Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter

I cannot seem to find an etf in the Pharma/healthcare industry that is in cdn dollars and not hedged. Do you know of one or do I need to buy one in US$? Do you think being hedged to cdn$ would affect performance other than the currency risk should the cdn$ continue sliding?

Thank you

Q: Hi, My question from Sunday appears to have been lost, so I'll try to resubmit. There has been a melt down in Sylogist stock price for past few weeks and my suspicion is that it could be due to fear of slowing regional economy due to slide in oil prices. It's a bit concerning as Technology sector, broadly has been a strong sector lately. Can you please share your thoughts on this and if Sylogist has a risk of its major customers curtail spending in IT area. Thanks

Q: Hi I am a new member. Wow what a gold mine of information! Here is my first question. I am managing my wife’s LIF and I think it would be prudent to diversify some funds in the US market to capture expected growth and take advantage of the strong US dollar. I am looking at dividend ETF’s (it is a little overwhelming) and wonder which of the following would be my best option;
DVY.US, VIG.US, VYM.US, SDY.US and SCHD.US or will I better off buying individual stocks?

Q: What blue chip companies look good now and for 2015?

Q: I saw your recommended weighting was 3% of TMA. Is this a sector call on transportation or a small cap call due the size of the company? Would your weighting on TFI be 3% also? I am thinking transportation is the perfect counterpoint to energy and was expecting it to do will in this environment. What would your weighting overall be for the transportation sector in 2015?

TIA

Q: Hi Peter
Was planning to lower my preferred shares end of year and when I glanced at a TD report , five of mine showed a due date of today so I figured I would be looking to buy some as that was more than I wanted to lessen the weight by. None were deposited today...Does perpetual mean they can keep renewing them without notice?
The ones I am talking about are BBD.C , CIBC.G WN.C,WN.D and POW.D . Is there a place to find out what the intentions are and/or which would you expect to be redeemed soon if any.
Thanks for all you do.....best of the season.

Q: It seems that noses are out of joint in the recent Couche-Tard acquisition of The Pantry. With an investigation being launched against The Pantry directors for an alleged breach of fiduciary trust, what would be the implications to ATD? Would/should ATD walk away from this deal, or would/should it simply raise its share price, if it is found that they did indeed "underpay" for Pantry shares. Your analysis of this situation would be appreciated. Thanks, as always.

Q: Please advise which of the listed companies you are comfortable increasing to a 5% weighting at this time: AVO, ESL, AYA, BYD, DHX, LNR, CNR, QST, WSP, SJ, HCG, OTC and PRW. Thank you and Merry Christmas

Q: Can you shed any light on todays precipitous (one third) drop in GILD? Reports only speak of competition,

Q: I am thinking of buying either bto.to or tmm.to. Which one would you prefer? What are their debt level?
Thank you, and the best in this holiday season,
Jose

Q: Hi 5i team,

FSV has been a bit of a laggard over the past six months. For pure growth potential would you recommend holding onto FSV? As my goal is growth I was thinking about switching my position in FSV for equal positions (half positions) in Kelso and Exco. Thoughts on this move?

Much appreciated as always and all the best over the holiday break to the entire team!

Jon

Q: Do you have any BNN Market Call or Market Call Tonight Guests that you consider your favourites? I do not always tune in to the shows but I believe I would watch the people you recommend. Could I also extend that question to include anyone who appears on the station? Thank You and Merry Christmas

Q: Would this be a good time to invest in the energy sector or would you recommend waiting? Also, if this is a good time, can you recommend a couple of names that you feel have the best chance of recovering. I prefer dividend paying companies, but not exclusively. Thank you

Q: Hello 5I,
Is there any reason that the natural gas price was down (lower than summer season) in the last few trading days beside the warmer weather & storage level a bit higher than last year
(5 bcf) ?

Thanks
Loni

Q: Appreciate advice on tax-loss selling. I have not yet realized any of my capital gains from this year and don't intend to. I do have some stocks that are down - eg. BDI, AVO.

I have a long-term horizon but in general, is there any advantage to realizing capital losses without offsetting gains versus just sitting tight and riding out the drop.

Thanks for the great service.

Q: Can I get your updated views on Park Lawn Corp (PLC-V)? It has risen quite significantly lately, am I'm wondering if I'm too late to initiate a position.

Thanks!

Q: dont know why everyboby goes to FEZ instead of FEU which has top country's has England,Germany and Switzerland with a much higher yield. Versus France replacing England in FEZ.your opinion on FEU please. The best for the coming year to the team. Great stuff.

Q: Hi 5i team,
BOS
Good history of growth revenue and earnings in an industry subject to commodity prices. Has been impacted by governments reducing expenses. Recent acquisition to drive more growth. Managed level of leverage. Slowly growing dividend. Not sexy.
I would like to have your thoughts on BOS (including management, industries they are active in)
Thank you for your help, Eric

Q: Hi 5i team,
being an active investor for about 20 years, I calculated my industry allocation for the first time (meaning: I focus more on company selection): consumer staples 22%, industrials 20%, consumer discretionary 15%, materials 13%, financials 11%, energy 6%, healthcare 6%, technologies 6%,utilities 0%, telecom 0%. I invest in companies that I understand the products, and financial statements (including notes): my "financials" do not include banks or insurance companies.
On these information only and the fact that I won't be needing this capital for the next 20 years: how would you qualify my investor type/profile? What type of economy (refer to growth, inflation, etc.) should I be afraid of? What should be the first corrections to be made to my asset allocation (please suggest companies to buy)? Which industry weights should I aim (S&P/TSX seemed flawed, is S&P500 better?)? Any other comments would be appreciated.
Thank you, and the best in this holliday season, Eric

Q: I own SLF and plan to hold it through the pending interest rate increases. I also hold VNR, ZUT and ZWB each at a small profit. Would you continue to hold these latter 3 much longer and risk a price slide? Thanks.