Investment Q&A

Q: In process of rebalancing growth leaning portfolios, so for the Communications sector, what would be your top five or six "must own" holdings, any market in this sector. Currently I have a notional 6% allocation to sector and small positions in GOOG, SIXG (FIVG), NBIS, and Telus. At a 3.6% position I have room to grow and looking for ideas.

Q: Hi group can you please comment on Capitol direct trust - last quarter they paid out 9% + over last 3 yrs they have averaged 7+ %. What is your assessment of the risk rewards in this sector i suspect that restrictions on liquidly and management fees are concerns but the attractive quarterly payout are very attractive in this unstable market overall your thoughts please. I am 74 and retired so steady income is a driver. Also please rate the above stocks (1-10 . 10 being best) Thanks for your help

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

With the intent of better opportunities elsewhere, would YOU be a seller of BCE held in a registered account? (A significant loss, given the time we've held BCE)

Or, would YOU consider it a hold?

If a seller, would YOU add to our current holdings in Telus?

Or would YOU not stay in the sector for the time being due to all the headwinds it’s experiencing?

Thanks for your help.

Q: Hi 5i, thoughts on quarter, looks like the market approves. Forward guidance looks good, along with cost savings planned to reduce debt. Thx.

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I'm curious about your thoughts on sentiment turning against US equities in the coming months. I'm already exhausted seeing all the foolish tweets and news clips coming out of the Trump administration and I have to believe many others are too. Trump 2.0 seems much worse than 1.0! Also, I've been hearing that European markets are already outpacing the US market so far this year and I'm wondering if the US market deserves its current valuation given the increased volatility and increased risks?

I own many US stocks (e.g., 5 of the Mag 7, COST, ISGR, HD, TT, SYK, RS, ZS, HON, V) and I'm thinking for the first time of selling/trimming some of these. I would look to increase my dividend-paying Canadian stocks to generate more income. I'm also thinking about European dividend payers?

I'd appreciate your general views along with any comments you might have related to selling/trimming some of the stocks I've mentioned above. I'd look to sell into the end of this month and buy favourite TSX dividend payers (e.g., ENB, SLF, CNQ, BEP.UN, BIP.UN, T) or others you might suggest after the next tariff decision in early March.

Like many members, I have to thank you again for the wonderful service you provide. Your Q&A section and market reviews are fabulous, especially during difficult times! I also realize this is a long question and the answers are worth more than one credit.

Lisa

P.s. I had registered to attend this week's webinar which may have answered some of my questions. Unfortunately, something came up over lunch and I missed the webinar. Please let me know if there's a chance of catching a replay.

Q: What is your level of concern around a possible dividend cut at some point on Telus?

Q: Are the telcos oversold? Are they a good dividend play at the levels?

Q: Hello, I own above for my RSP... Obviously, I am disappointed with Telus and BCE and I am down some 25%.. I can understand BCE's poor management, but how about Telus? also in the dumpsters.
If I sell Telus and BCE, do you suggest that I add to one of the above as I want to keep my holdings to 10-12 stocks . Any suggestions?
Thanks
Carlo

Q: Hello Team,

I currently do not have any pure dividend stocks and I'm looking at purchasing one to start. I did a bit of research and came up with the above list, are you able to rank them in order plus add your 2 favorites into the list (if they are not already included). Looking at a minimum of a 6% yield with the possibility of say a 30% return over the next 3-5 years. (setting my goals high). Thanks!

Q: TIXT continues to drop (today down around 10%) with no news that I can find. Are you aware of any reason for the significant drop? Also, what is your take on how the senior executive team at Telus could have got this so wrong?

Q: Hi 5i

Please as many questions as needed.

I am heavily invested in stocks and want to raise cash, putting more money into bonds. I have about 10% in Canadian oil and gas, 5% gold stocks, and about 13% in uranium stocks. I am going to hold my gold and uranium.

What allocation would you suggest for a retiree in terms of portfolio holdings of gas and oil?

