Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i Team,
Given the current low interest rates, low crude prices and the covid-19 situation and all these factors have a negative impacts on insurance companies and big banks. What are your thoughts on taking a position in FIE?
Cheers and your great works are appreciated.

Q: Further to Mark's question regarding the spin-off of Dow and Corteva, there is definitely a way to set this aside for this taxation year, and ultimately have it as a capital loss/gain. The CRA calls it Election 86.1, and I've included the link here to CRA's website, where they show that they have approved an 86.1 election for both companies mentioned.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/eligible-spin-offs.html
if you do your own taxes, google "86.1 procedures" or something similar to that, and you'll find all the necessary instructions. i've done it myself for the HP spin-off, and essentially, you include a letter with your taxes (or re-file if you've already submitted your taxes) and state that you are exercising this election, and thus will not be including that specific T5 with your tax return this year. And then keep that letter, in case when you eventually sell, if you ever have an issue.

But to this point, when a US stock gets close to a spin-off (in a non-registered account) I always sell, to avoid this hassle. And it is a hassle.

Hope this helps...

Q: I have held BIP in a RRSP for a number of years, and now also have a small holding of BIPC, which I am considering rolling back into BIP for simplicity sake to reduce total holdings. Is the distribution per share going to be exactly the same for BIP and BIPC? Are there any issues (withholding, etc) that would affect the distribution received from one stock and not the other, keeping in mind this is all in a registered account?
Some days the price differential is such that I could sell BIPC and buy BIP and the differential would more than cover the commissions (yeah, I would actually still lose). I would appreciate any comments about the pros and cons of this move.
Thank-you

Q: Over my investment time frame I have seen a lot of corporate wrongs, from outright fraud, frequent misrepresentation and accounting tricks. These are seldom given proper attention in the investment world. My question is: " Do you know of any reporting service or website that focuses on corporate wrongdoings?
I appreciated Peter's honest answer to the question on analyst. Thank you.Cheers

Q: Clayton's question and Peter's honest answer prompts me to ask this question: Do you know of anyone or reporting service that focuses on the bad behaviour of corporate management or directors?
As a long time investor I have seen a lot of outright fraud, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation on the part of corporate management. There is not a lot of legal action against these crimes or civil wrongs and class action law suits take a long time to wind up and usually with insignificant payout to a small investor. Analysts seem silent and most of the guests on market call do not usually highlight it. Vermillion comes to mind. Repeatedly we were told the dividend would not be cut and shortly after this representation, the dividend was cut. Surely management at that time would have known that the dividend would be cut. Full marks to Eric Nuttal on this when he pointed out the huge salary increase taken by a member of management just before the dividend cut. Tricks with the financial reports are also not rare. Thanks for any suggestion you may have. Hans

Q: Hello, I would like to know your opinion on AECON GROUP INC (ARE). Please comment on their latest financial results published yesterday (Q1). The backlog of orders seems to be well filled. Governments are expected to announce some impressive infrastructure projects in the near future to provide much-needed stimulus to the economy. You can also recommend other construction and engineering firms. Thank you.

Q: Before I buy and sell I usually review 5i’s opinion and review StockCharts candlesticks and P&F chart for technical guidance . Investors are presented with presets such as moving averages , MACD, RSI etc . You can add options : OBV, Full stochastics , Channels, Bollinger Bands , Channels, Pivot Points etc etc etc . ( actually too many choices ) . Which options do you find most useful in technical decision making ? Thank you for all of your help .

Q: What are your top 5 Fixed Income ETFs (Cdn or US / International exposure) to hold long term in a RRIF or RSP in the current environment?
Thank you in advance.

Q: Good Day Team,
Looking for a good solid opportunity to invest in and thought about HBF and possibly HGR. Would you advise me to go this route or are the better routes to take.
I am retired and 70 years of age.
Thank you,
John G.

Q: Would you still consider AMZN a buy at the current price for a long term hold?

Thanks, Lyle

Q: Risk of small business bankruptcys, loan losses - would this be a Material Risk for BNS given the countries they do business in, or would the risk be smaller because of the countries they do business in - or perhaps the loans to small business is a minor part of their over all portfolio (meaning their loans are to larger business with stronger balance sheets).

Q: What are your thoughts on these two etfs for retirement income going forward ?

Q: I currently have no investments in precious metals. What would your order of ranking from 1 to 4 would the following KL:CA, AEM:CA, FNV:CA and PHYS:CA be for a hold of 5 years or more. Also are there any other precious metal stocks, ETF's or other investments that would worth considering? This would be for a non registered account.

Q: Hi. I would appreciate an update on your views regarding Husky Energy Inc, especially after the wild ride of the past 5 weeks comparing and contrasting it to other producers, such as Suncor. Thank you. Hope you are doing well and staying safe.
Michael

Q: Hi, IVQ has suspended their dividend, stock price has fallen significantly, I am down 70%, is this stock worth holding long term? No further information has been given, Salaries cut, some COVID cases in their rental holdings, sounds like the company is in trouble or facing potential lawsuits?

Q: Thank you again for this great service.
I am down about 25% on BNS (and I have no losses for tax purposes and will have more offsetting gains from other holdings). Thinking of selling BNS and buying POW which in my view has more upside. I would appreciate your advice on what to do with proceeds from BNS sale i.e., other suggestions please (I am very well diversified).

Q: Given the move to more online shopping I would think that delivery services should be the beneficiaries .
Would UPS and FDX be your first choices in the sector or are there others that you think would to be better.

Q: In February you stated that you consider KEYS:US to be a weak buy. Do you still consider it to be a weak buy? What are the company negatives? I notice the company's stock appears to have weathered the Covid crisis better than other companies even though the stock is still down from its pre-crisis high.
Thanks,
Jim

Q: Can you please recommend what you believe is currently the best Canadian dividend ETF for monthly income and relative stability in this unstable market. You have recommended XEI in the past, but it has about about 11% more Energy stocks compared to ZDV, although XEI does have 5% less financials. I am looking for a long term hold for income in retirement. Thanks, Grant

Q: Taking the following statement at its face value, does that make a case for increasing exposure to covered call ETFs for a retired person looking to income?

"Unfortunately, some of Wall Street’s top forecasters warn that stocks at current prices amid the gloomy economic backdrop are likely to deliver lackluster average returns for years."

Thank you