Investment Q&A

Q: Being an owner of veresen shares if i accept pembinas shares, instead of cash is there any
capital gains, or just when i sell the pembinas shares. thanks

Q: can insiders buy at this time.

Q: Looking to add a full position in your balanced equity portfolio ( which I am slow adopting). Currently overweight financial and energy so those are off the table. Could more or less add any other class and be ok for weighting. Recently added OTEX and ENGH as tech stocks so those are off the table along with MG, wsp. Which havew the best buying opportunity right now....wish I had picked up MX earlier this week when it tanked 4% on weak earnings...

Q: Hello 5i team, I know this may have been answered in the past but...is there a reliable public site where company short positions are reported & updated? Am thinking of increasing my position in EIF but as per an answer today, you mention EIF has been shorted. I'll make my own decision to buy or not but would like to see the % of float shorted.

Also, please allow a (short) rant: Re earlier member comment about 5i being responsible for not getting it right on HCG/DH etc: let's remember what 5i is; a reliable (impartial) source for an OPINION and that's all. The decision to pull the buy/sell/hold trigger is all ours. To assign blame:look in the mirror. Keep it up 5i, you guys & gals rock!

Q: I expected Norbord to be affected by the turmoil regarding
NAFTA, but it keeps going up.

Any idea why?

Q: Hi 5i,

Do you think these companies are good for growth? If so, would you buy before or after the merger? Do you have the details on the new shares for holders after the merger? I am looking specifically at them for their ag businesses.

Thanks in advance!

Q: For the past couple of years i have been building my Canadian equity portfolio. I have approx 25 names and the portfolio is approx worth 250k with a fairly even 8-10k per name. Up until now when i added new money i just purchased a new position in a company based on sector need. Now that i am at the point of not needing any new positions i am struggling to decide which companies i should be adding my new money too. What in your opinion is the best strategy for adding new money into an established portfolio?

Q: Which of these two for growth,income,and dividend increases in both the near and long term, up to 5yr hold.
Thank you

Q: Hi Peter This stock has very volatile for the last month since the short recommendation on BNN .It has since dropped to a year low,
Do you think there is any chance of recovery or should I cut my losses?
Kind Regards
Stan

Q: Sorry one company but multiple questions. I know you don't follow Distinct Infrastructure Group closely, but after seeing in Q&A was looking at for a microcap, but after looking to more, almost feel like trying to short. Wondering if you have time to look at a couple of questions.

1) Management took out an expensive $20M loan for acquisitions, made one acquisition for <$3M, took >$1M in Goodwill and the business lost >$200K in 2016. In 2017 they are refinancing and consolidating the acquisition loan into general corporate debt. What do you think of this?

2) The have seen material deterioration in income statement and balance sheet, and continue to issue a large number of shares. Is this normal to grow the business? Or sign that business will grow in size but not achieve profitability with that growth?

3) Do you have any data on material insider buy or selling in past 6 months?

4) Do you see any great risk in shorting specific to the company? ie. control of float being able to influence stock price even with deteriorating fundamentals vs general risk by definition asymmetric upside/downside when shorting

Q: I am looking for a health care ETF. Right now I am looking at ZHU and XHC. One is global and one is US focused.
ZUH has a MER of 0.39 and a yield of 0.42.
While XHC has a MER of 0.65 but a yield of 1.49.Which I think cancels out the higher MER.

I am not sure which one is right for me or how to choose. Could I use growth potential? Does one have more growth potential than the other? Or what other factors could I use to help me decide?

Q: Hi 5I,

As when anything goes wrong in a specific industry such as HCG and mortgages, many companies may be tarred with the same brush. Is there any company that has fallen just being in the same space as HCG that may be a good under valuation buy? Thank-you

Q: Hi,
Are robo-advisors safe to invest with? Are there any government insurance protections?I am thinking to set up an RESP a/c for my grandson.

Q: Please advice best stocks to buy today in consumer sector and healthcare?.

Q: EQB is dropping in sympathy with HCG, what is your opinion on it?

Q: Greetings 5i,

Looking to further enhance geographical diversification in my overall portfolio. I have fairly balanced exposure to NA, about 8% Europe, but only 1% Asia so I am looking to bring up my exposure in that region. My question is regarding exposure to India specifically. I wish to dollar cost average into this geographical region therefore I have been looking for a mutual fund rather than an ETF due to cost prohibitive transaction fees of $9.99 with my institution. What are your thoughts on Excel India Series D fund (EXL770)? I have it as No load, Mer 1.75, Min $250 and subsequent $50. Im open to suggestions and or direction keeping in mind the dollar cost averaging is preferred to me over a big initial commitment to a geographical region like this.

Cheers!

Q: This is related to HCG. Investors are pulling their deposits out of Home Capital. How concerned should I be as I have deposits with EQ bank and Achieva. Do they (and others offering high deposit rates) fall in the same 'concern' bracket? Each is under $100k so are covered by CDIC.

Q: Sorry to continue to beat this on the head...agreed that the Q1 2016 and Q1 2017 are an apples to oranges comparison. But if the company has 1/2 the net earnings Q1 2017 vs Q1 2016 is that not a worry that the company is very overpriced?

Thanks,
Dave

Q: Could you give a list of 5i's portfolio holdings that you consider provides a significant (partial) substitute for direct U.S. or International investment choices, along with a rough percentage of how much of each holding you feel would qualify for our "non-Canadian" portion ? Many thanks.

Q: Peter; Is there a ETF or other option to buy the CAD ? Thanks. Rod