time.

Q: I have these oil and gas companies, a number of them since covid so have enjoyed good dividends and lots of upside. I have recently read about being in or going into a commodity super cycle, as well as the idea of the "Halo" trade which you have written about. So the question for me is about selling - something I am not good at! When looking at the charts of many of these stocks they have long cycles of going up and then down quite severely over a six to nine year cycle. What do we look for as far as it being time to sell? Are we getting to that peak now or do you think we have a long runway still to come? Thanks so much?

Q: Is WIP a worthwhile choice for inflation protection, income and diversification for a retired investor with an otherwise CMR (20%), preferred stock (FITBI 12%) and pipeline-heavy (10%) portfolio?

Q: Hi 5i, I own BUG (not in your database) since about its low in 2023 . In 2025, it has underperformed ETFs like CIBR, HACK. IHAK did not do very well either.

First question: Why the discrepancies between these ETFs performance, BUG in particular? Some bad holdings?

Second question: Is it worth to have this kind of niche ETFs if we have broader ETFs like QQQ?

Third question: I could Sell BUG for a small profit, or Hold for a bit hoping a better price, or switch to a more expensive ETF (my last choice). Your pick?

Have a good weekend.

Q: My financials consist of JPM purchased during the Covid crash for a 3.5% position { currently risen to 11.82% } which I'm considering reducing and IFC a 2.91 % position which I am considering eliminating as it has been on a slow steady slide .... So I am considering adding a bank ETF . The question is where ? Canada , the U.S., or Europe ..... The candidates are three enhanced yield covered call ETF's ..... EBNK, HMAX, and FMAX ..... Could 5i give me the annualized return { including dividends } for each for the last three years { I realize FMAX has only been around for 2 years } ? .... And also which of the three locations 5i believes is the best place to put finance investments going forward ? { and why ? } using these 3 ETF's as the options available ? ..... { This will all be inside a RRIF } ...... Thanks for your terrific service ......

Q: What are your ideas about these 2 ETF's ?

Q: Good Mormning.
Given your positive comments om XHY and BND, I am considering adding to my holdings. How safe are the distributions on these types of funds? Will the distributions remain constant regardless of market conditions?
Thank you.

Q: Dear Peter et al:

This is a follow up to Lyle's question on Feb 17th. If one has a professional corporation and it's related investment account, (Non-Regd) won't holding ZEQT or VEQT cause tax drag? (Dividend withholding) Do you think holding HEQT is a better option? This goes back to my own earlier question about where should one park their investments? Which ETF goes into what bucket?! My apologies for my poor grammatical format :) Many Thanks in advance.

Q: Could you please give me your outlook on this company
Have held it in a TFSA for years is it worth keeping. Suggestions?
Thank you

Q: Does the quarterly report change anything, slow and steady as she goes?

Q: I see that the company recently announced another div increase -good news but the bump has quickly worn off. Earnings are still good and P/E now below 10. What is the catalyst to get the stock off the mat?

Q: Thank you for your earlier response. This is a follow up question to that response. Should your free cash flow numbers be multiplied by 1.35 since results for SPB are quoted in US dollars and the share price of $7.94 is in Canadian dollars? Then full-year 2025 FCF yield would be approximately 14.8%. Am I correct or am I making mistake? If I am correct, what do you think of this free cash flow yield?

Q: Greetings,


1. Am I correct in noticing that TOU has been range bound between $56 - $69 for about 4 years?

2. Based on cash payout ratio - Are dividend payments sustainable?

3. Regardless of my concerns, Michael Rose (CEO) has been a solid insider buyer over the last two months.


4. Is TOU more of an income stock or is something very positive about to happen to the growth aspect?

5. What price would be a fair entry price?

6. What price would be a fair exit price?


Cheers!
A

Q: Peter; Would you consider starting a “ model portfolio” type similar to your original ones, but constructed of those Canadian companies which will benefit from the new spending announced by Carney in defence, etc. ? Thanks.
Rod

Q: Would you be comfortable buying IAG today?

Q: I was disappointed with the reaction to the release of the year end results for B2Gold. Since I started accumulating BTO in the summer of 2024 I have some very solid gains with BTO but not nearly as good as I have had with Alamos, K92, Gmining, centera gold. alkane, and even Agnico Eagle. That is my story but more importantly this my question. Was it the 2025 results that disappointed (Because they did not look that bad to me except that the new Goose Mine is ramping up slower than projections.) or is it the guidance for 2026? I think it is the weak guidance. But one thing that a casual observer might not know about BTO is that they have been getting much lower prices for their gold because of a prepay arrangement with I believe is with Tripple Flag. BUT that prepay will be over at the end of June (please confirm that) and then BTO can get the full price for all of their gold sales for the second half of 2026. I think BTO only got about $3300 on ounce in the last quarter of 2025 while Alkane realized $5200 (perhaps that was in $AUS since I only glanced at the press release). That is a huge difference. So even if BTO produces fewer ounces in 2026, due to the Namibia mine ramping down, the profitability of BTO in the second half of 2026 may be strong due to higher realized gold prices for ALL of the ounces produced in the 2half of 2026. Am I looking at this possibility correctly or am I missing a critical piece of the financial puzzle of BTO?

Q: In reviewing your answers to various questions on these two you seem fairly agnostic? I note that SU has been growing their dividend at a pretty good clip over the past 5 years. Is there anything that tilts the decision for a 10+ year hold either in terms of differences in risk or opportunity, or truly a coin flip? Thanks,

Q: I'm in the process of using RIF withdrawals to augment a TFSA.
I have BIP, BEP and DIR as possible candidates to switch.

I'd appreciate your view on which stock has the most upside potential?

Q: So many members ask questions where they ask you to rank a number of companies which they suggest. Let me change that up a. bit. Please rank the top 10 Canadian companies that YOU think have the best chance of yielding the highest returns for 5i members In 2026. Perhaps an unfair question but I"m curious.

This was a question asked earlier which seems quite popular. Can I ask the same question for US stocks
Thanks