Investment Q&A

Q: Does the decline in Telus and Bell have any similarities to the decline in AT&T and Verizon about 6 months ago? I note that the US telecoms staged a nice comeback since. Would you expect the same or are the stories different?

Q: Hi Team,

Which ETF would you be adding new money to in a U.S RRSP account?

IWP has been on a tare and can potentially keep moving but SCHD seems to represent better value. These are long term core positions 20+ years.

Thanks,

Q: If buying one of these two for a 3 to 5 year hold, which would you choose and why? Thanks. ram

Q: Hi 5i,

I am down about 20% on all these companies and am interested if you would consider them a long term hold for income.

Q: Looking to raise some money. In what order would you sell these with your reasons.
Thanks. ram

Q: Hello 5i,

I sold for tax loss VZ and the 30 day period is over. Ignoring that VZ has since increased in price I am starting to change my mind about buying back. Certainly a change in sector but would ABBV be a better replacement since my health care exposure is low? If not can you let me know if VZ is worth buying back.

Q: Is it true that Telus's dividend has not been covered between 2020-22 and won't be for the following two years?

Other than the benefits of both this sector's limited competition in our country and
this government's immigration policy that has been put in place, are there any other reasons why Telus holds a relatively large PE valuation relative to the single digit PE's of both AT&T and Verizon?

Q: Hello. How would you rank these companies in terms of growth and valuation in the communication sector in the next 3 years?
How does a U.S. communication stock compare to a Canadian one?

Q: What are your thoughts about this as a US/CDN high yield income portfolio? Any ideas would be appreciated. Please take as many credits as needed.

Q: Hi 5i,

My current communications holding (VZ:US/Verizon) only amount to 3.5% of portfolio and should be at about 8% according to Portfolio Analysis.
1. Would you continue to hold VZ?
2. Either way, could you recommend some additional/better opportunities?

Many thanks

Q: Good morning,

I know there are risks with owning Verizon right now, but with another recent dividend increase (now 17 consecutive years of increases), forward PE ~ 7.0, and a dividend yield approaching ~ 8%, do you think there is merit in buying for an income investor?

Q: You last looked at this in 2022 and didn't sound very good. But the stock stopped going down in October and has been driving higher since then, especially over the last few months. Has something changed with Comcast's fortunes?

Q: By the end of this year, I will set up a RRIF. I would very much like to have dividends fund the expected withdrawal of 5 to 6%. There are many TSX stocks which will help achieve this goal. For example, ENB, BCE, BNS, CM, PPL, MFC, SLF etc. Currently, my RRSP is 67% CDN$ and 33% US$. I am having great difficulty finding anything in US$ that comes close to the dividend yield offered by the CDB$ stocks that have listed. BTW, my CDN$ would have about 15 positions. Big Question: How to achieve my goal with the US$ component of my RRIF? One obvious option is to move to funds CDN$, but that goes against country diversification which you often note. I am not very keen on US stocks or ETFs that pay a 2.5% dividend. Your thoughts and recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Dan.

Q: My long-term interest in VZ was partially founded on it's extremely low correlation with almost every other equity and fixed income category. I am "off" VZ due its recent issues and am curious as to whether you are aware of any similarly low correlation, reliably high income alternatives?

Q: Big down day for these two. Is this a great opportunity for the long term?

Q: I recently shorted some puts on VZ with the idea of locking in a "decent" ($34) purchase price and making a few $$ in advance of the next dividend. The lead wire scandal seems to open up VZ and the other telecom carriers to punitive lawsuits akin to the situation with MMM and the earplugs. Given the seemingly inevitable assignment of my puts and the grindingly long-term nature of U.S. group personal injury claims, and the words of the Clash, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?". I am a retired income investor who, at 62, still needs inflation resistance.

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: AAPL caused some stress for payment companies with their announcement re: getting more serious about the payments business some weeks ago. Do you think Amazon’s announcement re: “free wireless to Prime members” has a greater or lesser potential impact on VZ and AT&T?

Q: Hi team,

I recently trimmed my position in NVDA and I would like to add the proceeds to my dividend income.

I currently owe BAC, BX, DFS, DUK, HAS, GLW, KMI, NVT, PAC, SWKS, VZ, WMB AND ABBV for dividend and some growth. I would like to add one or more US company to this list.

Any suggestions to add to this list? And, what company would you replace in this list if you have any concerns?

Oh, I'm not a big fan of tobacco companies.

Thank you for the great service and I really appreciate your insights.

Stephan

Q: Hi Folks
Verizon has dropped below $35. It pays a healthy dividend. Is this a good time to buy some shares? Do you think the dividend is safe? I am looking to add it to my RRSP account.
Thanks