Investment Q&A

Q: I was just sent this update on the recent ZDC action from a fund manager that follows (and is a shareholder of) ZDC. I thought you might be interested. Feel free to publish it if you think it would be of value to your members.

After a total senseless decline in ZDC shares, let me summarize it for everyone following the group investor call yday. Sidebar, insiders are buying stock and the first filing hit this morning. Mgmt and board all intend to buy more shares. You want to bet against a company that has beaten consensus eight consecutive quarters?



Ring's tower is an off the shelf, hardware offering with no service, monitoring, or installation. It's a Chinese camera, no analytics, no infrared. In fact, it's half the height of the ZDC tower, so it was clearly not designed for large scale commercial, where ZDC is focused. Meaning ZERO overlap.
Amazon now has 20 towers with ZDC and ZDC is the ONLY tower provider to Amazon. In fact, Amazon took two more towers THIS WEEK.
ZDC now has MANY enterprise customers with towers and awaiting orders. Kruger, Home Depot, Circle K, Seven Eleven, Amazon.
The Kroger contract with LVT expires on Jan 31. All indications that this should be ZDC's contract. What happens if you wake up tomorrow to 500-1000 towers ordered by Kroger? The stock would be back at all-time highs in my view
the company was very explicit that they will use the balance sheet this year to fund growth and will be expanding the credit facility with the established accordion. No equity bailout for anyone. Leverage never gets above 2.5x
the stock is trading at 8x 2027 EBITDA for a company growing EBITDA 100% YoY. The most recent takeout in the space was Guarda buying Stealth last year for 21x FY1 EBITDA versus 13x 2026 for ZDC
Simple supply / demand: after the washout yday, 30 investors met with mgmt. ZDC has one of the best registers I have seen for a small cap and many more large LO buyers in the weeds. I am certain that I know who will win the showdown. The AUM for these funds dwarfs the AUM of hedge funds and retail.

Cheers

Scott

Q: Greetings,
From a response from your office, I interpreted these five were suggested as still being good opportunities at present day prices. Did you mean full position or tranches etc?

Like many, I'm terrified of the impending pullback, especially with Tech names and what if prices fall by more than eg: 15%?

Secondly, what is your opinion on what might happen to the market, in the short term, if Trump keels over and dies?

With thanks, A

Q: Good afternoon,

I feel that I have constructed a well balanced equity portfolio of between 20-25 stocks, thanks in large part to you and your team.

I have identified the following as core positions, where each one represents between a 3-5% weighting:

RY
GWL
ENB
FTS
AEM
BN
NVDA
GOOG
AMZN

I know that there could be many additions to this list. But assuming I hold my "top picks" to these names, do you have any immediate concerns?

Thanks as always.

Q: Hi 5i Guys, Could you please rank the noted stocks in order of your expected growth in the next 3 + years? Thank you!
Happy New Year!

Q: I'm looking to clean up some of my TFSA and would like to get your thoughts on the following to either buy more, sell, hold: ABNB, TTD, PRL, LULU, CLBT, RS, PNG, JPM, LMN, AEM, BKNG, ATZ, AMZN, INTU, AXON, WSP, GOOGL, NVDA?


What are a few other CAD/USD growth stocks you would recommend that are not listed for a long term hold? Thanks.

Q: I'm looking to start experimenting in 2026 with selling covered calls and cash secured puts (using a smaller % of my overall portfolio). Does 5i have any favourite tickers for this type of activity?

Thanks!

Q: If you could only buy 5 stocks in North America disregarding balance what would they be?

Q: We have had two great years of returns and many sectors like Tech, Financials, Materials.. have done really well. I have done some rebalancing heading into year end and am at about 65 % Equity and 35% Fixed Income/Cash. My top 5 holdings are BN, GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, RY.

I am confident (hopeful) that I am well positioned to weather any inevitable drawdown or pullback.

What sectors do you see that could perform well in 2026?

