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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: Lots of questions to 5i on prefs lately. Some possible are explanations are in a recent article by John Heinzl: "Why preferred shares plunged."
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/education/article-why-prefs-plunged-and-the-acbs-of-the-loblaw-deal/
You can add indiscriminate dumping of issues by CPD,ZPR, and HPR on high volume days as they struggle to keep up with net redemptions. The bid/ask spread on these ETFs is far less than most individual issues, so investors look to them for liquidity.
Read Answer Asked by Jeff on November 26, 2018
Q: Hello 5i team,
Since its inception, your balanced equity portfolio has generated something like 16% compound return pa; it has beaten the other "advisors" hands down and I enjoyed the ride. Congratulations!
Of the 6 major banks, BNS is the worst performer with a 5-year return of 7% compared to TD 47%, RY 35%, BMO 33%, NA 30% and CIBC 24%; and yet BNS is perennially in your BE portfolio. Why?
Thanks,
Antoine
Read Answer Asked by Antoine on November 26, 2018
Q: With bitcoin plunging I was thinking about a short in this space. Would you mind giving me your thoughts on such a trade and some possible names? Thank you I’m advance.
Read Answer Asked by Jason on November 26, 2018
Q: If there is a capital gain , for example, of $5,000 on the sale of one stock does there have to be a matching capital loss of $5,000 on the sale of another stock in order to avoid payment of tax ? Thanks, Joe
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on November 26, 2018
Q: Do you believe that this is the bottom and good time to bring new money or you would rather wait till there is some better sign?
Read Answer Asked by Nizar on November 23, 2018
Q: Thanks to your stellar advice my portfolio is stacked with market leaders. Consequently I felt like a hero during the summers peak. Not so much these days. I felt a little better after reading that market leaders tend to plunge 1.5 to 2.5 times the market average during a downturn. Thought I'd share that with you.
Question: will those that lead the downturn e.g. tech, lead the upturn?
Thanks
Peter.
Read Answer Asked by Peter on November 23, 2018
Q: I own the 5.10 percent minimum rate reset preferred shares (Bpo.pr.e). Are these dividends available for the Canada dividend tax credit or if not how are they taxed? Thanks,Brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on November 23, 2018
Q: Odlum Brown has just recommended to sell CME and replace it with BLK. Seems like an odd time to sell CME as my understanding is that the recent increased volatility should be good for it, which is likely why it is actually up over the recent period!!

BLK also looks good, especially after its recent pull back.

I currently have 2% of my portfolio in CME but do not have BLK.

Would 5i support holding CME and initiating in BLK or does it seem reasonable to exit CME on its recent strength and pick up some BLK? I have 15% of my portfolio in financials at the moment.

C.
Read Answer Asked by Cameron on November 23, 2018
Q: I am retired and own GMP Capital preferred series B in a non-registered account for income. How safe do you think the dividend is? I was encouraged when they recently re-instated the dividend on the common shares, suggesting management confidence in ongoing profitability, yet the pref B price continues to trend lower. Why?
Read Answer Asked by David on November 23, 2018
Q: I'm adjusting the industrial portion of my portfolio and am thinking of selling both Finning and Russel Metals and harvesting some profits. They are both still attractive from a dividend perspective but a likely economic slowdown lowers their future capital appreciation potential. What is your opinion on retaining either of these stocks versus selling and buying something with more potential like NFI, SIS or TFII? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Stefan on November 23, 2018
Q: RRSP vs TFSA vs non-registered accounts. Sector balancing aside, what would be your top 3 picks for each type of account? Incredible site, thanks for all your work.
Read Answer Asked by Stan on November 23, 2018
Q: With the general pounding the markets took in October, the glass half full sees opportunity. My portfolio is particularly light in Materials, Telecom and Utilities, and I'm looking to top up in a registered account. What companies look attractive to you today based on undue overselling?
Read Answer Asked by Stan on November 23, 2018
Q: DOO's earnings are fast approaching. This earnings season I have adopted a policy of buying puts shortly before earnings announcements. Just did that on SIS.

I don't have a good feel for DOO. What is their rate of exceeding or missing estimates?

Given what has been happening to the stock over past number of months, do you think a long put on DOO prior to earnings has a better than 50% chance of success?

Thanks for your opinion

Sheldon
Read Answer Asked by Sheldon on November 23, 2018
Q: Hi,

Donald's analysis regarding Fairfax returns was quite interesting. You mentioned that timing is everything. The long-term MACD (a monthly trend/momentum indicator) for the S&P 500 now making a bearish crossover.A bearish crossover (sell signal) occurred at the 2000 tech bubble peak, the 2007 market peak, and the intermediate market peak in 2015. I came across this article and would like to get your opinion on it and keeping in mind timing as a big factor should we reduce the risk by lowering our percentage of stock holdings and get back in at a better time.

https://www.financialsense.com/blog/18799/markets-long-term-momentum-just-went-negative

Great service
Thanks
Ninad
Read Answer Asked by Ninad on November 23, 2018
Q: Hi there, in the past, I’ve taken your balanced equity portfolio and have tweaked and adjusted here and there. I suppose it may be human nature to try and personalize things but I’ve become tired of altering it here and there as it’s become time consuming. I am now thinking to simplify and just try and follow your portfolio as close to a T as possible. This way I can just follow your buy, sell and rebalancing as you make adjustments. If I take this route, will mimicking your balanced equity portfolio give me a fully diversified portfolio? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on November 23, 2018
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