Investment Q&A

Q: Peter; For a senior income investor which would you prefer? Thanks. Rod

Q: Can you give me a list of 5 Canadian and 5 US stocks that you would recommend with yields above 3%.

Q: Which of the two banks offers a better opportunity for growth? Already have a full position in TD.
Thank you for all that you have done to help with my financial education.

Q: Thanks for your help with my Sept 3/21 question regarding MFC vs BNS-TD. You gave me the answer I needed...thanks.

However, in your answer you indicated the BNS P/CF was 7x and the P/E was 10x.

When I look on the Company Profile page , I see P/CF of 2.2 and P/E of 12.4.
Please explain the difference...are the numbers from different sources?

Thanks...Steve

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor who normally holds for the long term. I own a half position in Manulife and am down roughly 7%, including dividends. My long term plan was to sell MFC and rebuy a second Canadian Bank (I already have a full position in Royal Bank).

I have compared the various metrics (P/BV, P/CF, P/S, ROE, technicals, analysts estimates, etc.) for the above mentioned banks as well as against MFC.

Looking at the banks in isolation and already with a full position in RY, I've narrowed it down to either BNS (International exposure and current laggard due to Covid) or TD (more US exposure and 1 year laggard). Of the banks that I do not own, please rank them in order of the best total return over a sufficient period of time for Covid to have subsided (1-2 more years for improved vaccination coverage?). Do you agree with my rationale?

If you include MFC into the bank comparisons, where would you place MFC in the rankings? I have read to buy the banks when their P/E is < 11.0 and buy the insurance companies when their P/BV < 1.0. This would lead me to buy TD (P/E of 9.7) or keep MFC (P/BV of 1.0).

So...keep MFC versus take the loss in MFC and then buy BNS or TD? Your thoughts?

MFC is held in a taxable account and I have no problem taking a loss.

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: I know that ranking banks often is like picking shades of the same colour. At this point in time do you feel there is any "clear" division amongst any of the banks for investing purposes? Can you give your order of preference and the magnitude of the gap between each choice.
Thanks,
Terry

Q: Hello 5I team: Do you like prospects at this time and entry level in the mid 78 range for bns?Tks Larry

Q: I am looking to lock in some profits and hold a little more cash at the moment. The above stocks are ones I've done well on but are feeling a bit stagnant at the moment. I still like them but looking for ones to sell that have the least FOMO. BNS is probably already a for sure as I am overweight on it a lot at the moment. I have losses from the market downturn so taxes are not a major concern. What of these would you consider selling first if raising cash? I don't worry about sector weights.

Q: I am going into retirement and below are the weightings of stocks held in my portfolio. Although the portfolio performed okay over the years, I wonder if there is too much concentration and would appreciate your ideas on diversification given the economic times we live in. My portfolio is about $2M with an investment loan of $150K for which I use the dividends to repay. Thanks. BNS 37%, TD 18%, CM 14%, BMO 14%, BCE 6%, SRN.UN 6%, RY 4%, POW 1%

Q: thoughts on the quarter please? Thx

Q: Earlier this year we created an equal weighted 'balanced' portfolio of 30 Canadian companies in a non-registered account. Most were chosen from companies either covered by a 5i research report or included in a 5i model portfolio. The remainder were chosen, based on the 5i Q&A section, from what appear to be 5i sector favourites. All purchases in the portfolio are made with the intent to be long-term holds (10+ years).

Our intent is to increase our investments in the 30 companies over time. We have recently increased our positions in BIPC and MG. At this time we would like to increase our investments in 10 of the remaining 28 companies. The intent is to increase the remaining 18 in approximately 6 months. Which 10 would you add to today? Please rank them, include a small blurb explaining each choice and indicate an approximate buy price. Thanks!

Q: I would like to add a few (2-4) financial companies to my non-registered investment portfolio. Would appreciate 5i's help in ranking the above names based on total return potential for a 3-5 year hold. Please add any names you feel belong to the lineup, ranked appropriately, Thank you.

Q: Hi 5i team,

Between BNS and ECN, which one would you prefer to own for better chance of share price appreciation for the next 3 years? I already have TD, SLF and GSY. Thanks.

Q: With these two companies in mind, given the objective is part growth, part income, what would be the better choice to buy in today?

Q: Would like to create a 10-15 stock portfolio out the securities listed above, to meet my retirement income and growth needs, for a long term hold.
CPD is my current, imperfect proxy for the fixed income portion of my portfolio.
CVE, CNQ, SU would be the only opportunistic (and highly correlated) purchases, to take advantage of the current low valuations for the petroleum industry. These would be sold if the oil & gas market's prospects change.
Please rank all the securities on the basis of return potential over 2-3 years as the primary criteria,
Please eliminate any stock which does not have adequate balance sheet strength, from the lineup.
Please add to the lineup all securites that would facilitate the creation of a defensible, well-diversified, long term portfolio - especially if it is in a sector that I have overlooked.

Thank you for your expertise, and willingness to help me sleep a bit more soundly.

Q: As well as Bns I also own Td and Royal..
As Bns Business in Latin America and Mexico is being effected by Covid and vaccines are not so readily available as they are in the U.S. and Canada I am thinking about selling Bns and using the proceeds to purchase Goeasy.what do you think of the idea?
Long term investor

Q: Hello. I continue to see positive comments from 5i about growth potential for GSY. I would like to add it my financial sector but that would require selling one of my current financial stocks in order to maintain the assigned weight. Of the stocks listed can you put in order the stocks you might sell to a\quire GSY. Alternatively, does it make sense to keep the current stocks, which are all doing well and for the most part paying dividends and just add GSY, changing the weightng of the portfolio?

Q: Thank you for providing such an unparalleled service. Your cost increases are minimal.

My question is about diversification in my RRSP which consists of mostly high quality growth stocks (GOOGL, VISA, NIKE, ACN, NVIDIA, etc.) I am however, under-represented in Canadian stocks which include BAM, SHOPIFY, IFC, FSV, & BIP.UN. My goal is to build up my Canadian portfolio in this RSP.

I am well represented in Tech, Consumers, disc, & health care with my US holdings. Can you recommend 10 Canadian stocks that I could add for the long term to balance out my portfolio? I am deficient in financial, materials & industrials. Or to apply the Occam's razor, should I just buy and accumulate XIC over time.

Many thanks

Q: Please comment on the planned increase in dividends and stock buy-backs for the U.S, banks.
What is your outlook for these Canadian banks?
At this time, would you prefer U.S. or Canadian banks.
Would you prefer another financial entity over both?

Q: I bought all 3 of these banks a couple of years ago: Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and TD. At that time all 3 of purchase prices were much lower than today's stock prices. I would like to add to my holdings of each. Would you wait until the prices come down a little, or is it more probable at this point that prices will continue to go up? Thank you.