Investment Q&A

Q: One is an ETF while the other used covered calls to enhance dividends. Can you tell me what real difference there is between them aside from the 5% vs 10%+ div. I was thinking of buying XDIV but several of its holdings are the same as DFN which I own. Any point in also owning XDIV?
Thanks very much.

Q: good Saturday on our Canuck Labour Day week-end....from time to time, I breeze through the investment stock summarizer of BNN Market Call tv shows, aka Stock Chase....and a new name appears - Billy Kawasaki....with his "Insights, Picks from 5iR"......what can you tell me about Billy???........curious Tom signing off

Q: From what I am reading the federal government is going to go significantly increase spending in the next budget [latest number I am seeing is $100 billion]. This will take Canada's debt well over $1T, probably a further downgrade in Canada's debt rating from the current AA. As a retired person would I be correct in thinking a larger part of one's portfolio should be shifted to basic materials including precious metals, to foreign and US bonds and to a healthy cash balance in foreign currencies such as the USD, GBP and EUR?
As you are aware inflation is a killer for people living mainly on pension income so I'm trying to look forward and take action in small steps over time.
Thanks.

Q: I am wondering where you see the Canadian dollar headed in the near term and early 2021. If I am interested in purchasing US equities do you think I should convert now or wait for our dollar to go higher. Since I am also anticipating volatility in the next few months I don't want to miss my chance at converting and acquiring US equities. Thank you!

Q: Hey Peter & Team,

Thanks for all your help this year and last. My subscription paid for itself in a matter of weeks. (please don't increase the price)
Having said that and before I proceed NO, I am not one of those "OH MY GOD, THE SKY IS FALLING" people at the first hint of a drop. I did however take on a new position in PHO on Wednesday and as of Friday's close it is off 13.9%.
Among my many rules, one in particular states "drop an equity when it gets to 15% below my average cost." A rule which allows me to avoid getting to that position where I wait, it goes down further then I get to the "have nothing to loose mentality" and end up with a name in my portfolio with a -88% in red next to it.
So... what do I do with PHO? I know you have been recommending it as one of a few equities to be added to a growth portfolio.
Do you see any reasons/trouble that might have caused the significant drop? Should I stick with my 15% rule. (hard to answer I know as it is a personal preference) Has your long term outlook for PHO changed? Is there any news you may have seen which could explain this precipitous drop? Feel free to add anything else.
Thanks for all you do

gm

Q: hi 5i,
Would you please comment on this article;
David Rosenberg: No matter how you slice it, markets are in a bubble of historic proportions; And the higher they are, the harder they fall.
https://financialpost.com/investing/investing-pro/david-rosenberg-no-matter-how-you-slice-it-markets-are-in-a-bubble-of-historic-proportions/wcm/ccfab059-78b1-480e-8b01-b3ae4cefe8d0/

thanks

Q: I was reading your column last night in the Financial Post and you mentioned the VIX. I trade with TD and when I enter the call letters VIX, I get a whole list of different ones with different valuations. Which one do I use for what you were talking about.
Thanks for your great advice. Have a nice long weekend.
Shirley

Q: What are your thoughts on buying into SNC and Air Canada on their lows?

Q: Short interest , does the level of short interest provide any insight on how the market feels about a company. Is it a metric that 5i uses ?
Thanks

Q: Hello. I didn't find any questions asked about VERY. Would you be able to give me your thoughts about whether it might be worthy company to invest in? Thanks.

Q: Greetings 5i,

Don Durrett was a guest on Mining Stock Daily podcast last Friday. good listen for sure. Don has some interesting opinions on the precious metals market today. Most bullish on mid tier low cost producers. Id give it a listen if interested in this sector.

Cheers!

Q: Could you give your thoughts on CGY? It seems to have done well through and after March (ie the COVID market drop) and as a concept, I like its multiple segments that might sustain the company in various markets. But my concern is the very breath in diversity of its segments, and how the company can continue to retain focus for operations as a small cap name and also clarity for investors. Thoughts? Thanks for your valued input.

Q: We currently own the above US companies what would your suggestion be to add to this mix?

Q: Please, your views on rth-q. VanEck Vectors Retail ETF ? What would you rather buy now in consumer cyclicals ?

Gratefully,

Jacques IDS

Q: 1. what is your 1-2yr prospect for natural gas price?
2. what are your top 5 suggestions for Canadian publicly listed companies that are pure conventional natural gas plays?

my reasoning for conventional natural gas is we can't rely on unreliable and difficult to store 'green energy' to supply all our needs and there is much less by-product natural gas from fracking for oil. As well, liquid natural gas imports into Canada/US from other countries results in a loss during compression/decompression stage along with difficult transport in specialized tankers - it makes more sense to produce in North America for local consumption doesn't it?

A related queston is what do you speculate the price of natural gas will be for the next 1-5 years?

Q: Visa has been a growth powerhouse till recently. Within the same sector more or less what do you like and why? Is it time to move out of Visa?

Q: Can I have an opinion on these two companies, any red flags?

Q: How worried should we be?
The current government seems determined to bankrupt Canada
The latest headlines:
Parliamentary Budget Officer States, "The federal government has no more than one or two years to rein in the hundreds of billions of dollars in deficits it is wracking up through coronavirus spending, or risk the debt being “unsustainable.”
- And there have been recent reports of plans to increase spending, with CBC News citing one Liberal insider as saying the government plans on spending “on a scale we haven’t seen before.”
- Trudeau plans to roll out an “ambitious green agenda”. He said the country needs to focus on a green economic recovery to climb out from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Trudeau has also touted the need for expanded employment supports, including new child care and social spending.

This is very disturbing and seems to confirm a government that is completely out of touch with reality and economics, and leading Canada down a path of debt that our grandchildren will be paying for.

What are you thoughts? How badly could this play out? How concerned should we be?

Q: Good afternoon,

The technology portion of my portfolio has grown too large (about 37%) and I’m trying to figure out how to get it back to about 25%? My issue is that I’m interested in too many tech options (I.e., the ones that I own plus others I’d like to buy). I’m looking for suggestions on which I should sell, add to or replace by buying a better option. Some were initiated with half positions that went down and some full positions grew so the proportions all over the place. I have a long time horizon and many are held in a registered account (except SHOP and NVDA). I own: KXS (3.5%), CSU (3.8%), SHOP (2.7%), PHO (<1%), ZS (3.3%), TEAM (1%), NVDA (6.1%), AAPL (11%), MSFT (4.6%) and I’m interested in buying REAL, DOCU and GOOG. I’d like to own what are viewed as solid tech companies for future innovation and growth and I’m willing to add, remove or replace any of these companies.

I also need to add materials and REITs to my portfolio since I currently have no holdings in these. I’ll use my tech trimmings to add to these sectors. Suggestions of top companies for these two sectors would also be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for all the great work and suggestions you provide,
Lisa

Q: For the above technology companies there has been a huge pullback even though some have beaten nicely on earnings. Is this a buying opportunity for them or wait and see where the NASDAQ settles out before putting new money in. What is the reason for the pullback. Typical profit taking before Labour Day? Of the above Can you rank which you would put new money into first?