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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Yesterday I put in a limited price buy for 100 shares of the ETF PEJ. It was filled with one individual stock. When I brought this to the attention of ScotiaItrade using their call centre I was browbeat by the initial answering person and then her supervisor. I did not know what the acronym AON meant and since I did not use the button on the order it was my fault I got a fill of one share. I have been using a discount broker for 19 years, am a fairly active trader and have never encountered this situation. I was told by the supervisor that board lots only apply to the TSX and not the US Markets. I would like to ask you if that is true and I will govern myself accordingly in future. In passing it took 26 minutes or so to resolve this issue. Now to wait till Friday to order 99 shares using AON.
Read Answer Asked by James on November 27, 2016
Q: Hello 5i team,
Recently a member asked about core american stocks to hold and you mentionned, amongst others, GE and JNJ, I believe.

I was wondering what would the best mix of American stocks be for a buy and hold investor who has a portfolio of about 30 stocks total.

Here are the ones I hold currently and my question is whether they make a good core holding?

Also, i plan to add JNJ and GE to this mix. Being large cap stocks, is there much advantage in buying these over times in several slices, or better to buy a full complement right away?

Here are the ones I hold, which I mentionned:
3M
Apple
Conagra foods
Ibm
Procter and Gamble
Pepsi
thanks once again for the great service!
Read Answer Asked by joseph on November 25, 2016
Q: I was listening to David Burrows on BN last night, he believes the next 2 years could be quite good in some investment areas and not in others. Because of what he was suggetsing, that utilities, REIT's and Telco may be in the not so good area, I was thinking of selling my Telus, Artis and Dream Industrial.
I would like to rotate those funds into, financials, materials, technology and industrials in Canada in midsize companies. I was wondering if you might be able to suggest some companies with good growth potential that pay dividends in those areas.
If I make the change my core would start with Scotiabank, Royal bank, IPL and PPL, and a little bit of ECN.
Read Answer Asked by Don on November 25, 2016
Q: I'm interested in Profit Margin. In layman terms "what does it mean"? Is it the same as Net Margin (TD Webbroker shows Profit Margin, other sites show Net Margin)? Would using a minimum profit margin of 10% or above safely allow for negative events to the balance sheet? Why would I want to invest in companies with low TTM profit margins such as PBH(3.64%), BEP.UN(1.36%), PKI(.97%) etc? Why do companies such as TCN(329.69%), BPF.UN(85.67%) and AW.UN(66.55%) have such high profit margins? Should I consider a 5yr average? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by LARRY on November 24, 2016
Q: This is a comment to Ian's question regarding the 1K investment for his son. I was just thinking that 13 stocks for a 1K portfolio is likely working against him.At $7 per trade (avg),he would be paying $91 in fees and starting his portfolio down 9-10%.I would think holding 3 to 4 top picks and building out your portfolio as you add more money would be more efficient.If i'm over stepping feel free to not post. This was only meant as constructive criticism.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on November 24, 2016
Q: Good morning...I have $100,000 to utilize in margin account...the interest rate is 6.9%...I am looking at the current market and not sure which way to go...ideally growth with dividend to partial cover interest but just a thought...no financial concerns or tax issues just would like to work my account a bit harder...currently have the majority of stocks you cover except new ones like TOY...any suggestions would be appreciated....Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Matthew on November 23, 2016
Q: Just wanted to say it is a good thing that 5i was and is consistent with answering questions for many members.

It has become obvious to me that many members can only see 1 way of making $$$ and they depend on others to direct their investing thoughts for them. Considering we all do not have the time or interest to do otherwise 5i is of great value to them.

Myself, who has posted both here and in the Forum about the cannabis stocks, have always said they were traders only in my opinion.

This is the 2nd or 3rd (memory) time they have had momentary spikes over the past ~ decade.

Personally I invest for the very long term (+20 years), use DRIP's, shorter time frames & have the ability to Day Trade when I see obvious profits.

I have made enough trading the Cannabis stocks to cover my 5i membership for the remainder of my life +++.

Thanx for the steady hand you present to all the "Investors" of varying abilities.
Read Answer Asked by Stan (1) on November 23, 2016
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