Investment Q&A

Q: Hello and Merry Christmas!

Heading in to 2016 I am concerned about the impact of fx on my US holdings (about 25% of my equity portfolio). I have held the listed stocks in US$ for well over a year. Most are down on the purchase price but overall I am up in Cdn$ on account of the fx. My concern is a reversal in fx essentially wiping out any future gains in the underlying price of stocks like JCI or EMR where the strong US$ is often cited as a negative. As I see it I can: a) Sell and re-invest in an etf like CUD or XQQ that is currency hedged; b) hold and find some way to hedge against gains in the Cdn$ myself (any ideas here?); or c)do nothing . Any suggestions?

Q: First and foremost I want to wish all of you all the best for Xmas and for the New Year
You provide a great service and I want to thank you for your great advices and recommendations
Would you kindly let me know which Etf you would recommend for a Europe exposure as I think the market should perform better with all the stimulus they will provide thanks

Q: As we all know the materials sector including oil, gold, non precious metals, fertilizer etc has been devastated over the past few years. I have always held some large cap names in all of these such as Teck, Agrium, Potash, Goldcorp, SU, Chevron,WCP,VET, IMO, Exxon -Mobile, even XEG, in reasonable weights for portfolio diversification purposes. Now I am am 59 and on the cusp of retirement. My sole retirement income will be dividends from my portfolio and CPP. Do you think it in the future it would be wise to avoid the materials sector altogether at this stage in my investing career. My current plan is to just hold on to my current holdings as their value has dropped so much that selling them will not raise all that much cash and I believe if I am patient there will be a rebound in materials and the respective stock prices. Maybe I can get out of these positions when they rally again in a few years, avoiding them altogether for the rest of my retirement, and continue to collect my dividends from the more stable dividend growers in my diversified portfolio. Unless of course these stocks fall out of favour next.

Q: The price of this stock is near a 52 week low. What is your take on this company at present, and is this a buying opportunity?

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!

Paul

Q: Could you explain how a royalty play works, such as Freehold Royalties? Would this company be a good buy at these levels? Thank you as always for your superb service!

Q: Just wondering about Disney as a long term buy at current price. Stock has not responded well given recent success with Star Wars. Shanghai Disney opening in spring 2016. Thanks.

Q: Hello am looking for your recommendation on two or three Canadian stocks you like that are consistent dividend growers. Intend to hold for long term. Thanks for great service. Bill

Q: Hello,
Did you ever think to have an MOMENTUM PORTFOLIO for the large/mid cap in the TSX. Wealth Managment firm are doing that for their clients. Have name for that if you want.
Eventually with extra fee, because of extra work for you.
Thanks.
Francois

Q: Recent news has caused this stock to increase substantially in the past few days. Good and compelling story. That said I have been trying to determine the manufacturing capability of the company. The software should be simple enough but the manufacturing and installation is another kettle of fish. In other words how many seats can this company manufacture in a year and at maximum output what does this represent in terms of growth? Nice to get huge orders but can you deliver. I can't get a reading on this. Perhaps you have insight.

Rgards

Q: I have some cash to deploy in a small non registered account (part of a larger, diversified portfolio) which I use for stocks that give both income (for the div tax credit) and growth (mid to long term time- frame). My overall portfolio is well diversified. I am looking at one or two of tcn, bos, xtc & wsp. (I would try and pick up xtc/wsp at a bit of a pullback). Would you have any strong preference ? Or, do you have other recommendations ?

Q: Hi Team. In a question today (Dec. 23) in your list of holds and sells of energy stocks, you had CEU as a 'sell'. Although drilling is half of what it was, the company seems to be proactive in managing its cash flow and is even adding to the business (tuck in acquisition) during this time. Can you help me understand the reason for the 'sell' recommendation? My overall energy exposure is 6% with another 4% in pipelines. Thanks for the help and Merry Christmas!

Q: Can you tell us what is the free cash flow for Scotiabank for the past year and past 5 years?

Q: Dear Team,

I have a good portion of my portfolio in XTR. Why the sudden drop off in the share price. Shall I continue to hold or sell. Bought at $11.50.
Thank you and Happy Holiday!

Q: Hi 5i Team,

My discount broker (TD Waterhouse) provides me with the “Analyst Consensus” for most stocks listed in North America. How much weight should I give to this information in making a decision as to whether or not I will buy/sell a particular stock?

Thanks for your insights on this issue.

Q: We have been blessed with two granddaughters this year and want to start an RESP for them to take advantage of the 20% government grant. Starting out the amounts are low so we are considering purchasing GIC's. What investments would you consider appropriate when starting out and as the funds increases.

Wishing you and your team all the best for the upcoming holiday season.

Bob

Q: The latest update on NHC delay in filing their financial statements seems to include a new issues of concern including accounting for warrants and option issued in the past, compensation matters and even calculations of fully diluted shares. A month after missing their filing date, there doesn't seem to be much progress and instead a number of new issues. Do you think the red flags are waving?

Q: Hi Team. I hold both WPK and CCL. Is one better than the other for a long term hold? Want to replace two 1/2 positions with one whole. Thanks!

Q: Greetings all and best of the holiday season!

I'm a market watcher (but not a high frequency trader) and I've noticed a recurring pattern recently where the prices of many of our stocks spike early in the day and then trend lower and finish negative or near the open price. What do you make of that? Seems to be more than random activity.

Q: Hello, what do you think about selling CAM (I'm basically even after one year) and topic my 1.5% position in WSP? or you have another preference?

Thank you and Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year.
Marios

Q: I own shares of Innergex Preferred series A Bought @ $ 22. I am giving the option to convert it to series B floating rate. Could I please have your opinion if I should convert or stay with series A. I was unable to find a Quote for the B series. Is this a new series that is created for that purpose? With only 3.4 Million shares of the series A outstanding, the conversion is subject to a minimum of 1 Million of A to B and become compulsory if less than 1 million shares remain outstanding of series A.

Thanks.