Investment Q&A

Q: Need to add to the financial sector. Prefer an alternative to banks and insurance because of dealing interest rates. I already have BAM.A
Ideas?

Q: Please comment briefly as appropriate on the above stocks covered by 5i. Add,sell or hold? 1)EIF 1.5% position/ p/p$44 / Investment a/c. Recent big drop to $32.19 2)SU 1% / $42.59 / RIF. Sharp drop in oil price 3)AW.un 1.5% /$43.63 /Inv.a/c. 4)Real 2% / $14.25 / Tfsa. Sharp drop today. 5)STC 1% / $2.47 /Tfsa. Down since recent Q. 6)Ray.a 1.5% / $9.70 / Rif. Down trend.Decent results,but no love. 7)Qst 1.5% /$5.01/ Rif. Very sharp drop last few days. 8)Hr.un 3.5% / $21.33 / Rif. Its building in Calgary is leased to Ecana,now IVV( US$2.60.) Thanks for u usual great services & views

Q: First off I just want to say thank you so much for your special report you issued last week. For a young investor like myself who has never been through events like we currently are experiencing your advice has been extremely valuable to help navigate these uncharted waters.

I have been sitting on some cash and would like to increase my technology (both Canada and the US) exposure as it is low right now. I am comfortable with moderate risk. I have a few questions on this subject so feel free to subtract as many credits as you see fit:
1) For Canadian tech companies, after reading your special report and the Q&A's, it seems you like CSU, KXS, DSG, and SHOP. Would you recommend buying these individual companies (or others?) or would XIT be a reasonable alternative with these 4 companies composing ~61%? Or is there another tech etf you would suggest?
2) For US tech companies (or any US company for that matter), with the Canadian dollar being low, would you recommend looking at specific US companies or a Canadian ETF that holds US tech companies? I am worried the exchange would eat into possible returns. Do you have any recommendations (e.g. I have seen you mention XQQ for an etf, SKYY highlighted in etfupdate, and companies like MSFT, GOOG, TEAM, etc)?

Thanks for all that you do.

Q: I have provided a sampling of the Preferred Shares I have in my holdings where most of them have rate renewals out into 2023/24. With prospect of a recession and lower interest rates I have locked in returns for the short-term, would you be able to provide some insight into why their market valuation has dropped 25-30% in most cases? Are investors doubting Royal Bank, Bell, Algonquin Power, etc of being able to meet their debt obligations?

Q: Dear 5i;
I watch the Asian and Futures market in the evenings as a guide or possible indicator as to what North American markets might do the next morning / day and I'm sure I'm not alone in doing this .
I find it extremely irritating and unfair that I'm unable to take advantage of anticipated increases or decreases in the US and Can markets as a result of the Futures market being significantly up or down as the North American markets are already up or down big time before the markets are even open for trade ( ie the pre-market trading ).
Am i missing something here or are all of us ordinary investors stuck with this unfair system ( in my view anyways ) ?
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: May I please have your thoughts on IIP.UN in the current environment? It appears to have held up relatively well. As a growth oriented investor I do not have any REIT exposure. However, I have always regretted not establishing a position in InterRent as its performance over the years has been excellent.

Q: Given that there are two sides to every trade, I was wondering: when the markets undergo panic selling, who is buying? Any insights you can provide would be appreciated.

Q: Peter; I’ve read the current answers on KEY - would you add to it at today’s price? It seems to be trading like it may go bankrupt. Thanks. Rod

Q: What is your view of this stock? Is it a buy at these prices?

Q: Good Morning

I was able to convert almost everything to cash late January and am now waiting to see when bottom is at hand. Markets appear to be displaying some signs of recovery this morning after the ridiculous comments by Trump the other day. Is there any reason we should be optimistic and begin looking at getting back in? Or do you think we still have a ways to go before recovery?

Thanks for all you do
gm

Q: Hi Guys,
This question has probably been asked before but what's the best website or sites to see company insider buying and selling?

Thanks,
Charlie

Q: Hello Team

I am not panicking with this correction, even tough I am way way down, this is not my 1st rodeo, been through a few of these, still I am in awe with the hit that energy stocks are taking, mid caps priced like they are going out of business. Anyways my question is bout the pipelines, do they normally charge a flat rate or a percentage of the wti price for shipping the product. I would assume that with the shortage of pipeline capacity they would be going full bore, why are they down so much
Thanks

Q: Ok so manulife cut its dividend in 2009 .Im quite sure the banks have never cut theirs or it was 100 years ago bns at 7% yield would be great for someone for yield and gain what are do you think.

Q: Hi,
Multuiple questions here, please deduct the credits you think are appropriate.

1) Can you please explain when it makes sense to hold a hedged version of an ETF
2) If one holds a Canadian ETF with US holdings, how does taxation work? Does it change whether they are held in a cash acct, TFSA, or RRSP and how?

Q: Hello Team,
Both are large with now, high dividend. Which would you choose for sector exposure and why.
Thank You,
Barry

Q: Interest rates are dropping but bond funds are getting clobbered - they normally would go up - is there fear that huge numbers of companies are going bankrupt such that bonds will not be repaid? It doesn't seem to matter whether short term or long term bonds - they are going down. XBB down 3%, ZAG down 3%, ZCS down 4% today so far. This seems crazy. Is this a buy opportunity for corporate bond funds or is the great depression about to happen and everything should be sold into cash?

Q: Is this a buy at this price? If I was to pick 3 companies on your growth portfolio which would you choose in order?

Q: A few times I've seen replies to member questions about oil companies and their debt to cash flow metric (OXY and OVV ring a bell, and 5X and 3X respectively ring a bell too, if I remember correctly). Are you calculating this? I don't see it in security details in 5i or my broker's site (or on other finance sites). Is it a question of having to read the balance sheet and cash flow statement, and if so what are you comparing? "Total Debt" (rather than "Total Liabilities") to "Total Cash from Operations" for the year ? For OXY the data I get presented (source is Morningstar via online broker) are Cash from/Used by Operating Activities + Cash from/Used by Investing Activities + Cash from/Used by Financing Activities = Increase/Decrease in Cash, however, I'm guessing you just use the first number, which for 2019 is 7.3 billion (so 38.6 debt / 7.3 total cash from operations = 5X)...is that correct? or do you get the ratio from somewhere else? Thanks

Q: Do we have an ex-dividend date set yet for the Canadian share spin-out/dividend for these two companies?

Thank you............ Paul K

Q: In view of the severity of the selloff, would you accelerate buying stocks in this market or spread the over 6 months or more ?

Any indication what the new multiple looks like for the US and CDA markets vs foward earnings. I suppose it s anyone's guess but I thouht you might have interesting comments. Thank you!