Investment Q&A

Q: What would be your choice for the 5 best non-IT US companies for long-term hold (not high risk)?

Q: When we are facing the specter of the federal government spending without regard to the future and the Governor of the Bank of Canada saying negative interest rates are back on the table, how could investors reposition their portfolios to mitigate the negative aspects of these events? Can you provide a few examples across the various sectors where one could start to reposition a portfolio?
Thank you...

Q: Hello 5i, thanks for all your wisdom!
my question for you: could you please recommend your top 1 or 2 picks/favourites in the following sectors. Can be either US or Cdn.
consumer discretionary
supermarket/grocery
health care
big cap tech
Many thanks

Q: Hello Peter,
In addition to my core portfolio built around the 5i Balanced, I have a margin borrowed portfolio that started with the idea of swing trades but has become the size of the core one as I stayed with the momentum. It is built on 3 pillars. Tech growth – (ZM, CRWD, VEEV, AVLR, LSPD, PHO, XLNX, ROKU), precious metals – (AEM, FNV, PAAS, MMX, WDO, KRR) and yield stocks -(ABBV, CU, CPX, ENB, PPL, FSZ) that help pay the interest. Two others not classified are DXCM and Visa. None of these started out as a long term holding for more than a year, but am willing to hold on in the current low interest environment. In fact, am willing to borrow more if opportunity shows up. Have my eye on NVDA, ADBE and TTD.
In case of heightened volatility which of the 3 pillars would you focus on holding and any suggestions on which ones would you exit sequentially?
Look forward to your suggestions. Thank you for your advice in advance.
Regards.
Rajiv

Q: I currently have PFE, GILD, MDT and ABBV in my Healthcare sector. I am looking to add a couple of names - I have been looking at MRK and BMY - your opinion please on these AND can you provide some other US healthcare companies that might be of interest to you at this time. Greatly appreciate your comments.
Thanks

Q: Back in July 2020, I purchased ABBV, in a non-registered account, to get exposure to the healthcare sector and to continue to diversify my portfolio outside Canada. Since that time, I am down 16% on ABBV. Knowing 5i recommends ABBV, would you suggest I purchase more ABBV (average down)? Perhaps it would make more sense to sell it, take the tax loss, and purchase another healthcare company based outside of Canada. If your recommendation is to sell, what other healthcare sector companies would you suggest?

Q: Hi! I would like to build a portfolio of 20 stocks that include both Canadian and US holdings that contain a mix of growth and defensive names with a stronger weighting to growth(say 70%/30% growth to safety). What names would yo allocate to create the portfolio. Thanks very much.

Q: Thank you for the update last night. I was not surprised to see the removal of GC due to the COVID shutdowns. I am curious to know what the discuss was surrounding GUD and CAE before providing that update. Are these potentially on the chopping block as well or just require more patience. If you were to consider swapping GUD and CAE for something else what might you recommend in Canada and the US right now (asking about US as portfolio analytics suggests I need more US exposure)?

Thanks as always for the fantastic work you all do!

Q: Hey guys,

My health care and industrial sectors are on the low side (under 10%), please provide the top 3 plays (Canadian or American) in each sector. These picks would be going into a "balance" type portfolio.
Thanks
Jim

Q: I would like to have a little fun with this question. Imagine a boxing match between Canadian companies and American companies...each round is represented by a sector so lets say it is a fight gone bad and there are extra rounds covering 11 sectors. Please pick a favourite Canadian Contender and a strong American contender for each round and who wins the round. Example Round 10 Technology Red corner Constellation Software vs Blue corner Microsoft. Won by Microsoft or Constellation Software. The rules...If you wish to give reasons why the round went one way or another, it's your choice. A good clean fight use the criteria of your investment strategies. The point...I am curious if the Canadian Companies stack up and in what areas I should be looking at South of the border. Thank you

Q: Hi 5iTeam,

Please comment on ABBV's pull back since reaching ytd high in July. Would now be a good time to average down?
Cheers,

Q: You mentioned a month back that you like Abbv better then Gild.
Why is gild in your partners interest portfolio and not Abbv.
I am thinking of buying Abbv,or do you think there are better options?...like guardian health?
Thankfully

Q: Could you recommend five US in five Canadian stocks to buy on the dip. Thanks

Q: Hi 5i
Do you think the pharma/biotechs sector has risen on (assuming) hopes of vaccine success only for most within the sectors to deflate again when a decisive outcome has played out (does this seem a simplistic view)?
I guess I'm trying to gauge risk factors within these sectors at this time.
Thanks
Mike

Q: Just curious. Looking forward, would you see any reason not to include these two health care companies in my portfolio? Are there other health care companies that you would prefer?

Q: This question is about diversification and percentage of stocks vs ETFs. In my overall portfolio (combined tfsa, rrsp, and non-registered), I have roughly 37% VFV/ZSP, and the rest fairly equally weighted across ENB, KXS, SHOP, VGH, AQN, BEP.UN/C, BIP.UN/C, BNS, CPX, GDI, NVDA, RY, TEAM, VGG, TRP, BAM.A. I'm in my mid 30s and have a long time frame, but would prefer to position for short term performance as much as possible. So, with some cash to allocate, can you please recommend a couple US and CAN stocks to add to this mix (or recommend just adding to what I hold)? Also, given your recent market update on covid vs sector performance, what would you do with the VFV/ZSP allocation? I am open to moving that allocation to stocks instead of an ETF, and am wondering if I should take that path, and how best to position there given the big tech names/top holdings in the ETFs, vs some holdings across sectors that are currently down. Thanks!

Q: Hello 5i,

Of ABBV, SGEN, AMGN, BMY which are considered under-valued?
Please rank the above for a 5+ year investment?
Thank you

Cheers,
Debbie and Jerry

Q: ABBV is being subpoena by congress about drug pricing and not cooperating as asked.
Down 4% this morning.Is this going to be a damper on the stock for a while? Thinking about selling when i am still even on stock.
tnx u..........

Q: I have a very overweight position in Bam.a .I would like to diversity into other Canadian or US names as I think think near term for Brookfield will be at least challenged given their real estate exposure and the sentiment around that.What are a few of my the highest conviction US names you would favour?

Q: Hi Folks, my question is on GILD. I purchased this back in June - I am down about 15% as of today. What has happened to this stock to justify this decrease ALSO would you still recommend holding on to GILD or is it time to sell ? Greatly appreciate your comments.
Thanks