Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i,

For a 3-5 year hold what would your choice be between the following companies:

1) Methanex vs Agnico Eagle

2) Covalon Technologies vs Intrinsyc Technologies

Much appreciated as always,

Jon

Q: Hi 5i,

I noticed that both ZCL (3.68%) and SIS (2.56%) have decent sized dividends for relatively growth oriented companies. Assuming I have flexibility amongst my registered and non-registered accounts would you recommend these two stocks being in my non-registered account to benefit from the dividend tax credit or in my registered accounts given the higher growth rates of these companies?

Thanks as always,

Jon

Q: Hi what are your thoughts on Posera Ltd PAY.TO
Thanks..

Q: Hello, I am interested in a comparison of GC and TSGI. I own TSGI, and I am comfortable with it, but now that you have put it into the BE I am wondering if I should sell half and take a position in GC, or sell all of TSGI and take a position in GC with the proceeds.
Thank you.

Q: Hi 5i, today with the Canada EU free trade agreement taking effect there is a 20% export tariff on canadian seafood to the EU coming off. I would think that this should be a very good thing for both clr and hlf and with both stocks fairly beaten up at this time do you think that this is a good time to initiate a position in either one of these stocks or both, what would be your preference and would would be an appropriate weighting disregarding asset allocation ? 3-5%?

thanks Tom

Q: I am retired with no pension. I invest primarily in Canadian Dividend stocks and have in effect created my own "pension income" that is taxed at a "low rate" thanks to the Dividend Tax Credit. With our current Federal Government's massive deficit spending and their recent plan to implement "tax fairness" measures directed at private corporations I am very worried that there next tax grab will include elimination or reduction of the DTC despite the fact that the DTC compensates for taxes paid by the corporation and that dividends are paid out of retained after tax profits. If this were to happen, I think there would be a significant negative market reaction since I think the DTC creates considerable demand for Canadian dividend payers. Do you agree and if so which sectors or type of companies do you think would be most impacted? Thanks

Q: To clarify your answer to my Sell side question:
1.When you say dropping a company(stock),do you mean dropping from the different portfolios you have or not?
2.When you say dropping coverage, do you mean when the company (stock) goes below C plus or what is your indicator for you in dropping coverage?
Thank you, Herbert

Q: I am thinking of adding a small position (2%) in the energy services sector for my balanced portfolio to bring total energy sector exposure to 15%. Pason Systems is debt free, gives a decent yield of 3.6% and seems interesting as a mid size company while waiting for an uptick in the energy sector. It has not been discussed much in the Q&A. Or would you consider High Arctic Energy Services, currently in your growth portfolio, to be still a better match than Pason for a balanced portfolio despite the much smaller size?

Q: As an add on to my earlier CRH question. Can you also comment on the lack of growth from Q3 last year to this upcoming Q3 even though they had many acquisitions. Is this due to the decrease in cases caused by the Hurricanes? More importantly 20% drop in Ebitda, what does the cause of this appear to be?

Q: Where should NFI BE( RRIF,TFS OR CASH )?

The other 2 are industrial,financial ,real estae or etc........?

Thank you,Ebrahim

Q: I am considering using ETF's to widen my coverage beyond Canada. Could you recommend three or four ETF's that would cover Europe, Developing markets and perhaps a US based ETF as well?
I continue to turn to your site for good ideas.
Thanks,
Bruce

Q: In terms my diversification, I am down in energy due to the slump in that sector. Would you recommend that I add to 1 or 2 of the four energy stocks I currently hold (VET, RRX, TOU, HWO) or hold off until there are more positive signals in the sector? Thanks.

Q: For a portfolio in excess of $1 million, can you articulate any general principles for when you would opt for diversification within a sector rather than a single, concentrated holding? I tend to gravitate towards diversification in most instances, but as a result I have considerably more holdings than any of your model portfolios, and would like to reduce my positions and be more strategic in my approach to diversification.

Q: 250 k portfolio in a taxable account (tfsa and rrsp maxed out). currently have HXT (54k), VFV (77k), XEF(55K), and 65 k in cash. Want to add fixed income to the portfolio - currently looking at ZDB, HBB or GIC ladder - what etf should i be looking at adding or any other suggestions.
Thanks -you
Nina

Q: Good morning Peter and Team,

Thanks for answering my previous RESP question. In reviewing iTrade's commission-free ETFs, I note that they have a new bond offering HAF (although it appears to be a bit of a 'hybrid').

There have been no questions yet about this ETF, and I'd really appreciate your take. Interestingly, the sub-advisor is Fiera and I know that you think highly of them.

Thanks in advance!

Q: please give me your opinion of this closed end fund thanks

Q: hi peter my question is a general about buying a inter listed company say buy td in Canadian exchange in Canadian dollars and sell in new York exchange in usa dollars and that way you you can convert you Canadian dollar into usa dollars without paying bank exchange commission
is that alloyed or is that is possible

Q: What are your thoughts on ZDI as a core holding in an RRSP for dividend income?

Thank You,

Joe

Q: Good Afternoon
I am getting ready to take some capital losses as gains offsets. I will not need to realize all of the above; but in what order should I use them and if I sell would you buy any of them back? The $ losses are about equal in all cases.

Thanks and enjoy the heat

Q: Hi there,

I recently added a full position in GC following suit with the BE Model Portfolio. With the news breaking today regarding BC Casinos, do you still consider GC a buy or is it now a hold/sell based on the headline risks?

Thanks for your guidance!