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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: We have a 3.5% weighting in JNJ. We like it for its exposure to the USD, its steady dividend income, its blue-chip size and very modest share price growth. However I am concerned about the potential losses arising from their "baby-powder" lawsuit. We have owned the stock for years. I am thinking about switching out around 2% weighting into PFE. Its dividend appears to be higher and its chart seems to be better.
Reading over 5i responses on JNJ you seem fairly sanguine about JNJ so I hesitate to sell. We are retired but not currently spending our USD dividends - they are kept for foreign travel.
I must say I like XBI's chart. However its dividend is much lower so potentially we would need to sell stock if we needed USD. XBI should lower our risk profile as it is an ETF which is probably a smart move.
My questions are...
1) Would you recommend selling all our part of our JNJ or just do nothing?
2) Would you recommend purchasing PFE or XBI or both?
Please deduct as many credits as you feel my question(s) justify.
Thank you for your assistance.
Jim
Read Answer Asked by James on May 28, 2018
Q: Hi Peter and Staff
Looking to start small positions in some US growth stocks for a daughter with a long term hold in mind. If you would not buy any of the ones below, please indicate that. If not, would you please rank them in order of most desirable to buy .
FB, SPOT, NFLX, Visa,JNJ,HD,AAPL,MSFT

Thanks for all you do
Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on May 09, 2018
Q: I have 2 questions.
I am looking to buy a few / up to 3 high dividend yielding US stocks for an income portfolio. What could you recommend ?
Looking to hold these US dividend stocks for at least 5 years, does the exchange rate and the premium to buy a US stock matter ? Or is that a long enough time horizon to migitate most of the exchange risk . Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Martin on May 02, 2018
Q: Good morning,
Could you suggest a company that would replace P.G. in my portfolio. I have held P.G. for 7 years, bought in at 60 and watched it go to 90, now back to 72. I am starting to think there is a problem with this company.
Thank you,
Dorthy
Read Answer Asked by Dorthy on April 30, 2018
Q: Could you please rank these USA healthcare stocks in terms of long term capital appreciation. No immediate need for income, looking more for growth. Besides these names, do you see any other interesting healthcare names in the USA with good long term growth prospects? Thanks as always
Read Answer Asked by Aaron on March 21, 2018
Q: Hello 5i team,
I am up over $5000 U.S. in each: JNJ, PEP, and SU. Should I trim them by $3000 each? If so, can you suggest replacement? I am a value investor with a ten year horizon with 50/50 equities to fixed and a portfolio of $700,000 at 71 years. Now: CAN 57%, U.S. 38% INTL 5%
Thank you
Stanley
Read Answer Asked by STANLEY on November 08, 2017
Q: Hi David,
I'm looking to add three positions to my business passive account -- i'm up 15% year to date.
I have equal weight in each stock and am looking to add more diversity. A combination of income and growth US or Canadian -- minimum $1 billion market cap.

What would you recommend here.
Thanks,
Raymond
Read Answer Asked by raymond on November 07, 2017
Q: Greetings 5i,

I am making an effort to increase my exposure to US stocks, and am considering adding a US healthcare position to augment my Canadian healthcare holdings of CSH.UN and GUD.

JNJ was my first thought, given its strong history, massive valuation, and diversification. However, I am (like many, I assume) concerned about its legal troubles; particularly given the severity of the issues that surround them. Moreover, it appears that said troubles may be present for quite a long time.

I am thinking long term (I am 36), am a "buy and hold" investor, and will not need the capital I would be deploying for the foreseeable future.

Do you feel as if this is a good entry point for JNJ (perhaps a half position to start), or would you wait to see how the legal situations unfold before considering this purchase? If the latter, is there another American healthcare stock you might recommend in its place?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Lucas on September 07, 2017
Q: Good morning,

With sells as it was going up, I am still about breakeven on CRH but it has dropped to 1% of my portfolio. I have lost confidence such that I won't put more in. I am, however, looking for additional healthcare exposure. Right now I am also holding JNJ (3%) Danaher (DHR, 4%) which is mostly medical/dental since the spin-off of Fortive. I have been thinking of exiting JNJ due to the price that they paid for their latest acquisition. It seems a little inconsistent with their historically very conservative nature.

Would you think that adding a 2.5-3% SIS or GUD is a better approach, or should I keep CRH given its longer term potential? I prefer to not watch my investments every day and have a diversified portfolio across market cap and Canada/US with a lot of multinational companies (like CCL in Canada and UL in the US, for instance).

Do you have any perspective on the JNJ acquisition? If so, please feel free to deduct two questions.

Thanks!

Derek
Read Answer Asked by Derek on September 05, 2017
Q: 5i

I have held JNJ for a few years and it has grown to be 10% of my portfolio. Using your sage advice I need to reduce the shares in JNJ. I am retired, have JNJ in my RRIF and depend on dividends to enhance my retirement pension. Would like a suggestion as to any USA stocks you would recommend that is as safe as JNJ and pay a dividend of 3% or more with some growth I know you do not cover USA stocks but thought you might have a suggestion. If not is there an ETF with USA exposure that may accomplish these goals. I am currently 74% Canadian and 26% USA invested.Look forward to your thoughts and recommendations

Regards

w
Read Answer Asked by Wayne on September 05, 2017
Q: Although I know you do not cover US companies, I was wondering about your take on JNJ. Especially given recent lawsuit activity with regard to their baby talcum powder and ovarian cancer, and possible upcoming class action lawsuit with regard to same. I know of at least one advisor recommending a sell due to this issue, but I am puzzled as there has been no negative reaction to the stock price so far. Your thoughts? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by William on September 01, 2017
Q: Hello 5i,
I am looking to increase my U.S. and International exposure. I currently hold VIG-N, JNJ-N and a number of Canadian ETF's which also hold U.S. equities. I am open to either USD or hedged products and would like a yield in excess of 2.25% if practical. Since I look to yield for income I was considering ZWA. Would you have any other options you would prefer over ZWA?
On the Int'l. side I hold CYH and ZDI and am happy with both; I held VEE at one time, but the yield is on the lower side for my needs. Should I just increase my holdings in these two or, again, do you see a better option? I could move out of one or both of those if you think there is a more compelling option I'm missing.
As always .... thanks so much for all of your help - very much appreciated!!!
Have a great summer!!
Cheers,
Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on July 18, 2017
Q: Good afternoon,
I hold the following stocks in my business account that have a weight of between 6.2% and 8.3%. This account was started in DEC/16 and has increased by 6.7% YTD not including dividends. I want to add six more stocks to further diversify while reducing the percentage per equity down to between 4 and 5%.

My goal is to generate income equal to the amount of corporate tax payable annually. I looks like this can be achievable!

Let me know if I need to share dollar values to help access.


--

Thanks,
Raymond
Read Answer Asked by raymond on June 28, 2017