Investment Q&A

Q: Thank you for your answer to the question (copied below) that I asked a few days ago.

I wasn't so much asking about my own strategy, but whether you think such a strategy (moving some money out of tech and into the broader market) is a good move in the current climate.

NVDA and GOOG are part of the same theme. Do you think these are winners to be held on to, or whether trimming a bit to put in the broader market would be wise?


Question: Given that the market is broadening out and that I would like my portfolio to follow suit, I am thinking of switching half of my money in XUU, a market-cap weighted fund which makes up about 10% of my portfolio, to EQL, an S&P equal-weighted fund.

What would your opinion be on that?

Also, along the same line of thought, I'm considering trimming NVDIA and GOOG although the mere mention of it has my investing friends screaming "NO!". They understand the sentiment but think it's not the right time.

Answer: We think XUU is a solid fund, but if diversiifcation is a goal then we think EQL makes good sense. For example, XUU currently is about 42% tech. EQL is barely at 10%.

Q: Given that the market is broadening out and that I would like my portfolio to follow suit, I am thinking of switching half of my money in XUU, a market-cap weighted fund which makes up about 10% of my portfolio, to EQL, an S&P equal-weighted fund.

What would your opinion be on that?

Also, along the same line of thought, I'm considering trimming NVDIA and GOOG although the mere mention of it has my investing friends screaming "NO!". They understand the sentiment but think it's not the right time.

Q: So many members ask questions where they ask you to rank a number of companies which they suggest. Let me change that up a. bit. Please rank the top 10 Canadian companies that YOU think have the best chance of yielding the highest returns for 5i members In 2026. Perhaps an unfair question but I"m curious.

This was a question asked earlier which seems quite popular. Can I ask the same question for US stocks
Thanks

Q: Hello Team and good Family Day for the ones in Ontario,

Apart from the market fixation now on overspending on AI which costs a bundle and may not generate more profit, I read somewhere an analyst making a parallel between GE (pre-separation in 3 separate entities) and the 3 members of the Mag 7 listed above. He says they may be going the way GE did when the market started pricing conglomerates the way it did for the last 15 years which consequently brought GE to a very low multiple. What did it for GE, he says, was being involved in different and unrelated businesses, for one, and one strong entity pulling the weight of costly money losing members for another. He says it is also true especially in the AMZN and GOOG cases. What do you think? As always thanks for your strong insight, Adel.

Q: I have watched many Youtube examples where jobs can be replaced with AI, whether it's call centers or financial analysts where Claude filled in forecasts exactly as an analyst would have. What stocks would you identify as leveraging the AI technology the most in the future? I would buy Anthropic if they were public (may occur this year yet). I'm assuming Google, Nvidia, but am I missing any? For example, Propel Holdings Inc uses AI... I would think that this would make Propel ahead of the game and be a very smart investment today.
Thank you,
Kevin

Q: Recognizing that it is higher risk than many companies, you seem to have a generally positive view of ZOMD. That said, unlike many other small caps that have followed market sentiment in these volatile markets, ZOMD has pretty much been in a steady state of decline since they released their earnings in late November. I note that the trading volume (in relative terms) has also significantly fallen off since then which might be a contributing factor.

As always, would appreciate your views for ZOMD going forward.

Q: Which 10 Canadian or US companies are most attractive for a +5 year hold? In order ideally

Also, what one thing is worrying you most about current market conditions? And why

Thank you

Q: Hello and thank you for all of your great work last week as we all navigated the flurry of earnings, particularly as it related to the big tech names.

I have been hearing more and more about Anthropic, and how much more potential it may have over the long term versus OpenAI. Some have suggested that comparing the two names now is like what happened ~ 25 years ago when there were comparisons being made about Netscape and HP. We all know who won that “battle”. But many commentators are suggesting that the entity that goes after “enterprise” will ultimately prevail - this is what happened with HP. And the entity that goes after consumer/retail will ultimately fail - this is what happened with Netscape. Some have even suggested that with the most recent funding round of OpenAI, where valuation is predicted to be ~ $850 billion, that this may in fact be the high water mark, and that it may very well be downhill from here.

So - my questions are as follows - (i) Who do you prefer longer term, OpenAI or Anthropic? And (ii), would you be concerned about MSFT with respect to the significant investment it has already made in OpenAI?

Q: hi, with the recent downturn in tech, software, crypto, can I get your top 5 CDN and top 5 US stocks for purchase now ( in the tech, software or crypto space only ).
cheers, Chris

Q: Peter & Team, thanks for your calm in this stormy market. With Amzn, Goog, Msft etc indicating >$500B in Capex spend, who are the beneficiaries ? The chips are obvious but who else ? Are the copper companies part of the list ? What are the best names based upon valuation here ? Thank you.

Q: Hello
Please list each in order of preference. At today's price what would be your top 3 Canadian stocks to buy in each small cap, mid cap and large cap for a 3 year hold. Also your top 3 Canadian ETF'S and top 3 US stocks for a buy today. Last but not least what is your top 3 sectors going forward.
Thanks a million

Q: Peter, can you give me recommendations for three American stocks which you like? Thanks you

Q: I have mostly income holdings with some large growth stocks (GOOG, META, AMGN, MSFT). Having sold UMAX now looking at HHIS or HDIV. HHIS seems to fit the bill of both growth and income. In a mostly value portfolio I would hold 1% or $16,000 of HHIS for income. Is this reasonable with some risk or is adding to HDIV a better choice? HHIS has a total value now of over 1B up from its initial few million. 80 year old income investor with a 5-10 year horizon.

Q: On the dip, where does Google look compelling. We listened to your advice a couple years ago and would like to add as we see this as a pillar in our holdings.

Q: GOOG What do you think of their latest quarter why the big drop in futures trading.

Q: Hello Team 5i,

Apart from the immense spending MSFT is continuing to undertake to beef-up their Azure capabilities can you comment :
(1).On the other reasons the shares have been severely punished since coming up with what appeared to be some reasonably good earnings for the past quarter? Also can you please explain :
(2). Why less than a few months ago MSFT renegotiation of their new terms with Open AI was heralded as a very good move (their stock value popped up the same day close to a new maximum) whereas the same relationship now seems to have become detrimental to MSFT, maybe even compounding their precipitous share price drop (from 550 to 410) among other reasons?. As always thank for sharing your always very good insights. Adel

Q: Keeping current market conditions in mind and assuming we still have more downside to come, can you share 5 US and 5 Canadian stocks/ETFs on your shopping list? I'm not worried about diversification - just looking for your top picks regardless of sector overlap.

Thank you!

Q: Hi There. Please correct me if I am wrong but I understand that Google, Microsoft and Amazon are stake holders of Anthropic. Can you please tell how much % ownership they have in Anthropic? Do you think this is a reasonable way of getting exposure to Anthropic? If yes, which stock if any would you purchase? Many thanks.

Q: I have 8% cash in my portfolio after I sold all my CSU in December. I would like some suggestions as to what AI related stocks to purchase.

Q: I have 16.6% of my RRSP currently sitting in cash, from accumulated dividends and some contributions I never got around to deploying into the equities markets. Can you give me two names (US or Canadian equities) that I could spit this amount between, to purchase? Many thanks.