Investment Q&A

Q: Good afternoon, Please recommend your 3 favourite international equity ETFs (without US holdings) and your 3 favourite US market ETFs. I already own QQQ which represents approx. 10% of my RRSP (in US dollars). Further, what are your thoughts on investing in the US market in US dollars (converted using Norbert Gambit) vs. Cnd. dollars? Is there an approach which has generated better results? Thank you.

Q: I was looking for Metal ETF that holds only Metal.

We reccomend: COPX for copper and for uranium URNM or URA. On the gold side, there are direct spot exposure gold ETFs, some we like are GLD and GLDM. There are also gold stock ETFs for which we suggest GDX and GDXJ.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Can you please recommend your favourite metal ETF for URANIUM, COPPER and GOLD.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Just a simple question.

Do you know why the TSX and DOW both have a huge pop at 3:35pm yesterday - less than half an hour before closing? TSX jumped about 200 point, any news there? Thanks.

Q: Need to increase U.S. and Internation equity exposures in my RRSP. Current exposures are mainly from VBAL (25% weight of RRSP) and a small position in XLU, ZWU and XGD. I am considering adding SPY for U.S. equities. What do you think about this option, and what would be a good entry point? Also, what would be a good addition to increase international equity (ETF or stocks)? Knowing that you cannot provide personal answers I appreciate very much your comments. Much Thanks

Q: Hello,
Can you please recommend a few US blue chip large cap with reasonable valuation, decent dividend, some growth, buy and forget type of stock. I am reviewing my portfolio and looking for some ideas. No need to comment on why you like the names. Thank you,

Q: Knowing that portfolio allocations need to be very personal, but would 30% Canada, 45% US, and 25% international work as a general guideline for 60% equity portion of a new RRIF account?
Would you change the 40% fixed portion consisting of 20% 1-year GICs, and the remaining 20% of XHY, CVD, CPD, Bonds mutual fund (currently at loss)?
Thank you for such a great service.

Q: I am in my 80’s and have a cumulative capital gain over $600,000 in about 30 companies split evenly between U.S.andCanada.
To avoid paying the higher inclusion rate should I sell some of these stocks now and purchase them back at a later date bearing in mind stock and currency rates fluctuate.

Q: Hi Everyone at 5I!
I am trying to figure out the step by step process of Norbert's Gambit. I have a TD WebBroker account both CAD and USD. I want to move CAD into USD. How do I proceed? It is probably very simple and I can't see the forest because of the trees.
Cheers,

Tamara

Q: Hi Peter, It will be nice to get your detail opinion on today upcoming budget from investors point of view via a blog. Just a suggestion.

Q: Good morning,

This weekend I came across this ETF that invests in private companies with the largest holdings being Space X. The 52 week action on tis is insane and I believe it is only a few weeks old in terms of being traded. What is your opinion of this ETF their strategy if any and the trade action in such a short time. Are there other more established funds out there that do the same thing? Would you buy something like this with some fun money? Sybol DXYZ

https://destiny.xyz/tech100

Q: Hi Peter et al:

This is a big picture question based on the recent article on optionson5i Research and also based on Peter's expertise on Options trading. After all your i2i fund is based on this strategy, if I am not mistaken, right?

How does one screen for stocks , selling cash secured puts and Covered calls? Any particular favorite screeners that we can use who don't have fancy Bloomberg terminals? Your excellent article in 2015 talked about Covered calls (where is the promised follow up article?! :)) YouTube is filled with clips that promote either courses or their black box products. I want to develop a methodology that I can use in a systematic manner.

IF I want to protect myself for the expected and very possible downturn in the markets, how does one employ this technique?

Finally what are your stocks selection for such an approach at this time? ( Both for Selling cash secured puts and Covered call)

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

Many thanks.

Q: According to your weekly review received Saturday the Canadian dollar was 73.96 and the TSX ended the week up 1.6%
However according to Saturday’s Globe and Mail the Canadian dollar was 73.57 and the TSX closed at 21,984 or up .3% for the week.
In the future it may be better to postpone your weekly market view until the next market day as obviously there must have been a drop in markets during the closing hours.

Q: Hello 5I Team
The market is at all time highs today with current interest rates .When the interest rates start to get cut in Canada and the US what does history tells us , should the market continue to go higher or decline? Does 5I share the same view this time around?
Thank you for your valuable insight.

Q: Hello Peter,

With the bitcoin halving, the operating profits decrease for the miners but the price of the product increases. As well, the asset value of their inventory increases.
Smaller miners get squeezed out? Sell the smaller miners or wait for them to be bought out at a premium ?
In what proportion would you invest in bitcoin etf and bitcoin miners?
Would you suggest holding a full position in bitcoin and the miners?
Too many questions but I look forward to you helping me sort it out.
Regards
Rajiv

Q: Analysts, are they are all good, they sure can swing a stock price. I remember a couple of years ago when one of them downgraded a Berkshire owned stock, and Mr. Buffet said the earnings were just fine and the analyst got it wrong. Why do they always have to be right?
Thanks Again

Q: Hi 5i Team - I have heard some concerns about other countries withdrawing money from the TSX and probably the Vancouver exchange as well. Am assuming that this is through the sale of equities and then withdrawing the proceeds. Am not sure which countries or how many. Could you comment on whether this a valid concern, and if so then how might it affect prices of Canadian equities going forward.
Thanks.

Q: Hi 5i Team - If a company is listed on both the U.S. and Canadian exchanges, do you have an opinion on which would be the better choice, I realize that this may be a bit of a complex question with a number of variables to consider so if you could address just a couple of those variables that would be great.
As a corollary do U.S. dividends need to claimed in RRSP's and TFSA's.
Thanks.

Q: My question concerns the significance in a stock’s price bid & ask price difference. Today LMN’s bid ask difference is .15 cents while BCE’s is .01 cents. Question 1 is why do stocks have varying bid ask differences. Question 2 is it better to buy stocks with small bid ask differences. And question 3 does a third party prosper if a stock has a large bib ask difference. Thanks … Cal

Q: In regards to TFSA's value...For the record I'm not a great stock picker (but better than I was prior to joining 5i). However I know how to listen to people like Peter and Ryan who understand what makes a great stock. So thanks to them I bought CSU, NVDA and SMCI (at 13x earnings one short year ago). Today my TFSA is just shy of 1.8 million Canadian. It's a bit like winning the lottery, and if I can do it so can other members. Not everything is going to go up and I have plenty of capital losses but as Peter (I think) says a couple of great winners will do the job! By-the-way LMN was spun out at around $16.75 per share about a year ago and today trades at $37.14. Not too shabby. Better to buy now rather than later at $371.40 don't you think?
My advice...listen to Peter and Ryan and all work out (in the long term)!
Jim