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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: You stated recently: (the investment strategy of DFN) "and the strategy could be quite easily duplicated." Holding the banks in a self-constructed portfolio would indeed be easy, but it would produce a 4% yield, similar to ZEB. How would you construct the portfolio, as you suggested.

Thank you for your services, esp of stocks not usually covered by analysts.
Read Answer Asked by Kurt W on March 28, 2017
Q: Could you please comment on Pivot Technology's earnings release. Is the debt still a big concern? I initiated a 1/2 position last week and wonder what indicators I should wait for to add the other 1/2 or if at all. They indicated a commitment to the dividend but I guess I would too if I was a board member trying to increase share price. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Brent on March 28, 2017
Q: I watched Cohodes on BNN this morning, and he didn't offer anything remotely substantial to back up his claims. It seems to me there are two real issues with the company 1) did they fully disclose in a timely manner the amount of fraudulent mortgages some of their brokers wrote and 2) are their loan loss provisions high enough considering those mortgages and their overall riskier loan portfolio. I obviously don't know the answer to the first, and for the second, I think the answer is no, they aren't high enough. Thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by Alex on March 28, 2017
Q: thanks again for the service you provide. my question is this I held engh for a long time and sold it and replaced it with abt - gps - also msft and csco in the u.s. because they tended to perform better than engh until it's latest rise. other than this stock I own all of the balanced portfolio in the proper percentages. do you think that I should still own engh considering the above. thank you
Read Answer Asked by gene on March 28, 2017
Q: Preference shares
Following your reply, I conclude that, even on a reset date, preference shares may not trade at face value. Therefore, there would be no point in time when an investor is assured of full repayment of capital. Why then would these shares ever be suitable for investor adverse to interest rate risk? The only exception would be the investor willing to hold the shares for an unknown period until the shares are worth more than face value or the issuer decides to redeem them. Also, I wonder whether investors generally understand that, if they pay more than face value for the shares, the dividends represent in part a repyment in capital. Preference shares appear to have an undeserved allure, suitable only for investors willing to gamble with interest rates (perhaps having a trading strategy) or remain invested for an unknow period of time. Perhaps they should generally thought of as speculative and/or suitable only for sophisticated investors. I question whether even investment advisors understand this instrument well, particularly the range of attributes among issues.
Read Answer Asked by Carl on March 28, 2017
Q: Recently we were surprised to see that my 86 year old mother in law sold an etf and purchased Manulife simplicity portfolio FE (568). I say surprised as the broker is well aware to discuss financial changes to her account with my husband and ETFs were specifically chosen to avoid buying mutual funds. What can you tell me about this fund and does it generate monthly income. It looks like the broker is selling shares every month and sending her a cheque. I do not see any info around fees (which I thought had to be disclosed under the new rules) on her monthly statement. My husband is meeting with the broker so any info you can provide or questions he should ask would be appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by Maggie on March 28, 2017
Q: I am down on both companies 25% each and would like to switch to MX. Which one should I sell or trim both? My objective is growth.
Read Answer Asked by JR on March 28, 2017
Q: What is your opinion on this ETF? Pros? Cons? Is it best to hold it in a registered account or TFSA?

"I’ve started to buy one of the newest additions to the BMO ETF lineup - BMO Canadian High Dividend Covered Call (ZWC-T) strategy. It’s expected yield is around 6 per cent and it has less risk than the overall index. It holds a basket of some of the best quality dividend payers in Canada with a yield enhancement from a 50-per-cent covered call overlay."
It was mentioned in this article:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/funds-and-etfs/etfs/larry-berman-its-time-to-get-defensive-after-a-troubling-budget/article34414534/
Read Answer Asked by Helen on March 28, 2017
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