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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: Retired, dividend-income investor with a well diversified portfolio (in my opinion anyway). My proxy for the technology sector is XIT and it has performed very well over the long time period I have held it. I like using your charting ability to compare XIT to QQQ or other related tech companies or ETFs....great feature!


Question #1 = With all of the "AI" interest right now, I wonder how much exposure does XIT have to the AI theme? Which of the embedded companies within XIT have AI exposure?

Question # 2 = Is there is an ETF that focuses on AI-related companies or is there an ETF that focuses on AI-generated stock picks (in any sector) and what your thoughts are?

Thanks....Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on September 19, 2025
Q: Sorry for the long list, but that's my IT holdings and I need help to get to a more disciplined IT portfolio. About equal weight, except for SHOP which was owned and is currently on watchlist. Question 1- please advise a limited high conviction IT - does 5 sound about right? It would really help me if you could explain why these are chosen as I want to understand my investments. Question 2 - which ones to sell outright so that can redeploy funds? Any to hold for potential high growth potential?
Read Answer Asked by sam on March 25, 2025
Q: Your best 3 choices for both Cdn.$ Tech ETF and US$ Tech ETF.
Read Answer Asked by Terry on January 02, 2025
Q: What is your opinion of SOXX or SOXQ as a means of entering the semiconductor space at this point?

Thanks.

Debrah
Read Answer Asked by Debrah on August 30, 2024
Q: Is there an ETF somewhat similar to the two mentioned that I can buy on the TSX. I would like to purchase in Canadian dollars. Thank You.
Read Answer Asked by Brian on May 23, 2024
Q: I just noticed that SMH dramatically outperformed SOXX (1 year, 2 years) and i hold the latter. Perhaps b/c the former holds 19% in NVIDIA stock and ASML shows up as a holding. Why is that ? Do they have a different investment strategy?
Now i fear if i switch the trend may reverse. OR the switch is the right strategy here?
OR sell half SOXX and buy SMH looks like a right move.
So i guess this is more of a commentary: investor needs to pay attention to ETFs as well.
Read Answer Asked by JR on February 05, 2024
Q: HERE is the DEAL, My wife and i are going to live off grid for 3 years, no internet, no phone, no visitors, oh YEAH, the dogs want to come, we grow are food, hunt and fish, we have a 1 million to invest, we own no other stocks. So could you rate the following stocks for safety and % rating.


APPL
MSFT
AMZN
GOOG
NVDA
BERK/B
LLY
META
SPY
COST
VGT
TSLA
SMH

13 stocks are LUCKY #,
We will prepay for our 5i sub. so we can look back. and not have worry again if a stock goes down 1% in a day.

SO THIS WAS JUST FUN,

Thanks Again
Read Answer Asked by eugene on January 26, 2024
Q: Is it true that all semis essentially come from Taiwan (almost as dumb as nearly all North American oil refinery is done in Texas))?

If so, what will happen to SMH ETF after China takes over Taiwan?

Seasons Greetings and thanks for this super duper service.
Read Answer Asked by Danny-boy on December 29, 2023
Q: I have partial positions in listed 10 ETFs - plus JPM Quality US Factor [JQUA] ETF.- did not come up on your list.
Your advice is requested on which ones to move to full positions now:
a) rank those to buy now and add others you like;
b) rank those to buy later when your price points realized
c) rank those that are could be sold.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by sam on December 14, 2023
Q: On this pullback in technology, do you have favourites to target or with all the different sub-sectors of semi’s would it just make more sense to focus on an ETF? Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on August 08, 2023
Q: Which is the best way to play Semis? Up 100 % in AMD AND NVDA,etc. Want to take profits but stay in sector.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Austin on June 06, 2023
Q: I would like to get exposure to the semiconductor industry but am reluctant to buy NVDA because of its recent runup. I am considering SMH or SOXX. Do you have a better idea or would it be wise to stay on the sidelines for a while? This may not be relevant but I do hold Fortinet. Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated. Thank You.
Read Answer Asked by Brian on June 02, 2023
Q: Good afternoon,

Q1. I would appreciate your thoughts on initiating a position in the Semiconductor sector at this time.

Q2. What are your thoughts on XSD ETF and do you have a better recommendation in this sector.

Many thanks and I'll await for your response and sage advice.
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on April 04, 2023
Q: I am interested in your ideas for ETF that cover semiconductor stocks. For RRSP. Would prefer non-US-situs ETFs, if good ones exist (estate planning reasons); however, you can suggest US-situs ETFs as well. Can be either US or CA dollar-denominated.
Ted
Read Answer Asked by Ted on January 19, 2023
Q: Could you please rate the following stocks and ETFs for total return over the next 5 years:

BAM.A
BEP.UN
CWW
SMH
V
IHI

How about E (excellent), VG (very good), G (good), F (forget it)?!

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Doug on March 31, 2022
Q: Recently started position in SMH. Read yesterday that , in addition to other current headwinds, 70 % of neon - a component in semi-conductor manufacturing - comes from Ukraine. And , while other industrial gas companies could eventually take up production , the question is how soon and at what cost.
How would you assess this as an additional negative impact on the sector ?
Read Answer Asked by William on March 10, 2022
Q: Good morning,

With demand continuing to outpace the supply and availability of semi conductors around the world with no end in sight, would this be good time to add a small position of a Semi Conductor ETF in my US$ Non Registered portfolio as part of my overall Technology sector weighing and if so, which of the two ETFs (XSD and SMH) would you recommend?
Thank you for your thoughts on this.
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on January 19, 2022
Q: Given the recent run up in certain semi conductor and chip stocks, would it be prudent to use an ETF such as SMH to better diversify risk right now if only one position available in a portfolio? Or, going the individual stock route, how would you rank the following in a moderate risk portfolio QCom, AVGO, TXN, NVID, AMD, SWKS, INTC?
Read Answer Asked by Gerry on November 15, 2021
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