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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: As concerns withholding tax on foreign-but-non-US dividends in registered accounts: the member's concerns are certainly valid, but it bears mention that a great number of ADRs also give holders the option of receiving dividends either as shares, or as shares converted immediately (by the issuer) to cash, neither of which option involves withholding taxes.

To be sure, this exposes you to risk as concerns the share price at the time shares are sold, but for corporations with liquid shares, this is unlikely to cause significant losses, and, certainly, should not cause losses anywhere near the tax hit.

The complication in this arrangement is that not all ADRs offer the most-tax-efficient option by default, i.e., for such ADRs you would need to give instructions to your broker prior to some cut-off date. This sort of information falls under the general heading of 'Corporate actions', i.e.: supposing you trade online, you would need to check your inbox for a corporate action notice re: the ADR in question.
Read Answer Asked by John on February 03, 2020
Q: I'm continuing to rebalance my portfolios. The above stocks are in my income portfolio and are less than full positions. Would you sell any of them? I have enough cash on hand to top up two of them. Which would you top up. (I hold 22 diverse stocks in this account)
Read Answer Asked by Rod on February 03, 2020
Q: Hi
If you were to list these companies percentage wise for growth in the next 2 to 3 months. Based on your analys, which company would rank number 1 and so on.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Bart on February 03, 2020
Q: Hi 5i team,

There hasn’t been a question on DOCU in many months. I know it is expensive on many metrics but that is the same with many tech stocks. Even in the past two weeks, with the market turmoil over the coronavirus, I have noticed that DOCU keeps making new highs. As you know, DOCU’s core product is the ability to sign all business, legal and real estate documents electronically. There is no need to meet with another human being, be in the same room with them and breathe their air. We can all just live in a bubble. I know I am going over the top here, but what are your current thoughts on DOCU? I have not seen any recent news. It is also one I follow for its takeover prospects by a big tech company.

Thanks again.
Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on February 03, 2020
Q: Hello 5i,

I sold my holding in MX on January 16 for a tax loss to help offset my gains in BYD. I also sold NFI for the same reason. I’ll need to find one more by the end of the year to even it all out.

I intend on buying them both back after the 30 day waiting period.

My question, as it pertains to both, if the SP has fallen substantially, does one invest the same dollar amount and buy more shares, or would one buy the same number of shares and keep the cash left over for other purchases? I’m leaning to reinvesting the whole amount back in to each Company. I respect that that is a personal decision on weighting’s, but I would prefer your personal opinion based on experience.

PS, I picked up TRI yesterday after selling TOY. Trying to be prescient.

Thx for providing the service, to date, based on the Balanced Portfolio, my holdings are about to eclipse my wife’s, who uses a service that clocks in at 700/month, For her LIRA, RRSP, and TFSA’s. PSA, that!

Best regards,

Kelly
Read Answer Asked by Kelly on February 03, 2020
Q: Hello 5i, notwithstanding the tragedy of the coronavirus, I would like to start taking full positions in 2-3 stocks that could benefit from a recovery. What are your thoughts on the DSG, OTEX, MSFT, KL? any other suggestions? Also, when is it a good time to start accumulating?
Thanks
Carlo
Read Answer Asked by Carlo on February 03, 2020
Q: What might be your top 5 picks in the SAAS area?
Read Answer Asked by Brad on February 03, 2020
Q: If a person has mostly dividend payers in a TFSA and withdraws the dividends received each quarter, how would that affect the contribution room? Is that considered a withdrawal that would increase your contribution room?
Read Answer Asked by Marcela on February 03, 2020
Q: Own a bunch of the 5i favourites outside of the above. Building up cash to deploy in a TFSA. Thoughts on these for the long run and buying today? I like the CDN names as you have reports on them and it give a bit more confidence in the name. I do own KXS and was wondering if there is overlap with DSG?
Read Answer Asked by Sal on February 03, 2020
Q: Hi,
Just a quick comment on after hours trading from the question from Barry on AMZN. Publish if you think it night be helpful. TD allows this for all. There is no club. Day orders only. On the order entry screen, you just tick a box for a day order and after hours. I tried it once with a small order just out of curiosity really. It is essential you place a limit order to protect yourself. Never enter a market order. There are wide swings with thin trading. My bid was off the normal range. It did get filled and I felt pretty good. Then the CEO said something negative on the conference call. The next morning the stock opened lower than my fill and I did not feel as good then. I never did it again. You want a market with full liquidity and all the public information disclosed.
Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on February 01, 2020
Q: I have cash to employ/deploy soon, perhaps. I don't want to sell any stocks(they are all good) but use the funds to add to the ones that have recently retreated. Should I use Book Value or Market Value? Should I base the toppings up on Sector/category percentages? What would 5i do? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on February 01, 2020
Q: I have found that for some ADRs, the home country (eg., the Netherlands, Spain) withholds a portion of dividends, even when the shares are in registered accounts, and of course such tax can't be written off against Canadian taxes. Company websites don't seem to make this information available. Is there some way of identifying in advance when such withholding will occur, or can you offer more general advice regarding how best to invest in individual, non-US companies, while receiving the full value of dividends paid?
Read Answer Asked by don on January 31, 2020
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