Investment Q&A

Q: In your answer to Shirley on Nov. 22 you wrote, "We think investors can position a portfolio more conservatively by raising the allocation to defensive names that emphasize downside protection with good upside potential." Can you give a list of 5 CAD and 5 US stocks that you think would fall under that statement?
Thank you

Q: Is this one AXP a better buy over Visa and MA, right now?
Thanks Again

Q: I bought Hershey in my RRSP in mid-2024. While mostly known for chocolate, the company has been diversifying into non-chocolatey snacks. However, the stock price remains down due to high cocoa prices. Would you be content to hold Hershey and collect the dividend until cocoa prices drop? Would you have some other suggestions? I tend to go for boring US dividend payers that also have some growth potential in my RRSP. My top holdings right now are MSFT, COST, MA, BIP.UN, ENB, and O. I also hold VOO as an underlying holding. Thank you.

Q: How were the recent earnings? Do you see these 2 becoming trillion dollar market caps over the next 8-10 years? No matter the time period you look at 1 month, 1 year, 5 year or longer its always up and to the right.

Q: Hello 5i team, I am a young professional early in my career. I am looking for your top 5 stocks for 20+ year hold. No preference on risk or industry.

thank you

Q: What are your top three non-tech CDR Stocks to invest for the long-term?

Q: Same question with some US names:
If YOU were a growth-focused investor building your portfolio, what would be the MAX weight (%) YOU would give to the following US names without losing sleep at night? As always, the portfolio is for long term buy and hold with a 5-10 year time frame.
MA
NVDA
GOOGLE
Microsoft
Mercardolibre
BRK.B
Thank you very much for your service. I have done well using your advice.

Q: My holding of Paypal is at about -40%. I’ve had it since 2020. At this point, would you recommend disposing it and add to other Fintech names ex: Google, MA, Meli?

Looking at the charts of PayPal vs MA vs Google vs Meli, I cannot help but regretting buying into PayPal. And it looks like PayPal is currently having nothing going for it.

Q: I'm considering buying CDRs - such as MSFT and LLY - in a Tax Free Savings Account . Are there any disadvantages to this?

Please rate LLY and MSFT - or suggest alternatives.

Q: I am a very seasoned investor that has been lucky enough to come into some extra cash.

Regardless of sector. What are your top 5 US absolute must haves. For longterm and entry price guide.


Thank you, Jay.

Q: I would like to double my 2% position in MA to 4%. Does the recent pullback represent good value for a 3 year hold. I am more focused on conservative growth. Thank you

Q: Given the US gov action today regarding V and MC ….do you see any likelihood of some kind of contagion affecting GSY? Or is all the talk on the US side not likely to be a big deal.

As usual think you for your opinion.

Q: The most recent question I found on USB was August last year. What is your current opinion on USB? Can you compare it to Visa for total possible return over a 5 year period? I presently hold no US financials.
Thank you.

Q: My current exposure to the US market is through, ZQQ, VFV, VUN, VGG, and GOOG, AMZN, CVS, and BRK CDR’s. I would like to increase my US weighting and have CAD$150,000 to invest and am considering dividing this into equal amounts in V, MA, UNH, PFE, ADBE, and MSFT. Your thoughts on this approach and any other suggestions (5+ year holding period). Thanks!

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I'm trying to clean up my US Portfolio so that I'm at 20-25 equities total. Please advise which 20-25 companies you would keep for a 5-10+ hold with balance/diversification but also some growth in mind.

Q: I have held Visa for many years and made some good capital gains. But the rules have been changing and companies allowing customers to pay by credit card are now allowed to charge those customers an extra 2-3% fee if they want to pay by credit card, in order to offset the fees charged to them by V and MA. Increasingly I am seeing restaurants, retailers and others tell me they will add 2-3% to my bill if I want to pay by credit card. I am seeing this more and more often when I make a purchase and it is causing me to prefer cash to credit, especially when the dollar amount of the purchase is quite substantial and the extra fee, accordingly, is also substantial. Even when the businesses I am dealing with are not charging me this extra amount, I am more inclined than I used to be to pay by cash if the retailer is a small business, just to help them reduce costs.

So my question is how much should I worry that this effect will snowball gradually over the next few years, with a negative effect on V and MA? Both stocks seemed to have plateaued recently. Is it time to replace my V with another stock and if so, what would you recommend as a suitable replacement?

Q: Where can I find any information or the best write up you've seen on Mastercard or VISA's "value added services". Stuff outside of their payment network everyone knows about.
I basically only ever find information on the payment network and then descriptions of the value add stuff is super short and surface level only.

Q: Hi Peter can you provide opinion on TDV etf. What are your thoughts of it price and quality?

Q: Your thoughts please about the merger with Discover and their competitiveness versus the dominance of Mastercard and Visa

Q: The dividend announcement seems to be well received. Can you comment on the implications of this if one plans to hold for the next 10+ years? Are there companies that you can use to parallel the potential future returns? Is Apple, Visa or MasterCard good proxy? Meta is likely to be aggressive in dividend increases.