Investment Q&A

Q: JPM has had a decent run but I'm thinking of swapping it for Mastercard. Can I get your thoughts please?

Palo Alto has also been terrific, but I'm trying to add more AI into my portfolio. I'd like to sell it and find a new name, CDN or US. I own MSFT, AAPL, Salesforce, GOOG, Meta, NVDA, Constellation, Shopify and Kinaxis. I was thinking of Taiwan Semi, AMD or Broadcom, but can I get your thoughts please?

Q: Hi,

These are some names that I hold that are smaller weights in my portfolio (<2%) and I would like to add to my positions. From comments, I think all of them are solid going forward and some have run hard, such as HPS.A, TVK, CRWD...The thing I've struggled with before is adding to names at the wrong time after they've had a good run and then the market turns and your gains turn into losses. How do you approach these situations and when do you decide to add to a starter position.

Would you be comfortable adding to any of these names at the current prices and can you rank which ones you would add to first?

With the market at record levels, I'm a bit more gun shy of doing so but I think on any market pullback, I would add to any of these names. Would you agree?

I remember a question you answered recently about increasing the avg. cost base vs the % of the position when adding. So for example, I bought HPS.A at $50 and now its $93 for a nice gain, however it's only 1.5% of my portfolio now. So if you are comfortable with a 3% position, do I just add now to get to that 3% even with the run that its had? Or wait for a nice pullback, which of course is impossible to predict. I try not to anchor prices and of course the buyers today are forward looking and expect good things to continue. How do you approach this? Thanks!

Q: Hi ,
Can you please identify me with 3 US stocks and 3 canadian who have a monopoly over their business. ?
I already own CN . I hope it’s one of it?
Thanks. Alnoor

Q: Hi 5i; I would like your assessment of Fiserv Inc. (FI). It has started to trend up off the lows of 2022 and I am back into positive territory but not certain this is still one to hold. I am interested in the outlook for this stock individually and whether you see it in the top quartile performer in a crowded and competitive space – electronic payments.

I’d also appreciate your comment on the Goodwill number on Sept 30th balance sheet; seems excessive?

Thanks very much.

Q: Master or Visa ?

Q: Hello, it would seem that AXP has experienced a pullback and looks undervalued compared to its peers. Would you consider AXP a buy over MA and/or V ?

Q: I have a sizable capital loss for 2023 right now. I'm starting to think of selling some of my winners in my non-reg accounts to wipe that cap loss out this year. Three of the companies where I have capital gains are Hubspot, Mastercard, and The Trade Desk. What strategy would you recommend for me in selling some or all of these 3 positions to erase the capital loss. MA has been a longterm winner for me, but I worry about Fintech competitors eating into their business. I'd appreciate your insights on whether Hubspot has a rosy future or whether its best times are behind it. The Trade Desk is my most confident position, but, of course, I'd appreciate your opinion. Thanks!

Q: For a RESP rebuild with 5 years till 4 annual withdrawals start, to achieve a higher total return with lower volatility, do you think the above stocks will reach the intended goal. Thank you so much

Q: Do you think Mastercard has the potential to outperform the market over the next three to five years? The company has had to cut the fee it charges retailers in various countries, it is facing lawsuits regarding its high fees, and it has more competition now. Do you think the cash-to-card runway opportunity outweighs the risk of a drop in revenue due to lower fees? Also, in the US, where merchants may be allowed to choose another payment network even if the customer pays via a Mastercard, do you think Mastercard has an advantage with its value-added services?

Q: Hi Peter,

Hopefully it won't time out (if that's the problem)....I saved the question and I just did a copy and paste.

Hi Peter,
I asked if you got my question sent on May 11 and 5i responded saying you didn't get it an to re-send it....here it is:

Regarding Timour's question on CBDC's posted the 11th May, I get the impression the response seems "positive" on CBDC's. I was a bit surprised that their was no mention of how this would affect each and everyone of us with the retail CBDC's. The idea is to get rid of cash completely, which would give central banks absolute control of the money of each individual, not me saying that, here's a 57 sec. video from the top guy of the BIS (a must watch):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IimgEyjy4&ab_channel=ForbesBreakingNews

If an individual can ONLY open an account at the central bank of his/her country, then we would be at the mercy of the rules and regulations of that central bank and no other bank to go to because there won't be any. Wouldn't that be a complete monopoly? This is a very serious matter that everyone should know about....nothing like this has ever been done.