I am concerned about the possible coming tarriffs and the effect on the Canadian ecomomy. Most of my holdings are Canadian. A lot of these are in dividend stocks. I have held them through the past few years but I do need to increase the allocation to conservative investments. I plan to reduce most by about 20% or consider outright sells. I currently prefer to reduce downside risk than worry about the upside.

Can you help me decide from the viewpoint of possible tarriffs and effect on the Canadian economy which are at risk the most. Could you class these as hold, reduce or sell. I will hold all my U.S. stocks which are about 15% of my portfolio and haven't listed those here.

Thank you for your very helpful advice.

Q: Good day and happy New Year to all the 5i staff. This is my first, and hopefully last multi stock question.

I am really beginning to take Trump seriously about tariffs. His reasons don’t hold up, but I believe he has unstated reasons of his own for wanting to do so. I don’t usually jump quickly but I have a bad feeling and am thinking of selling some Canadian holdings and buying US. I am wondering what you would think of this?

Even if my fear is justified, though, some of the stocks I am considering may do well under Trump’s regime, anyway. The above stocks are the ones i am considering and i would appreciate your views on whether they might do alright under Tariffs? Any other Canadian stocks you might think will react particularly badly?
Thanks for your great service

Q: Hi, I have these two stocks in my rrif account. Thinking of selling my two losers DIR and TELUS, and putting it in ZMI.
DIR and TELUS don’t seem to be doing much, while ZMI has US holdings, is steadily increasing in price with a good dividend.
This would be for a 5+ year period.. your thoughts please.

Q: Happy New Year to all at 5i and fellow members as well,

For this year's 7K TFSA contribution, I'm considering adding Alphabet. Due to the decline in both BCE and T, we are very underweight in this sector. Also, we're underweight in USA holdings as well. Would you endorse this strategy? Thanks as always for your insight.

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I have held DFY for awhile and have doubled my investment. Experience has taught me to take some money off the table when one of my stocks has reached this point. I'm thinking about selling 1/3 of the position and reinvesting the rest in 2 or 3 of the following stocks:

I have partial positions in BCE, EIF, NWC, WCN and X
I have full positions in T and TD and open to averaging down

My questions are:

1) Would you trim a position in DFY given current market conditions?

2) How do you currently rank the 7 other stocks listed

3) Would you add to existing positions in T and/or TD given their current outlooks or look elsewhere?

These are a held in a TFSA and are planned to be 15-20 year holds

Thanks for the Great Service and Happy New Year!

Colin

Q: I own three major Canadian Telecom stocks, BCE, Telus and Rogers. They all have done poorly in the Y 2024. I have all three for some time, they all are negative with BCE and Rogers losing more than Telus. BCE and Telus are paying good dividend. I also own AQN which is losing money and paying decent dividend. Should I take loss on these and move? I do not have need for cash. What are their chances of turn around? How safe is dividend for all three? If I decide to take a loss, which ones to keep?
I also own BEPC and BIPC, if I want to keep only one of them which one has better potential? If I decide to sell both of them, what would you suggest to replace them with? I do own other utilities: EMA, ENB, FTS, TRP and PPL.

Q: Im a retiree in late 60's, focus on Income with a growth potential down the road.
Further to Nancy's question on Telus on its current dividend of about 8%+, and a free cash flow almost 2x of dividend, will this be a time to buy given that the interest rate is coming down, and the banks GIC is about half of this return. I have some idle cash looking for a steady return like GIC. Do u forsee any dividend cut ? Thanks again

Q: Hello,
I have some Telus stocks. Should I buy more, sell or hold?
Thanks!

Q: Telus Payout is242%,Current ratio .70,Dept to Equity 1.83, ROE-2.26, ROA 1.63. Is this not grounds to sell as its dropping a lot?

Q: I would like your thought if it make sense to replace BCE with Rogers or Telus at all, or there are better alternatives , even in other sectors. Please suggest a few alternatives if outside of the above. Thank you as always