Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter,
We are new members on your site and are appreciating it very much. It is extremely generous of you to share your knowledge and judgement so graciously.
My question has to do with the amount of fixed income in a portfolio. We are both recently retired and have a one hundred percent equity portfolio. We have been considering getting some exposure to fixed income.
Our situation is such that we don’t really need our invested funds to live on. We do well enough with pensions and dividends. There are also many today who say that it is not a very good time to hold bonds. In fact, it is a bad time. One could actually lose money taking into account inflation and taxes. But, we keep circling around the fixed income issue, none the less.
Just to give you some background: we have been through the crash in 2008 and bought ( even if lightly) rather than sold at that time. So, we do have some experience of seeing our money go down and have been able to live with that.
So, we were interested in hearing your take on this issue. I know that in one of the interviews that you gave you said that even in today’s environment, most people would be more comfortable having a portion of fixed income. And if there was a fixed income component, what percentage of the portfolio should it be? I have heard people saying thirty percent might be a good level. But, even at that level, I am not sure how happy I would be that only thirty per cent was sheltered at a crash. What I mean by this is that I wouldn’t get the growth benefit of all equities and wouldn’t get a heck of a lot of comfort that only a relatively small portion is sheltered in a fall.
You did mention in another response about, I am not sure of the terminology, but possibly ‘variable rate’ fixed income, if one thinks that interest rates go up. I didn’t really know what these instruments were and how the work. Related to this is that some say that if you really must buy bonds, buy only government bonds, as they are totally secure and security is what you are after. But, I believe I noticed that you mentioned buying corporate bonds. We would appreciate any suggestions about what we might buy, if we did buy fixed income.
Hope this is not too long and convoluted,
Thanks Joe

Q: I know that if I incur a capital loss on the sale of a stock in an unregistered account, I will lose the benefit of the loss if I buy that same stock in another account within 30 days. However, if I purchase stock inside my TFSA and later (ssy a day or so later) sell shares in that same company that I hold in a unregistered account and incur a capital loss on that sale, will the loss be preserved to offset future capital gains in that unregistered account?

Q: What is your opinion of BNP? Payout ratio is high. I already hold Peyoto and wondering if BNP is a good play on natural gas or would Painted Pony be better buy.

Q: PREMIUM BRANDS - PBH
LONESTAR WEST - LSI
Dear Gentlemen,
Your opinion, I want to make some cleaning to buy one stock from I5 list.
PBH (1.5% PF) 5% gain
LSI (1% PF) 23% loss
Thanks You and Best Regards

Q: HI Peter and TEam,

I am looking for another US Consumer Discretionary stock to add to my portfolio. I am thinking that HD fits into this category but is expensive but has performed quite consistently. Do you think this is a good entry point.

Thanks for the continiued advice.

Cheers

Q: re VXS

Have been watching VIXS Systems for the past 3 months since it was recommended on Market Call and was awarded the LG contract for their smart TV for which VXS has the best chip set for the next generation technology.

Since then, it has seen a steady decline (just under 45% since Jan 23) and as of today has seen it's first upswing in some time.

Can you give us any updates on the company that you see relevant at this time?

Thank You Peter & Company

Q: Hi 5i team

I am look to purchase a diversified portfolio of stocks soon, and I was wondering if you had any recommendations for where to allocate the stocks in my two registered accounts (RRSP and TFSA). I have about 83K in my RRSP and 32K in my TFSA. Could you recommend a strategy, if any, with regards to the following factors:
(A) Growth stocks vs. Dividend stocks (or Dividend Growth stocks)
(B) Small, medium and Large cap stocks
(C) should each account be diversified to some degree with the 10 TSX sectors, or does it even matter which account is chosen if it's all for the same investor.

I am primarily looking for growth with a 20-year time frame

Thank you for the great service

Q: could i please have your opinion of SPM for a trade. it is down 35% in last 2 weeks.thanks for a great service.

Q: Is this a good entry point for Transalta? Tx

Q: USG Corp (USG)

Been doing my regular research this morning and have noticed Birskshire Hathaway just purchased over 24 million shares (almost 1% of the total portfolio position) in USG.

Does Mr. Buffet & Company know something we don't? (actually there is lots he knows that we don't)

Note... there has been a 14% correction for the stock over the last 30 days.

Thank Peter and Family

Q: Hello Peter....About the Prometic conference call, I was surprised there were no questions about the internalization/desire to do more in-house development. But then again, this was a first for me, listening in on the live audio presentation. Next time, I might muster up a voice to answer a question. I take it Bay Street analysts are okay with this new/emerging direction. The company stock is up, gaining well while the overall TSX is down across many sectors. The other observation is about forward looking information - it was marginal at best.But I got a chuckle when the CFO commented that quarterly numbers can be "lumpy". Bottom line - I'll kept by few shares in Prometic, while expecting a home run of a gain....Just had to share my take with you, following a Q&A on 5iR last evening. Now onto listening to your webinar at 1 pm today...Tom M

Q: Hello Peter & Co.
I'm 70 years old and manage my RRIF portfolio. I need to withdraw 10% of its value annually; yield provides 3% and the remaining 7% is raised by selling stocks where "the story" has changed and by selling stocks that I have identified (with your input) as "not as good as the rest". Is this OK?
This exercise is hard enough that; it gets to be quite exasperating when people suggest to raise some cash in view of an "eventual" pull-back.
Would it make sense to raise 10% for income and another 5-10% for redeployment?
Keep up the good work,
Tony

Q: where are you in regard to that dividend portfolio??

Q: Peter,

Any new thoughts on GWR's Q4 results? They initiated a dividend this week with a 5.8% yield, partially supported by a legal settlement.

Thanks,
Zach

Q: hi
your thoughts on Altius Minerals Corp

God Bless

Q: Does your favourable opinion of MRG.UN still hold?

Q: Your views on Nuvista Energy NVA. Tks

Q: Hi Peter, Could you please review CCT as it compares to ESRX. Are they direct competitors? Do they both have good upside? With regard to Obamacare is it better to buy American?
Thanks/Mark

Q: On March 26 @ 9:00 a.m. I had asked a question. It did not get answered. Perhaps it didn't go through. With my online account, my paid financial subscription and Globe Investor, I do not find out near the information I receive from you. I have a small US dollar account so could you supply me your take of which of these companies would be the best for growth or if you have a better one to suggest. ORAN, LEE, HCLP, ATVI and NCR. Thank you very much. Dennis

Q: Am I missing some thing on WEQ. I see that the earnings est. have gone down in the last 30 days. I am down 10% this always makes me look at the investment. I still see up side but ? I am at 60% of what I intended. What do you think about the stock over all and do you think it is a buy, sell or hold.
Thank you for your help
Garry