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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I help my son with his investments: he already owns XEG to capture an energy rebound in his TFSA & has another $25K to deploy in that account: he is not sure how long his time horizon is? A few stock suggestions that pay a nice dividend and/or have good growth potential over a 12mth period please?
Read Answer Asked by James on June 08, 2016
Q: Hi 5i,
This is in response to Earl’s question about managing an account for someone whose OAS supplement is reduced substantially in proportion to any taxable income from investments. A good way to generate some cash flow giving the effect of income but without taking the full impact of the supplement reduction might be to focus a portion of the portfolio on REITs whose growth and development activities allow them to designate all or most of their distributions as ‘return of capital’ or ROC. The cash payments come monthly, typically, but the ROC designation turns some or all of that cash from income into a reduction of the cost base for the investment, effectively swapping current year income tax on the payments for capital gains tax that is deferred until the eventual sale of the holding. Because any portion of a cash distribution designated as ROC is effectively not income, there should be no reduction of the OAS supplement resulting from receiving that ROC.
There is imperfect visibility with this approach because one cannot be certain in advance exactly how much of the year’s distributions will be designated ROC. That information comes with the tax slips and related info after year-end. But with that caveat, I have held REITs over many years that have designated most, sometimes all, of their distributions as ROC, year after year. A good example that I have held would be Artis REIT (AX.UN) but I expect that other 5i members have several other favorite examples. If you are willing to dig a bit, a REITs’ past record regarding ROC designations is usually available on its website or potentially through its Investor Relations people.
Read Answer Asked by Lance on June 08, 2016
Q: 1) What happened to your Growth Portfolio - last one was March/16?
2) Have not received any reply to my corrected question of 6/6/16? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on June 08, 2016
Q: you seem to get a question on couche tard everytime it declines, and i know it is one of your favorites.
so is the recent decline due to sector rotation, cdn dollar strength, margins on gas etc or what.
i would think with the recent purchse of esso stations in mtl, possible bidding on valero and loblaws stations the stock would be rising, also most targets are in the 70 dollar range. dave
Read Answer Asked by david on June 08, 2016
Q: I manage the investment accounts for a family member who currently has a very small pension, CPP and OAS with the OAS Supplement. Her Supplement is reduced by 50 cents for every dollar of investment income she makes so she is effectively in a 50% tax bracket. Her capital comes from the recent sale of her house and the money must be available for an assisted living facility in a few years. My problem has been finding stocks to preserve capital and minimize the 50% tax bite which impacts what she has to live on currently. I have used AV.UN which has no impact on her income now and TMC which does but provides a high income. I think capital gains would be better than dividends which are grossed up. Any suggestions for appropriate investments for a 6 figure account?
Read Answer Asked by Earl on June 08, 2016
Q: Thanks for your quick response to my question regarding Cal-Maine foods. However I am not certain where you got your consensus estimates for earnings as my research shows a consensus/ mean estimate of earnings for the coming year as $1.80 a share based on 5 firms that cover the company. The estmates range from $1.05 a share to $2.83 a share. So that increases the PE quite considerably. I think that your earnings were for the past year not the coming year. While I am not trying to have you predict a share price for the company, which I agree you cannot do, cyclical companies will often trade at very low PE multiples at the peak and very high PE's at the
trough. I am not really sure how high a multiple is 'reasonable' based on previous experience. Your comments would be appreciated and if you concur with my numbers your thoughts on whether the current projected earnings support the current share price and if the next year's earnings projections are a short term event or more long term based on industry events and trends. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by John on June 08, 2016
Q: I am a retired, conservative dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP, annuities, and hold the following: AD, AQN, ALA, BNS, BCE, CGX, CJ, ECI, FTS, PBH, RY, TRP, WCP, WEF, WSP, Sentry Cdn Inc, RBC Cdn Eq Inc, Sentry REIT, ZLB, XIT and Fisgard Capital.

I am looking to top up my consumer stocks, already having full positions in CGX, ECI and PBH.

I am also looking to top up my industrial stocks, already having a full position in WSP and those contained within Sentry Cdn Income.

Suggestions for new holdings with a dividend > 3% please.

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on June 08, 2016
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