Many Small/Mid Cap stocks have suffered in late 2026 (PRL, GSY, LMN, NBIS, TOI, others) Do you see the Small/Mid cap space as an area to deploy cash in early 2026?

Is there an area of the market that could surprise in 2026?

Please deduct appropriately.

Thank you for your continued support and guidance and have a great Holiday Season!!

Tim

Q: Amongst the big 5. Kindly provide an opinion about which are most overpriced (corollary which is best priced for a buy) and based on what metrics or historical measure.

thank you

Q: Iam going to move some of our cash acct. Securities to tfsa . Specifically msft , amzn, google would you please give me your opinion of which of these you see as having best return over nex t year. Please rate as 1,2,3.
Cheers, Doug

Q: Tax issues aside, is there a clear favourite here for an in kind contribution to our TFSA's come January 1?

Thanks,
Terry
Best of the Season

Q: I am considering adding AVGO with its most recent price decline on what appeared to be a good Q. Would you concur that the sell off has been over done given there was little to complain about in the quarterly release. MSFT is my other add consideration, as it has corrected some, likely in sympathy with the AI fears. Of the 2 which would you consider more attractive for a 5 year hold? In the account I also hold NVDA, GOOGL, META, AMZN, and MU for tech names. Thank you.
John

Q: You mentioned in an answer to one of your questions that money has been moving from technology to other sectors. Which sectors are receiving the most new investment?
Could you give me some examples of companies within those sectors that are strong companies fundamentally and have excellent upside potential. I

Q: Could you please compare the present valuations for these 2 companies including P/FCF at current levels and compared to historical. Taking these insights into account, would you commence a position in MELI or add to an existing AMZN position?

Q: Hi I hold the following positions
CSU overweight
CLS overweight
GOOG overweight
BN overweight
GLXY
NBIS
NVDA
ISRG
AXON
SHOP
AMAZON
HOOD
VOO
URI
PNG

Would you add to existing positions or choose to buy others?

Please list your top 5 other stocks, and a brief reason for each ? Cnd or US

Thank you

Q: I have taken advantage of tax loss selling and have sold all my Canadian telecommunication stocks. At this time I don't feel any pressure to buy them back after 30 days. However, I would like to have exposure to the telecommunications sector for diversity and for the dividend. Could you recommend some non-Canadian alternatives for a long term hold? Many thanks!!! All the best for the holidays!!!

Q: How would you define a "core holding" in a portfolio? The above listed companies I consider to be core holdings. Does this list broadly match your definition of what type of companies should make up core holdings in a portfolio? Are there names in that list that you would NOT consider to be "core holdings"?
Thank you for your work and please deduct as many credits as you see fit.

Q: I currently own MSFT and GOOG . MSFT is at a loss((down 20%) in a Registered Acct and I am reviewing switching to GOOG or AMZN for better returns. I am currently 10% of portfolio in on GOOG so am pondering the switch to GOOG. Do you think a bounce is expected with share price of MSFT in the next 6-12 months is possible?

Q: Hello 5i - please take the number of credits you need. I began investing last year and have the following portfolio/down rounded up: GOOG: 6%, BN 7%, CSU 4%, DOL 4%, ENB 7%, HXS 9.5%, IFC 5.5%, META 4%, SHOP 7%, WSP 5%, AXON 4%, BRKB 6.5%, ISRG 6.5%, NVDA 2.5%, CRM 2%, AEM 1.2%, BAM 6%, H 1%, LMN 2%, AMZN 5%. I have about 40% cash to add in. Can you please advise of the following: 1. any key stocks you would recommend I add? Please prioritize with 1 being highest recommendation and 5 being lowest recommendation. 2. Any stocks you would recommend I sell? I am interested in a 5 year view. Thank you so much!

Q: Hello fantastic team,
Could I have your thoughts on Amazon please. I am thinking adding ...
Many thanks