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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: I do not own these 8 companies from the balanced portfolio and I do have some money to invest. I already have a reasonably well balanced portfolio (except overweight in tech). Dividends are nice but not that important. Is there one you would consider a particularly interesting buy with a timeline of 5 years? Could you rank the top3?
Read Answer Asked by jacques on October 13, 2020
Q: ENB. SU,TRP and PPL are my current energy holdings and I am down on all four. I have held for a long time and I am concerned energy is not coming back quickly. What would you suggest.? Reduce in all, cut 1 or 2 , if so which would you suggest I sell. As usual your input is respected.
Read Answer Asked by John on October 13, 2020
Q: Dear 5i team,
I’ve read all (I think) replies to questions referencing these companies, in the last year or so.
I’ve read views that seem so different to what my brokerage says (TD). For example, member Helen noted she was done with SU. I was happy to see you still think it’s best for its sector- TD lists a bunch of analysts who collectively think its a strong buy, as does a couple of reports they include in their screens.

Why are some stocks being rated strong buy but some folks want to sell them for tax losses, or won’t buy them at all?

I can’t see energy (and businesses that serve energy) not getting back on track mid term. Do you agree? Mid term in my mind is 3-5 years. I was thinking that if an investor bought say SU at $18, it moved to $36 in 3-5 years, that is doubling one’s investment. Is that not good enough, or is the underlying issue not doubling one’s money but that it’s high risk of big loss instead?
While I’m using SU as example, I thought these questions were relevant to all these co’s.

Would you think an investor was silly to buy some of all these today?
Please provide the ‘why’ for your opinion, thanks so much.

Please use credits as needed. Thank you ! :)
Read Answer Asked by Hilary on October 05, 2020
Q: I am planning to take some losses as offsets to capital gains from previous years. In some cases, I am considering replacements as well. Please advise of any concerns with, or suggest alternatives to, the following sale (purchase) plan.

Sell HWO, PSI & IPL (buy PPL and AQN - already own ENB, ALA & KEY)

Sell SU & CJ (buy CNQ and PXT - already own ARX). I also have a sizeable loss on VET, but consider that is presently so far below comparables, that I should wait for some recovery – or sell now and move on?

Sell HR.UN (buy another REIT, possibly TCN.UN and/or ERE.UN - already own IIP.UN & NWH.UN).

Sell CHR.

Thanks - Don
Read Answer Asked by don on October 05, 2020
Q: The Expert Guests on the TV and satellite Stock Market Shows. Announce with pride, how they have "exited the energy sector". A recent TV Guest, wouldn't touch Suncor @ $15.00, then proceeded to issue the benchmark "buy" on Apple. I was in line at the time, waiting to fill up at a Petro Canada, along side a truck packed Hwy 401.
Energy has taken it hard as of late and for obvious reasons, but how much of Suncor @ $15.00 is real ? How much if any, is that hydrocarbons are for now, out of fashion ?


Read Answer Asked by Cacey on October 05, 2020
Q: I am fed up with Suncor as an investment. Been burnt so many times with this company. The yield isn't enough to keep me in the stock. Do you see a recovery? Is it already getting set up for a huge tax loss selling candidate? Any ideas of a better company to replace it with? Thanks. Maybe a renewable?
Read Answer Asked by Helen on October 02, 2020
Q: I would like to have a little fun with this question. Imagine a boxing match between Canadian companies and American companies...each round is represented by a sector so lets say it is a fight gone bad and there are extra rounds covering 11 sectors. Please pick a favourite Canadian Contender and a strong American contender for each round and who wins the round. Example Round 10 Technology Red corner Constellation Software vs Blue corner Microsoft. Won by Microsoft or Constellation Software. The rules...If you wish to give reasons why the round went one way or another, it's your choice. A good clean fight use the criteria of your investment strategies. The point...I am curious if the Canadian Companies stack up and in what areas I should be looking at South of the border. Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Jeremy on October 01, 2020
Q: Please rate the above for survival and continued Div. payout in the next 5 years, based on cash- flow that well covers the dividend . I am a senior and need income. I have a position in all the above and would like a rating best first. Please insert your suggestions for the above criteria.
thanks
Yossi
Read Answer Asked by JOSEPH on September 29, 2020
Q: My powder keg is dry waiting for the covid 2nd wave and in my opinion anticipated second market adjustment. The recent jitters made me realize I haven't made my buy plan for my cash...I am pleased with my portfolio and don't have any huge gaps, I am slowly switching from growth to income so am looking more toward your income portfolio for inspiration. In Canada ENB and H looked like good buy options and I already own Suncor so would top up on that as well to a full position. In the USA I am leaning towards P&G and Coke. These complement my current holdings and I feel these additions will do OK in a possible extended covid induced economic slowdown as well as be good long term income holdings.

Any names you wished you had added on the last drop or names you are watching with interest?
Read Answer Asked by Tom on September 23, 2020
Q: We have 300K which we want to use to build a portfolio of Canadian dividend payers in an open account.
This forms a significant chunk of our semi retirement portfolio. We have growth stocks in registered accounts and also some cash in a HISA.

1. Would you think that 10 companies offers sufficient diversification?
2. Which companies would you recommend? (we are thinking 2 x financials, 2 x telecoms, 2 x utilities, 1 or 2 materials, 1 or 2 energy)
3. Over what time frame would you recommend purchasing these companies? (TD charges me $10 a trade)

Thank-you,
Jim and Sharon

Read Answer Asked by Jim on September 09, 2020
Q: SU had been performing poorly with price back to April levels. Warren Buffett added more of the stock recently and company seems to have a strong balance sheet. How much do you think the stock is undervalued at current levels? And how do you see vaccine news affect its recovery? Thanks a lot.
Read Answer Asked by micheal on September 08, 2020
Q: Pason's current price and cash might look appealing to someone who doesn't have any exposure to oil in their portfolio. What are your thoughts on Pason at this time? Would you prefer a producer like Suncor or something midstream like Enbridge?
Read Answer Asked by Bashir on August 27, 2020
Q: I took your recommendation, three weeks ago, to switch to CNQ from SU, as I sold my SU (tax loss harvesting), with the plan to re-buy SU (and sell CNQ) after 30 days. So far, this is working out, as my CNQ position is up 9%, and SU has fallen a bit further, since these trades. With the 30-day period ending in about a week, I am reconsidering things, and would like your input. I am a long-term buy & hold investor, and have always liked SU (essentially created a business out of nothing, that has prospered remarkably over the decades, current headwinds--green opposition, pipeline constraints, demand collapse, etc--notwithstanding). BUT, how would you compare and contrast the LONG-TERM prospects for SU versus CNQ, now that I'm faced with another decision-- should I just keep my CNQ position (with very early "success"), or should I stick with Plan A, and go back to a SU position (overall, we're talking about SU or CNQ being ~1.5% of my portfolio, and oil & gas overall ~3.5% of my equity portfolio, 2/3 Canadian 1/3 foreign). And please provide a rationale for your answer.
Ted
Read Answer Asked by Ted on August 10, 2020