Investment Q&A

Q: "I am interested in bitcoin. Perhaps something like Coinbase not GBTC. I realize that this is more gambling as apposed to investing but it is possible for large gains and I would appreciate any guidance that you can give me. Thanks, James"

To provide James and others some points/options to consider:

Coinsquare is a fairly reputable exchange that is accessible to Canadians. Coinbase is also an option. Poloniex in another one. I have only used Coinsquare and the now defunct QuadrigaCX.

If buying cryptocurrency coins, consider researching and using a software based wallet such as the bitcoin.com wallet for Bitcoin Core (BTC), bitcoin.com or Electron Cash for Bitcoin Cash (BCH or BAB), or Electrum SV for Bitcoin SV (BSV). There are also hardware based options (Ledger, Trezor). Always withdraw purchased coins from any exchange to a wallet which you control (majority of coins lost have been lost by poor exchange management). Take care in writing down and safely storing any information these software wallets prompt you to as this information can be used to recover your coins should anything go wrong from a software/hardware perspective (i.e. data corruption, computer failure). When the exchange QuadrigaCX went under I was thankful that I had always withdrawn my coins to a wallet under my control and thus had minimal losses.

Many hardware wallets offer support for cryptocurrencies outside of 'the bitcoins' (BTC, BCH, BSV). The only software one I know of is Coinomi, though I am sure there are many others. Cryptocurrency coins outside 'the bitcoins' are not something I have much experience with.

As for public companies the field of options is thin. Most are small cap or micro cap companies and generally speculative in nature. Some companies to research: Hut 8 Mining Corp., Bitfarms Ltd., Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd., and Taal Distributed Information Technologies Inc.

Proceed with much caution and assume a high risk of loss.

Hopefully 5i members find this information useful in performing their own due diligence.

Disclosure: I own Taal and BSV only.

Q: Just wondering what your favorite canadian company would be in the senior/retirement assisted living space ?

Ken

Q: Please comment on BEP.UN's offer to acquire TerraForm. Is this a good purchase for them from both a price and business perspective? What impact will it have going forward?

Q: There appears to be a settlement of some sort indicating a payout to the lenders only. Is there also some value for the common share holders?

Q: General trading question question for you. When buying or selling, how does one identify or understand the spread drivers or factors between the "bid" and "ask" price to get the highest price (when selling) or lowest price (buying) when quotes are presented from an on-line service. In my case iTrade. As the transaction value increases (from selling or buying), the potential for an non-optimized trade exists for an individual investor. I realize that their are potentially many factors that can contribute to the spread between the bid and ask (particular day, volume, larger players, etc) but how does an individual investor maximize his/her return? On a recent trade (sell), I received the lowest price in the spread with the net results of a $1000 reduction as compared to the median price in the spread. Thx Steve.

Q: Is it possible to use etf's other then DLR and DLR.U to perform Norbert's Gambit? I want to buy with weekly contributions and avoid having money out of the market but also avoid withholding tax on US dividends in my RRSP.

For example purchase share in HSX with weekly contributions until I accumulate enough shares that it's worth journaling them over to HSX.U - sell the shares and buy SPY.

If so is there an all country world index ETF that one could do this with?

Thanks

Q: I am helping my son pick mutual funds for his work RRSP as he now has more funds that he can choose from. My question is that he can select a pure US mutual fund
( better return than the one he currently owned) and a Pure international fund but the international fund has a lower return over 1,3, 5, 10 years than the one he currently invested in over the same time period which is a combination of US and International holdings. If he invest in the pure US fund his US Allocation will go up and international will go down. He has many years before retiring so would it be best to invest in the pure US and pure International to keep weight more balanced? He has also some in the Canadian mutual fund. All funds are managed by Blackrock.
Thanks

Q: Regarding a companies credit rating, is this something that is reviewed automatically every year.

Q: What is your thought about this company.
I am looking to add a small position into my speculative investments of IPO, did well with FB, Visa, badly with UBER , pretty good with LSPD. Thanks!

Q: I currently own ZDI. I would appreciate your views on this ETF as a long-term hold. I am considering replacing ZDI because it has a higher MER, and it is overweight both financials and energy.

What ETFs do you recommend which hold international equities and focus on a dividend growth strategy? Preference is for Canadian currency ETFs, but would appreciate recommendations on US currency ETFs if you feel there is sufficient additional value-added to warrant the currency conversion fee.

Thanks again for this excellent service.

Q: hi there,

I have used FLOT to park US cash historically but i have been looking at SLQD in the US as it looks like it has outperformed FLOT and has a higher yield. Can you comment on the differences. Is there any reason i would not switch to SLQD (BTW this ticker does not come up in your drop down)

Q: What do you think about Pro Reit? It’s portfolio looks decent, has a high yield, but the pay out ratio is a little high at 106%.

Q: Hello Peter & Team,

I noticed you added REAL.CA to the Growth Portfolio in the past month or so at 12.95. It's down slightly since. (ask today is around 12.28) I am considering adding a position to my Portfolio in consideration for how well I have done in following other Growth Portfolio additions you have made. My question is... what your reasoning was behind adding REAL to the 5i mock portfolio and, have you seen any changes to their story since doing so that you feel reflects negatively or positively on your decision?

Thanks for all you do

gm

Q: Good morning and thank you for your service. Can I get your opinion on Dynatrace.?

Q: The Vision Strategic Opportunity Fund and the Vision Opportunity Fund Class A units are 2 funds that interest me.
I would appreciate your thoughts on how risky they may be and what the pros & cons would be as well.
Thank you,
Nick

Q: Do you think AQN lost an investor or gained an investor based on yesterday’s trading

Thanks

Q: I want to get a position in the cc area on the cashless system as we use very little cash and feel the future for Visa ,amex ,PayPal etc.is very bright. Please advise which you consider the best company for capital preservation as well as appreciation.
Cheers,Doug

Q: What would be your top recommendation in the airline sector, US or CAN. Thank you

Q: Good Day Team
I have held these two stocks for a few years and have never seen them go past the level that I purchased them for.
So have been on the sinking end. I want to grow my portfolio and these seem to be losers.
Should I hold on to them or is it time to sell.
Thank you,
John G.

Q: Building up my ETF portfolio and have some cash to deploy. Of XEF VE and SPY which is the best one to add right now. Crystal ball yes...balanced follower, 5 year time horizon. I am currently over allocated to Canada and on target for emerging markets a little light USA and international. Likely to buy a bit of each if not strong case for one in particular.