Investment Q&A

Q: For New money to initiate positions which 5 stocks in each of the portfolios would you recommend investing. On a related note, is there a reason you don’t put buy or hold or buy up to prices in any of the portfolios, or is your stance if it is in there it is a buy regardless of how much a stock may have run up since it was originally recommended.

Q: Hi, I’am retired,(65) looking for a global dividend ETF . I have no U.S. or International exposure no bonds, only Canadian stock, so thinking to spread out a little. Do you have a go to all in one etf that pays 2%+ while you wait ( 6-8) years+.
I was looking at XDG ,good mer, good div. 3.4%, global holdings 56% U.S. etc. But not sure if it’s a good long term hold?
Would like your opinion on an etf that you like
Thanks

Q: Why has the dividend declined so much on this ETF? I see that they paid out .593CAD in December 31, 2018 and just .149 CAD in December 31, 2020. During this 2 year period, the dividend payouts seem to be highly volatile,

Q: Good morning, simple question... you are asked today to enter a contest and you need to pick 10 stocks that will appreciate the most in the next 10 years... no other rules other than you are limited to USA and Canadian listings.

Q: PDAC acquires LI-Cycle - nice write up in Globe. And Linico buying a stake in LODE. Is it good timing to buy PDAC ? Thank you

Q: MTLO Q3 just released. Microsoft DEM and the integration of GSX seems to be the future for this company. Legacy revenues are shrinking. Do you believe the growth rate for DEM (17% Q3 over Q2) is high enough to make a real difference? Their stated outlook says " will grow this 60% by year end 2022. In number terms that is
$1.85 mil + 60% growth = $2.9 mil (rev from DEM in Q4 2022) This seems like high growth but still relative. What is your take... are they really moving to a viable, profitable company?

Q: Hi,
When XBC report earnings? Will it be good report? Is XBC buy, sell or hold?
Thank you.

Q: In RRSP account I sold BEPC to decrease exposure to BEP (10%) and purchased ENPH to diversify. Plan was to hold long term. I see you like NEE and it is more diversified over renewables and pays a dividend. Does it make sense to sell ENPH to buy NEE since I don't really need an additional stock?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I have two legacy mutual funds...RBC Canadian Equity Income Fund...series D, with a MER of 1.04% and Sentry Canadian Income Fund with a MER of 2.35%. I have owed each for just over 9 years. My original thesis was to have some professional management look after some of my portfolio with the goal of consistent dividend income and some growth of capital. I have just over 5% of the equity portion of my portfolio in each of them.

Periodically I review their performance....the thinking being that as long as they are meeting my investment goals, then the higher MER may appear worthwhile. Here is my methodology, albeit very simplified...does it make sense to you?

I took my unrealized capital gains directly from RBC Direct Investing and divided it by the holding period to create the average annual return of the capital. Then I took the dividend yield and netted out the average ROC to create a "net dividend yield". Add the two together to create the Total Return.

Example: Sentry = 42.14% unrealized CG divided by 9.17 years = 4.6%/yr. Gross dividend of 5.1% netted down by 24% average ROC creates a net dividend of 3.9%. Total Return = 8.5%/year.

For RBC = 7.4%/year (3.6% + 3.8%).

When I look at the posted RBC-5 yr (8.3%) and 10 yr (7.9%) averages, my calculation looks low, but within reason. When I look at the Sentry-5 yr (5.6%) and 10 yr (7.2%) averages, my calculation looks high. Since the original purchases, there were no additional funds added. I have trimmed each position once.

Question #1 = I know you can shoot holes through this, but from a "very ballpark" laymen's point of view, does my methodology make sense? I understand I only used "simple" averages, not "time-weighted" averages.

Q#2 = I had to create my own average for ROC. I went back through my income tax receipts which showed how the distributions were broken down into CG, Dividend, Interest income, ROC. It was actually pretty easy to do. Then I simply averaged them. For the RBC fund, the simple average since 2013 = 6% ROC. For Sentry = 24% ROC. Does your data base show any better data on a longer term average ROC...long shot, but I thought I'd ask. My data only goes back to 2013.

Q#3 = should I have ignored the ROC issue? In real simple terms I wanted to compare the capital invested versus dividends received + capital received (if I was to sell out).

Thanks for your help...much appreciated...Steve

Q: Could I have your opinion on a switch from CNR to BAM.A with the intention of holding long term. Thank you.

Q: Which is the best ETF to track Bitcoin?

Q: We know of dividend increases when a company reports earning but is there a site that shows recent dividend increases buy all companies? Not sure if anyone / site tracks that.
Please advise.

Q: thoughts on the quarter please

Q: Hi group sent question in last week about how to play commodities (recommendations) also do you agree the sector is in an upward trend and will it last. - still no answer
New question lumber stocks seem to be acting funny lumber prices are at record highs ($1,000 fbm) but lumber stocks are down 3 days in a row is it time to take profits on the sector or hold appreciate your views

Q: Hi,
What price is reasonable to buy BTCC.B?
Thank you.

Q: I have decided to sell most of my SNC shares, which is a large holding in my portfolio.  The stock is in a strong uptrend with 9 bullish and 1 bearish technical 'events' in just the past 6 weeks.  Are there any other catalysts on the horizon that will influence the stock?  What would be your advice re divesting this particular stock?  I can see 3 options - sell in one shot and move on, put in a trailing stop limit order at say 10% below the current price to try and ride it higher, or stagger the sales over a 2-3 month period?  Or is there another approach that you would recommend? I appreciate your guidance.  Thank you.

Q: Score has completed their consolidation and is trading up today. In addition they have announced "Private Members Bill C-218 and Bill C-13, to legalize single event sports betting in Canada. Today, Private Members Bill C-218 was voted on and passed overwhelmingly at second reading in the House of Commons. Similar legislation in Bill C-13, which was previously introduced by the federal government, would legalize single event sports betting at the federal level in Canada and is anticipated to be taken up by the House of Commons in the near future." Am I correct in assuming that with shareholder acceptance of the share consolidation and todays announcement, the stock should continue to be well positioned for growth.
Thanks
John

Q: Hi there,

What are your current favourite 15 US growth stocks, regardless of section concentration risks?

Thanks!

Q: I've been working with your Portfolio Tracking tool, which is absolutely great, and it's telling me I should hold more bonds. Okay, that's clear enough, but what I'm unclear about is the number of Bonds (ETFs) I should hold. I know it's not really your thing, but is there a recommended bond portfolio you would recommend (for someone about to retire)? Also how important is it to hold international bonds VS only Canadian ETFs? Any advice is truly appreciated. Thanks as always for all your great work!

Q: In his question, Rajiv mentioned that QBTC was at a 6% premium to NAV. While QBTC has sold at a premium (up to 20% in early Jan) on Feb. 18 at end of day, per the 3iQ website, NAV was $74.47 and closing price was $70.49. This is a discount of 5.34%, not a premium. Intraday, the discount appeared to be even higher, perhaps due to selling pressure as people transferred to the Purpose ETF.