Investment Q&A

Q: Retired (25 years) investor, preservation of capital and income paramount. Can you please provide the following, ETF or equity suggestions for:
Basic Materials (hold 2% LIF), Communications Services (hold 4% BCE), Consumer Cyclical and Consumer Defensive (hold 0%), Healthcare (hold 1% HHL), Industrials (hold 0%), Technology (hold TXF 4%).

Thank you for considering my lengthy question for which I apologize.

Q: Hello 5i
I'm considering raising funds through a 1/3 sale of my CSCO holding. Now that the Splunk acquisition has closed, would you expect this to be sufficiently needle moving (ie wait on the sale) or not ?

Thanks

Q: CSCO reported miserable earnings on February 15 and guidance was also poor. I understand the company will also raise more debt. I am not clear on the company’s reasoning for yet more debt. CSCO was added to AAII’s “stock super stars” list in February 2016 under its “good values” strategy. I was thinking of selling CSCO last year but held off when I saw the business was added to Morgan Stanley’s global dividend portfolio in June 2023. I continued to on to CSCO, especially as hardly any of my other holdings pay dividends. Given CSCO’s latest report and guidance, is it worth holding on to CSCO for investors whose folio is all US, and who are getting concerned that their folio generates little dividend.

If its worth holding on to CSCO, please comment on the company’s business model, the strength or not of its suite of security products. Please also comment on CSCO’s PEG ratio, its debt to equity in addition to its competitive position and moat referenced above. Many thanks.

Q: Held Cisco,Oracle,Pfizer,intel,for many years now. is it time to cut the umbilical cord? i am 82 but still continue to invest.What U.S. stocks should i consider replacing them with?

Q: hi,
thank you for, and this question is in reference to, the answer to the "baby Mag 7" question a few days ago by "JR". are you able to do a short analysis of these 7, compared to the "adult" Mag 7 in regards current and future valuation, growth, debt/equity metrics. further, do you have any guess on the timeline of googl/meta etc.'s development/utilization of their own AI chips in house?
take as many points off as needed, this question seems like a bad homework assignment to me!
thanks Chris

Q: Peter,
what would be your list of baby Mag 7 that have high probability of solid growth and show possibility of becoming the new Mag member? Do you see AMD as a potential contender?

Q: Everyone, what is the rate of return for the large cap tech stocks vs the Nasdaq 100. For the large cap I would classify: AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, MSFT and NVDA ( you can add more to the list). Please use a time period that you have good stats for but or a 5 year or 10 year return period. I would like to know if it is worthwhile only investing in the big tech stocks overall. Clayton.

Q: In a 5iR response on Wednesday about CRWD, there was mention that "its (CRWD) performance seems better than many peers (not all)". And me, wondering what these "better" peers are???.....The reason for asking this is that if they are larger in market capitalization, I might be interested in investing in one....Keen to know about these peers.......Many thanks.....Tom

Q: CSCO's earnings misstep resulted in a 11% stock price haircut. I am a long-time holder and am contemplating adding to my position. What's your take on the recent statement and whether this is an opportunistic wise move or not.

Q: Hi 5i
I'm currently overweight Tech (according to PA) but not overly concerned about it. In order to free up some cash which of QCOM and CSCO would you reduce first/eliminate completely ? The purpose being to have ready funds for bulking up smaller positions in other sectors before year end (maybe).
Do nothing is always an option as well as each have their merits.
Thanks

Q: I have done very well with AVGO as a long-term hold in my RRIF but the recent speculation about GOOGL's intention to phase out AVGO chips and replace them with its own design has made me nervous. AAPL has been doing this too, so it makes me wonder if it is time to sell at least a part of my holding. What other semiconductor maker would be less prone to "taking in-house" risks? CSCO maybe? It is clear that both AVGO and CSCO have been and are making big acquisitions in the software space to diversify away from semiconductor risk: this makes me wonder if I should just stay the course and trust AVGO management? As always, I value your opinion.

Q: We have small positions of the above stocks in a well diversified portfolio. Which would you recommend holding and adding to vs eliminating completely?

Q: Hello 5i Team,

I'm looking to sell the following 12 stocks in my cash account to crystallize some losses in anticipation of better buying opportunities in the fall: BNTX, CAE, CHTR, CIEN, CJT, CTS, DIS, FNF, GNRC, HAS, TEAM, and YETI.

For each of these stocks, could you please indicate: HOLD; SELL; or SELL + RE-BUY (with suggested proxy).

Feel free to deduct as many credits as you see fit.

Thanks in advance for your always helpful advice!

Q: Is AI a net headwind or tailwind for the software companies within CSU? Are their legacy companies particularly vulnerable to being displaced by AI?

Thanks.

Q: What is i5R thoughts on CSCO most recent quarter & your buy, hold or sell recommendation. Thanks … Cal

Q: Hi 5i
I like the (relative) stability of CSCO but I like the growth prospects of QCOM. I own both at near enough equal weights in an over-diversified portfolio.
Would you leave well enough alone at this time with these two or would you tilt the scales to increase QCOM and decrease CSCO a little?
Thanks

Q: Dear Peter,

This question is based on your excellent article in Canadian Money Saver Nov/Dec 2015! How time flies, eh?! Titled: Setting up a US income portfolio with call options.

Several years ago I had asked if you have written any follow articles on this strategy? If you have, please post the links for all of your subscribers. That would be helpful.

But my question is this:
Based on the criteria that you highlighted in that article if you had to choose Five stocks what would those stocks be today?

I am semi retired senior citizen who can allocate 10-15% of my portfolio to this strategy.

Many thanks in advance.
Mano.

Q: Hi,
Of this list do any of these names have concerns and if so, what might they be? Are there any you would wish to wait longer before buying? Any you do not think appropriate buys in this market? Others you feel are more compelling? If you were to buy these, in what order would you do so? I know - lots of questions - feel free to deduct accordingly! My preference is for stability of future earnings, lower or no debt and the dividend is a bit of a bonus, but not something to rely on. Many thanks!
Dawn

Q: Hello, I saw that there are seven new CDRs from CIBC: Verizon, McDonald's, Nike, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, United Health, and Cisco. Without going into the CDRs versus buying on American exchanges debate, I am curious to know if some of these stocks are worth buying today, which ones, the reason why and in what order (from most compelling to least)., presumably for a 5-year holding period. Thanks.

Q: With the chip bill being passed by Biden, which companies will benefit the most;
Intel, Cisco, Nvdia, Advanced Micro Device, Qualcom or other chip companies.