Investment Q&A

Q: Hi there, I’m a big fan of the Balanced Equity portfolio. If you had to create a US Balanced Equity Portfolio using CDRs, what stocks would you purchase to create such a portfolio?

Q: I'm keen to add to the above US stock positions.
With that in mind, what would be a good entry dollar price for each of these stocks? And do you have a preference which to enter first to last?
This list of stocks is numerous. Please deduct the credits as you see fit..........Tom

Q: I have held ULTA for some time and is up nicely. It hit a new yearly high on Tuesday, I am considering selling half and adding to AAPL/AMZN/GOOG/MSFT. I feel confident that when the market turns these 4 will do well. I am not so confident about ULTA. Could I please have your thoughts? Would you sell all/half/none? If you agree, in what order would you add to the others?

Q: 3 questions

What is the annual return for ENB since it went public when you include dividends & largest drawdown?

Would a 20% position in ENB for a retired person looking for income make sense?

What are the 5 safest Canadian & US stocks that would provide the best protection against drawdowns?

Q: I have recently redeemed some mutual funds that I have held for 20 to 30 years that will produce a significant capital gain for me in 2022. I have several stocks and an ETF that have been purchased in the past few years that are showing losses in the range of $5k to $15k. This includes TOI, U, SOXX, SQ, NVDA, MFI, MSFT, WSP and AMZN. Would you suggest selling these stocks to provide a capital loss that can be applied against my capital gain in 2022? It is my understanding that I will need to wait 30 days to repurchase shares to avoid the denial of the capital loss. If you would suggest selling these stocks and ETF, should I sell now or wait until the end of 2022? And if the stocks and ETF are sold to create a capital loss before the end of 2022, do you see some future in these investments and if so, which stocks would you suggest that I repurchase after 30 days? Thank you for your insights.

Q: Hello 5I,
What would be your top 5 picks in tech right now in Canada and Us?
Thanks

Q: appl or msft what is neo? and can we buy neo shares? I want to buy into the neo co.
bad time or good timr I appreciate your advice
Lorraine

Q: What would you consider good entry points for the attached stocks.

Thanks
Tim

Q: Hello 5I,
I am down 45% on apps. Just wondering if I should hold on because it is cheap and it could recover and put me back positive? Or sell and move on? If move on what would be a alternatives with similar upside etc?
Thanks

Q: Some time ago i asked a question regarding the merits of holding a handful of us stocks along with my US etf’s, in order to get a little extra boost. You were ok with the strategy but cautioned against the kind of stocks I held i.e. Google, nvidia, msft, Costco, abbivie. While they were good stocks you said that the problem is that they are well represented in the various etf’s and that if i wanted a “kicker” to provide boost that I should go smaller in size. I wonder if you could provide a handful of stocks that would fit that criterion and would be ones that one would want to own long term. If they were also good candidates for selling options on that would be an added bonus. Thanks for your expertise and advice.

Q: Everyone, I need to sell GOOG to crystallize losses and buy back in 30 days. What would you buy as a substitute? Clayton

Q: Hi Peter & team:

Could you name the order of preference for stocks to be put in TFSA- from most prefer to least prefer. Thank you

Q: We hold the following in a registered US$ 'growth' account . The list shows % each represents of our total US/CAN portfolio and current Gain/Loss position.

1. Anything in this list that you would toss out ?

2. With QCOM nearing 5% of portfolio and 100% gain, am thinking of reducing back to 2.5 and redeploying. Your thoughts on what to add to with proceeds – if anything ?

MTTR 0.2% -82%
CROX 0.4% -9%
META 0.4% - 25%
BKNG 1.0% -10%
APPS 1.2% -72%
U 1.2% -68%
TEAM 2.3% +22%
CRWD 3.0% -13%
MSFT 3.0% +85%
NVDA 3.7% +38%
QCOM 4.8% +92%

Q: Can you please rank the above tech stocks looking out 2-3 years. I am looking to drop a couple and add to ones you like better as some have become much smaller after dropping this year.
Thanks

Q: Hi, ServiceNow stock, a large US Enterprise Digital Solutions provider company, dropped 12%, Today, after CEO's comments, last evening on Mad Money, warning about the macro headwinds faced by a continuously extra strong US Dollar, by Technology companies, particularly those with large enterprise customers, around the world. Some of the comments are as below:

" You’re at 41-year high inflation. The dollar right now is the highest it’s been in over two decades. We have interest rates rising. People worried about security. You’ve got a war in Europe. So, the mood is not great,” McDermott said in an interview that aired on “Mad Money” after the closing bell on Monday.

“You’re going to see the headwind of the dollar right now against well-known technology brands,” the CEO added. “No one’s going to outrun the currency right now.”

Shares of ServiceNow, which helps companies and organizations digitize their workflows, fell 13% on Tuesday after McDermott’s comments, which were meant as an overall industry observation, not ServiceNow-specific news due to the company being in a quiet period ahead of reporting its latest quarterly earnings on July 27. "

“When you think about energy, and the dislocation caused by the war in Europe, and this reprioritization I’m talking about, you’re going to see longer cycles [to close deals] in Europe. We saw that,” McDermott said. “But this doesn’t fundamentally change the narrative that tech is the only way to cut through the crosswinds.”

The reprioritization he’s referring to is the increase in demand for a fast return-on-investment — another symptom of cautiousness in the current environment.

“There’s a new level or prioritization in the enterprise. And I have seen this, actually since we last met, Jim, hitting a new gear. Where companies are first saying ‘which platforms do we want to bet on,’” and then try to sort their priorities, McDermott said.

“There’s one filter on all of this now. And that is fast return on investment. And if you can’t put an architecture in there that gives the customer a fast ROI, chances are, you’re going to get postponed,” he added.

Stifel said in a note on Tuesday that it believes the company is “likely” to lower their expectations when it reports earnings, citing McDermott’s comments on reprioritization. The investment bank also expects other companies across the industry to follow suit in the coming weeks.

There was chatter that Today's 4.10% decline in MSFT and 4.61% in Sales Force, which was ugly, was not company specific but in reaction to this macro warning,

Most large Technology will start reporting in a few weeks time.

Some strategists were seen on CNBC talking about the" Generals" being the last to drop and MSFT's sharp drop today was noticed by many.

Do you agree with above comments/sentiments ?

We are trying to assess, if these companies, in your view, are likely to be faced with similar headwinds - CSU ( worldwide revenues), TOI ( Europe) and SYZ ( >55% US rev ), for all those reasons. And if you think, they are not immune to this, is there any caution warranted, or is it prudent to reduce our exposure to a more reasonable level, at this time.

Thank You

Q: CSU and BEP.UN are graded A and are your only A grade companies in Canada. What might be an A grade company from the U.S. if you were to grade?

Thx

Q: I have an interesting question regarding value vs growth. I don't have exposure to MSFT and still feel bad for not having bought it in the 2009 crash. With a 5 year time frame please rank the above from top stock to least stock performance (prediction, prediction). If you were to sell one of the above to buy MSFT which would it be?

Thank you

Yves

Q: Please rank these for a 3 year hold. I'm down in all of them, except AAPL, ISRG & TSLA

Thanks!

Q: Hi,

For a long term hold and at current market prices, would you have a preference between MSFT or AMZN (either one would be a new position for me)?

Thanks,
Brad

Q: Currently there is a lot of turbulence in markets for many reasons, could you provide a list of 3-5 balanced companies that you would find attractive both at current prices and economic situation.