Investment Q&A

Q: Borrow from heloc to fund tfsa - good idea or not?

Age 56, wife 46. Mortgage free, no other debt; rrsp's maxed out; my tfsa funded to about $30k (with $400/month ongoing contributions), nothing in my wife's. Thinking of borrowing approx $55k from home equity line of credit at prime + 0.5% ( ie 3.2%) to fund balance of my tfsa as well as my wife's to invest in blue chip dividend stocks for long term hold (currently have BNS, FTS, ENB, BCE, TCP, HR.UN, etc). Idea being the maxim that it's not timing the market that matters but rather time in the market. At current 3.2% rate of interest with seemingly little risk of dramatic rate run up anytime soon monthly carrying cost is approx $145 which is not a problem from a cash flow standpoint. Pay off heloc over time as cash flow allows. I realize by using funds for registered accounts we lose the interest tax deduction as well as any potential capital loss carry-forward (hence preference for blue-chip dividend payers). Thoughts re this borrowing strategy or the investment strategy? Anything different you might suggest? Thanks for your insight.

Q: Which is better, FIE vs ZEB?

Thanks as always for your informative answers! Austin

Q: Hello 5i, last fall you were not "overly worried" about the dividend but on February 8 you said cash flow is not covering the dividend. When I look at ratios on GlobeInvestor-Gold the cash flow has not covered the dividend since 2011. How have they been paying all this time and has anything really changed? Thank you

Q: IWG is a Nanocap trading at 2x book. They have 14 straight quarters of profitability, are trading at 9x earnings, have consistently high margins, a board/CEO with history in the aviation industry, and contracts with many big aviation manufacturers. Also, based on what I can determine, North American government regulations require potable treatment on air vessels. I am hoping you can answer some or all of the following questions:
- The annual report 2015 indicates IWG has 1 major competitor in the Potable Water Systems & Water Heaters space, who are they?
- What is useful life of an IWG water system?
- What % of revenue comes from the maintenance costs of an installed IWG water systems?
- How many corporate jets are in service worldwide? Is "lower for longer" oil price seen as a corporate jet business catalyst
- Are Bruce Gowan (chairman, former Magellan CFO) and C. Edward Butterfield (CEO) known as "good" management in the aviation industry?
- They are implementing an ERP in 2016, what is the estimated cost?
It's a tall order, but your my research department :) I really appreciate what 5i offers!

Q: What are your thoughts on Agrium at its present price for a long term hold?

Q: please give an update. while the yd is good i was wondering if you see growth. since its move of approx 20% i am no longer under water and thinking of moving on to redeply in to either alaris or badger.

Q: As of Last Fri, Tog yielding 3.2% is up 44% ytd while Wcp yielding 5.8% is down 14%
What do you think of the idea that I switch my Tog into Wcp?

Q: What do you think of dollaramas latest financial report and the comparison to your recent comments.

Regards

Q: RDCM put out a shelf-filing for $50MM last night, which is almost half their equity market cap. Why would they do this/what is a shelf filing?
Thanks

Q: Why is it that this stock looses 2,5% upon the release of an expected deal? Are there any changes that was missed by the market? What is your opinion of this stock moving forward to 2017?
For references, here is the press release:

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/enercare-completes-2398-million-bought-deal-offering-of-subscription-receipts-2110167.htm

Keep up the excellent work.
Jean

Q: Peter and Team,

As someone with a portfolio largely in line with the Balanced Equity Portfolio, I am starting to work on building some US positions.

I have initiated what I would call a half-position in SBUX and am looking for the best names to start a US portfolio with. I still want the style of investment to match the style of the Balanced Equity portfolio. What are the top, say, 5 names in the US to move forward with? My first thoughts were AAPL, JNJ, and VISA but I don't know if I am out to lunch here. I always prefer names that pay a yield.

Thanks,
Marc

Q: Just wondering if you can comment on the earnings release from last night. Looked like a very slight miss...very small to say the least. Does the dividend look safe here?

Thanks Jimmy

Q: Hi
Could you please tell me what you think of Slate? John Stephenson really likes it, but I don't seem to see the value in it that he does. He's the expert, I'm not so please help me understand what he sees in it.
The only thing I like about it it the 7% yield, but the payout seems high and the book value low.
It pays in $US, so to keep the income in $US, would you buy this TSX listed stock in a US trading account?
Thank you

Q: Hello, I want to invest in oil, but when i look at most Canadian Energy companies, their share prices seem high from valuation perspective. I would appreciate if you can suggest a few Canadian ETF's for oil futures. Also is their an ETF that tracks Canadian oil. Appreciate your help.

Q: Good Afternoon,
My parents are getting older now ( in their 70's) and getting more and more nervous with volatile stock markets and problems around the world, needless to say they have become nervous investors. What do you think of Segregated Funds, more specifically Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit (GMWB)? Basically a seg fund that not only provides a maturity guarantee, death guarantee but a guaranteed income stream as well. I know all these benefits result in much higher costs. Do the higher costs associated with these products make sense for all these guarantees and hopefully more of a sleep factor? They seem very complicated though.
Thank-you

Q: Could you please recommend 3 names of companies/ETFs/ that would produce monthly income, to be added to an otherwise reasonably balanced portfolio for a long term hold.
Thank you for the great service.

Q: Please comment on the results, thank you kindly!

Q: Thoughts on the deal?

Q: I have held Novartis for a few years but it has dropped significantly over the last 6 months. I still have a 35% profit. I wonder if I should sell and invest in a more profitable company in the US or keep it. I have well balanced portfolio and Novartis represent <0.5% of its value. Could you suggest a few US names to consider?

Q: What is your opinion on what to do with a new found $100,000 at this point in time. I have $200k invested in the stock market currently and have managed to do well over the past 5 years (less so in 2015). I am getting concerned about all the cash that is floating around out there. All the QE does not seem to have had the desired affect on economies/markets. P/E s on many so called safety net large caps are getting quite high although I think there are some that are still ok to hold.
So, I'd like your opinion on how best to invest/protect $100K. ie, leave it in a low interest savings account? Put it large cap "safe" stocks? Canadian Banks? DJIA? TSX 200? Any comments are appreciated.