Please check these links....they are opinions of very knowledgeable people:

https://www.cato.org/study/risks-of-cbdcs

https://off-guardian.org/2023/03/07/central-bank-digital-currency-is-the-endgame-part-1/

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/central-bank-digital-currencies-what-they-are/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/norbertmichel/2023/03/06/cbdcs-not-just-a-different-form-of-money/?sh=241c275a21b6

In this link please listen to at least the 2nd. 2:50 min. video:

https://home.solari.com/blast-from-the-past-week-of-april-17-2023-prof-richard-werner-the-case-for-abundance/

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/central-bank-digital-currencies-cbdcs-cola/

I know there's a lot of links, but please have a look at them....no rush :)

Would really appreciate your comments,

Thank you!

Q: Hi there,

I'd like to own 8 companies listed in the USA (but not necessarily USA based companies). The holding period can be 5 - 10 years or more as I am many years from retirement. I would like to focus on companies that have a moat and pricing power and strong earnings growth now and anticipated future earnings growth.

I am leaning towards an oil company, an insurance company, a resource company, a semi conductor or 'tech' stock, and the financial services industry. I want to avoid stocks de jour as I got badly burned this year in things like upstart, apps, and unity, although I understand that upstart may benefit from AI and I am open to considering that one as well.


I am considering: Abbv, Lnth, Sanofi, ISRG, Visa, Fisv, Nvda, STmicroelectronics NV, Sea Limited, Meli, and Anet, Mckesson Corp, Oxy or COP, among others.

I am not asking for a full report on any of the names above, just trying to throw a few names out that I was looking at. I am also open to etfs.

What would be your top 8 picks (not necessarily the ones I've mentioned)? I am okay with risk. Thank you,

Jason

Q: I have asked questions about core portfolio and compounders. I would like to refine my query to building a concentrated core portfolio [say, 20 CAD-USD total]. I start with the allocations greater than 5% in the 3 portfolios. BN is less than 5% on its own, yet, I wonder whether it would not be the core Canadian financial stock. As for US, there are many Fav lists, but could you boil it down to 10. For each stock, please provide key rationale for choosing it and a target buy price.
Much appreciated,

Q: Hi

I hold both MasterCard and Visa and was thinking of selling one in a registered account to pick up some BRK.B.

Which one would you sell?

Thanks,

Q: I own the above US Stocks in my RRSP. Please rate each one as a BUY, HOLD or SELL and the reasons for your Rating.

Q: I hold the above stocks in my Unregistered,TFSA,and RRIF accounts. I understand that as of January 1, 2023, the IRS will require a 10% withholding tax when Canadian residents sell US stocks. Does this rule apply to sell any of the above mentioned my stocks ?

2) If I sell above Stocks before end of 2022, will I avoid paying new IRS 2023 10% withholding tax?

Q: Merchants are now allowed to charge customers a fee if they pay by Mastercard or Visa. I own shares of Mastercard and had been hoping Mastercard would comment on this in their most recent earnings but do not think there was any mention of it. I have already heard from friends opting to pay cash or by debit card to avoid the fee at some fast-food restaurants that have already starting charging. Now I see bigger companies like Telus have announced they will start charging a fee for anyone paying by credit card, so wonder if more people may decide to switch to alternate payment methods. Could you please comment on this. Do you think this could have a significant impact on Mastercard’s business? Thank you.

Q: I know your standard advice in terrible markets is do nothing, but I think I read you advising another member it might not be a bad idea to sell some names like Google and Amazon and buy them back after a month. Isn't this risky?

Q: Hello, thinking of selling these stocks for tax loss reasons (10-15%). Although one would think a very possible recession with the related decrease in earnings is already baked in share prices, I am afraid it is not entirely so. I intent to buy these stocks back in a month, hopefully with a lower SP. Is the tradeoff between tax loss and the risk of share prices jumping much higher worth it? Thanks

Q: Hi there, I’m a big fan of the Balanced Equity portfolio. If you had to create a US Balanced Equity Portfolio using CDRs, what stocks would you purchase to create such a portfolio?

Q: I have held MA stock for 18 months now, it's barely gone up at all and it looks like growth is stalled. Is this worth holding over QQQ or VOO?