Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter and gang,

Give the current volatility in the markets, would you please recommend a few defensive stocks in both US and Canadian markets.

Cheers,

Q: Hello Team,
Could you please rank these three stocks for total return, capital appreciation and dividends, over the next two to three years and why.
Thank You,
Barry

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: What do you think about these for the next two years?

Q: On Jan 7 25 you advised: Our current top 5 Canadian dividend growth stocks are BAM, FTS, ENB, SLF, CNQ. Could you provide an additional 15 Canadian equities with annual dividend growth as I want to set up a portfolio of mostly CAD dividend growth stocks. Please exclude any equity that does not have at least $250M in market value. Thanks

Q: Dear 5i
Between my wife and i we have 3 RRSP accounts. I wanted to add some more utilities stocks to the portfolios assuming now was a good time to do so . I'm having problems deciding between PPL , FTS , and TRP . Should i put PPL in one account , FTS in the second account and TRP in the third account or would you advise to pick the best one of the three and put that one in each of the RRSP accounts ? If you have other suggestions that would be great as well .
Thanks
Bill C

Q: For the two situations below, if you were to buy only one of these two stocks at today’s prices, which would it be?

1. ATZ or DOO

2, BEP.UN or FTS

Thank you

Q: Hi,
Thank you for answering my question on US Utilities. Much appreciated.

You mentioned that Canadian utilites may be a better option in your answer. I have H, EMA,FTS. Should I add to these or add another utility? Any suggestions in this space?
Thanks again.

Q: If adding to utilities which of the following would you choose today: FTS, BEPC, or NEE?

Thank tou

Q: HI, I own several CDN Utilities, AQN, SOBO, PPL, BEPC, BIPC, EMA, ENB, FTS, TRP. Trying to reduce # of CDN Utilities I own. I am thinking of selling AQN, SOBO, BEPC, and BIPC. What is your opinion of selling these and adding PPL, and EMA. What is your opinion on CDN Utility ETF instead. Can you suggest CDN Util ETF for a reasonable return and potential for growth. Welcome if you have any other suggestion. Thanks

Q: I hold Boralex and would appreciate your analysis of this company for its growth prospects in 2025.

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: Gentlemen:
Favorite Gas Company in Canada and US
Favorite land holding Co for Canada and US
Overall Favorite Canada and US company for widows and orphans.
Great Service… Thanks -Jim

Q: Hi Peter and all at 5i. Wishing you the best of the season!

Peter, first of all, I really enjoyed your last article in the National Post. Your financial stories were highly entertaining.

I manage a RRSP for my daughter-in-law. She has approximately 24K in cash due to a GIC that recently matured. (She got 5.16% interest).

She has these commission-free ETFs: CEW, QQC.F, XHC, XIT, and XST. She would have to pay a $10 commission on the following stocks and ETFs: BCE, BNS, FTS, PBH, SLF, WSP, ZIN, and ZRE.

Question 1. In what order would you suggest she uses the cash to purchase more of the commission-free ETFs?

Question 2. If there are compelling reasons to do so, in what order would you suggest she uses the cash to purchase more of the stocks and ETFs where there is a $10 commission?

I’m hoping that this question can be answered before Christmas if possible. Please use as many question credits as you see fit to provide a comprehensive reply.

Thanks as always for your valuable insight.

Q: Is it advisable now to invest in REGULATED utilities, given that there will be a need for huge data centers with the growth of AI? If yes, can you list and rank the ones you prefer?
Thank you!

Q: I currently hold the above investments in my non-registered account and will invest some additional funds before the end of the year. My plan is to top up my investments in approximately 8 stocks and 1 ETF. The investments will be a 5 to 10 year hold. Please provide a ranking for the top 10 stocks in my non-registered account. Which ETF fund do you suggest topping up for a 5 to 10 year hold? Thank you 5i

Q: Yesterday I asked you about a group of stocks with respect to trimming our positions to reduce our overall stock exposure.

Now I would appreciate it if you could categorize these stocks with respect to your opinion on the impact of Trump's election. Perhaps the categories could be: positive, negative, neutral, or not sure.

The stocks are:
BAM
BEP.UN
BIP.UN
BCE
EMA
FTS
NA
RY
SLF
TD

Q: My utilities holdings include BIP.UN (3.9% of total equity), H (2.1%) and FTS (1.9%). Considering the momentum of CPX and its higher dividend than either H or FTS, what would your thoughts be about the idea of selling both H and FTS to buy CPX? Seems to present more growth potential and higher dividend. My thanks.

Q: My wife and I are mainly dividend investors. We tend to hold our stocks for many years. Due to the significant increase in the value of our stocks this year, we are considering reducing the percentage of some stocks in our portfolio by about 10%.

Could you please give your opinion as to which of the following stocks you would reduce. Would you reduce one or two selected stocks, or perhaps reduce across the board? All of the reductions would be in registered accounts. You can assume the stocks are all about the same percentage of our portfolio.

The stocks are:
BAM
BEP.UN
BIP.UN
BCE
EMA
FTS
NA
RY
SLF
TD

Q: Hi,
I'd like to raise some cash in my non-registered account. How would you rank these stock (from first to sell to last to sell)? All will be sold within about 4 years.
Thanks,
CG