Investment Q&A

Q: I have US cash to deploy and want to do so gradually in stages. I am already well invested in US Tech and I also have decent positions in COST and AMZN. Could you recommend some other US companies - those that have been unfairly punished by the virus that could be good long term investments. Also looking for some international exposure.
Thank you,
PD

Q: I'm looking to take positions in the following sectors. Could you please recommend 2 stocks in each category to hold in a non-registered acct.

-Utilities
-Healthcare
-Real estate

Thanks as always, Dave

Q: Could you please give me a couple of suggestions for US Healthcare stocks. will be held in a RRSP account. I only have Guardant (Small position) at the moment. Thanks

Q: I have nothing relating to the Healthcare sector and would like to fill this gap. Considering both the Canadian and US markets, what are your best suggestions?
Much appreciated. RAM

Q: Further to a previous question about your suggestion for 4-5 core holdings in the U.S., I notice that you did not suggest any Healthcare stocks. Could you comment on this - do you like any? I don't see much in Canada to choose from.

Thanks so much
Margaret

Q: Hi,
My current portfolio is invested in 8% communication services, 2% energy, 27% financials, 4% industrials, 3% technology, 1% materials 3% international funds, and 22% utilities. I rely on the portfolio for income so I am looking for some dividend/growth stocks. I have another 120K to invest and was wondering if you could provide me a couple CAN and US stocks to invest in.
Thanks,

Q: Which biopharma company is the “Best of Breed” to hold for at least 10 years. I am focused on total return over the holding period rather than dividend yield. Also please provide your views on Biogen, Amgen and Celgene. Thanks,

Q: Based on my portfolio review, I need to increase my pharmaceutical weighing. Although you do not follow US companies closely, could you give me your best recommendations for 3 US pharmaceutical Companies. My only holding at the moment is Pfizer. Could you give me your opinion on this company please?

Q: Aside from JNJ, my US portfolio has no healthcare/biotech stocks. How would you assess these two companies?
Thank you, Team!

P.S. The BNN presentation was very informative!

Q: Could you please rank these USA healthcare stocks in terms of long term capital appreciation. No immediate need for income, looking more for growth. Besides these names, do you see any other interesting healthcare names in the USA with good long term growth prospects? Thanks as always

Q: I hold AMGN and see from your recent responses that it's a 5i favorite. The metrics do not appear to justify your support, so I wonder if I am looking at the wrong data. PEG is sky high (over 4); forward P/E is almost 14 ; ROE is only 6.6. The data above is from a premium site which differs from the Yahoo Finance site which shows forward P/E at 13.09 and PEG at 3.3 with ROE at only 7.18. Net margins do look healthy but I cannot tell from 3 sites I checked whether net margin % data is fwd looking or refers to historical.

Although AMGN appears to have been a dividend grower (not a dividend aristocrat that I know of ) , it’s dividend payout is very high at 171%.

Yet there must be something about AMGN that you like a lot.... perhaps something not shown on reported data. Is it AMGN's pipeline? Projected cash flow? I would prefer not to sell my holding until I can understand what it is about AMGN that you like so much. I would appreciate your insight very much (am not looking so much for basic or raw numbers available on popular sites---but I really would appreciate your thoughts, thanks).

Q: What would be your favourite healthcare stocks in Canada and Us?
Thank you

Q: I own the above noted stocks relating to healthcare at roughly 1% weighting each. I am fine with hanging onto GUD and waiting but I was wondering if the other two are worth hanging onto or if I should move onto something else in the sector.
When adding more (approximately 5 to 10% of overall portfolio) to this sector would you recommend an etf or specific stocks?
Any recommendations (Canada, US or Int'l) would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Brian

Q: looking to buy some pharmaceutical stocks....can you please provide your 4 or 5 favs? or is there an ETF you would look at ? thank you...

Q: I have small position in CELG (about 2%). With the recent weakness in the last week, would you suggest holding onto it, or even buying more? If I were to sell is there another healthcare stock you would suggest?

Q: My biotech holdings include Celegene at 3% and alexion at 1.5%. I am looking to obtain a basket of these stocks, the best in your opinion, as opposed to getting the sector etf.
My question are as follows:
1. Do you feel now is an opportune time to be adding to biotech, or has the sector run up too far?
2. If the time is right, what would be your top complementary picks to my current positions ( mid cap to large cap) and how many should I hold? Please advise what an adequate overall portfolio position would be for the sector, for an investor with a palate for moderate risk and a long way term view.

Thank you for your counsel,
Karim .

Q: Hello, today the Amgen stock has closed down by 6.50%. Could you explain the reason(s)for that? Regards, Gervais

Q: The very best for 2017! May positive trading continue throughout the year!
I would appreciate your input in stock selection, i.e. biotech Amgn vs. Gild, and generics Teva vs. Acorn.
Thank you!

Q: Even after incorporating political risks, many health care stocks seem to have been punished more than seems justifiable. On Friday; minutes after the FBI said it is re-opening that email investigation , the health care sector sank even lower. The sudden stock price drop was in near-perfect correlation (McKesson, Novo Nordisk, Gild, CVS, Allergan and others were already down significantly year to date, yet all dropped sharply on the FBI news).

Granted, the damage to bio tech and pharma companies was self-inflicted. No one with a moral compass can dispute the fact that drug pricing abuses did happen (and perhaps still do). At current depressed stock prices, however, does it not now seem that many health care companies are being water-boarded indiscriminately? Is available info so nebulous that even traders or investing professionals don't feel confident. Are the unknown factors significant enough to depress stocks this much, though? Even after the already steep drops year to date? ( Sorry, I don't mean this preamble to turn this into a leading question).

QUESTION: Would you buy any Health Care stocks at current valuations (many show low PEG, high ROE)? This sector has been sliding down since 2015. Specifically, would you add to a position in Amgen or Merck , OR in the alternate, would you rather initiate a new position in a medical equipment maker? If the latter, which one please and why? Thank you.

Q: Of course, most all have dropped but - would appreciate your financial & expertize on these 3 US healthcare related stocks. Thank you.