Investment Q&A

Q: As I grow older I find myself more risk adverse. You receive many questions regarding going to more cash when one fears a market correction and you claim, and I agree, that market timing is very difficult to pull off. None the less I am fearful of large loses similar to those encountered 10 years ago.
Now to my question. If one is investing for income, as I understand it, if the dividend is safe then a capital loss while not good can be tolerated with the hope of recovery because of the steady income flow. I am setting up a RRIF and am concerned about equity draw downs from a recession as well as increasing interest rates. In conclusion an income investor should be able to sleep at night knowing there is a steady income stream. I am trying to generate a 5% annual dividend stream. Thank you.

Q: I currently own SHOP, KXS and PHO but want to add one more tech stock to bring my tech weighting up to about 15%. I was thinking about adding CLS or OTEX. Which would you prefer as more of a growth stock or do you have another suggestion?

Q: Hi,
If I were to buy & sell options as a strategy to create a monthly income flow, would any proceeds (profits or losses) be considered as Capital Gains or Income for income tax purposes?
Also, if trading options, is there any consideration to be aware of in regards to option-able stocks that pay dividends?
Thank you.

Q: Can I have your opinion on this company, recenty spun off form Brookfield AM?

Do you see this as a solid investment?

Can a dividend be expected in the next year or 2?

Thank ... as usual.

Q: Hello: you seem a little down on d.un, perhaps because of the dividend reduction from a question of the 23rd. Will this have any financial or stock price affect for Drg.un ?

Thanks

Q: What is your opinion of Alaris

Q: I would be interested in your view of Darnley Bay Resources. It's being promoted in some newsletters. Is there substance to the project?

Q: Hi Guys,

Inside my portfolio, my consumer cyclical weighting is over 20%, please rate best to worst;
GIL, MG, BYD.UN, TOY, AYA, CCL & NFI and on the U.S.A. side we have GPC, DIS & HD.
I would like to lower the % to 15%.
thanks,

Jim

Q: On June 17th there was an article in the Globe entitled " Are these preferreds a 5 percent solution", by Rob Carrick. It spoke of many different perpetual preferreds paying close to 5%. What is your opinion as to how any perpetual preferreds would fit into any investment portfolio in today's investment climate. Would you ever recommend them?



Thank you

Paul

Q: What is your opinion of ZWU as a long term hold? Do you see any reason to hold this instead of a basket of utilities on their own?

Thank You

Paul

Q: I am puzzled about the fact that some mortgage lenders offer as low as 1.9 to 2.1% mortgage rates. Why would someone lend money as such a low rate, when you can get more (and garanteed) investing it with a CDIC backed GIC. If the amount is huge and not covered by a set of CDIC accounts, such a lender could get the same yield from a short-term bond ETF like ZCS. My theory is that those lenders hope that a small percentage of their borrowers fail to carry the mortgage, in which case, they somehow profit from re-possessing a house that has appreciated in price. If that is not something a lender can do, what am I missing? Thank you.

Q: Do you think fairfax is at good value with the recent sell off.i have some at 600 i was thinking of averaging down on it Thank you

Q: Doc as many questions as required....

I am looking at moving out of a managed portfolio for which I pay about 1.5% management fee plus the fees for the products in the fund ( averages about 0.29% for a net of about 1.79%). The managed fund has not beat its benchmark net of fees in last 5 years so I am giving my manager and the product the boot.

Main reasons are:
1. I am paying for an "actively" managed fund that really is performing like a index fund ( I can buy the fund benchmark as ETFs for %0.23 mer)
2. I dont really need it to be balanced due to my other investments. It was useful when I had less money, less time and less knowledge.
3. I have the time, temperament and knowledge to move it all to be self managed

My plan is:

1. Not have any fixed income holdings as my wife's federal government pension counts for all required fixed income/bond. It is also the anchor that allow me to be more aggressive with our other investments

2. All Canadian exposure will be via stocks loosely following your balanced equity portfolio.

3. For the US-global exposure I am considering adopting the US/global portion of the CME ETF portfolio with the following weighting: 10% VEE, 10% VE, 20% SPY, 25% VIG, 25% IWO, 10% ZWU. ( ie cut out most CAD and bond stuff and kept the same weighting as CMS portfolio for the rest)
4. Simplify the number of products I have across multiple account. In other words balance globally vs balancing within each individual account.

So my questions are:
1. At a high level what if any changes would you suggest to this approach
2. My portfolio is a mess with multiple products across TFSA, RSP, RESP, and unregistered accounts for both me and my wife. Very generally can you remind me which products should be in which account for tax efficiency.
3. Any suggestions on how best to transition...general plan is all new money goes to ETFs, move 1/3 each year out of managed fund to ETF portfolio.

Tom

Q: Good morning team, can you comment on FM. Is it a buy here?

Q: Hello,
what do you make of NYX debt refinancing.
thanks

Q: Hi Great Service With ETF's gaining popularity and taking over from mutual fund investments ,how will they react with a 30 to 35% correction to the market? These investments have not been tested in a mass sell off. Question is about ETF's on the US and Canadian Markets

Q: Results

Q: Hi 5i, I own IPL since March 2005 in my RIF at cost of $9.63 so I have seen its ups and down for long time but now I am not so sure if I want to keep it, I am thinking of switching to CPX, similar price and dividend, what do you think of the idea or do you have any other suggestions for me. Thank you for your valuable service. M

Q: 5i

I am 75 years old and have $30,000 DOLLARS of cash in both my TFSA and my wife's TFSA. Regardless of sector weighting how would you invest the funds. Great service you provide for both the educated and less educated investors.

W

Q: for my sons RESP can I get your opinion of the 3.25% 5 year GIC being offered by Home Capital? The amount is far below the $100,000 threshold.

Is a safe 3.25% a reasonable rate of return for an RESP that I need in 5 years time? Alternatively, would I be better to off with the investment strategy your team outlined which would have a higher potential yield but principle risk.

Your thoughts are appreciated,

Don