Investment Q&A

Q: Interesting potential entry point below $35 CAD today. 11.4% yield usually a sign of a dividend cut in the near future. I know the company has communicated that it intends to maintain and not grow the dividend over the next year.

What’s your take on the risk to the share price of a dividend cut at current price levels? Ie. is it mostly priced in here at $35?

Q: Is the recent deal by BCE in the USA "written in stone" or can it be cancelled by either party at this time. Looks like the deal has almost destroyed the co. Thanks

Q: I am a senior citizen now with a lower tolerance for risk and accepting of a lower rate of return on my investments for that. When interest rates increased, I invested in MM funds; now with rates going south, I am looking to get back into some more conservative stocks/ETF/Mutual funds with growth prospects.
Can you provide 5 stocks/ETF's you believe would fill this request. I am looking at Canadian but if there isa US one that makes sense, I would look at it.
As always, thanks for your advise.

Regards

Jim

Q: As an income focused investor, I'm most worried about cashflow versus capital. This approach has allowed me to comfortably weather the gyrations over the past few years. Yes, dividend stocks went down, but my cashflow was mostly secure and I slept well. I've settled on a mix of funds and individual stocks that meet my cashflow needs, using 5i for research and advice. About 20% of the portfolio value is in Covered Call funds across various sectors and fund companies, which pay 7% to 17%. This has enabled me to boost my average portfolio yield significantly, while 80% of the portfolio is in more conservative dividend paying investments. I acknowledge that the Covered Call strategy limits my upside.

Two questions: 1. What are your thoughts on this approach? 2. Is there still a robust covered call marketplace in a declining market - ie: what happens to the covered call premium opportunity?

Q: I would like your thought if it make sense to replace BCE with Rogers or Telus at all, or there are better alternatives , even in other sectors. Please suggest a few alternatives if outside of the above. Thank you as always

Q: I currently hold dir.un and Xdiv both are moving down. I thought they would perform better when Interest rates are going down.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Hello team,
Can you help me understand please whether i should put new monies in TFSA towards bep.un or bepc ? On yahoo, i see bep.un has dividend of 5.87 percent but 1 year return of minus 2 percent where as bepc has dividend of 4.7 percent but one year return of 14 percent. From income and growth perspective, bepc seems to be better bet.. If this is the case, are investors losing out by investing in bep.un? i have huge loss in my rrsp from bep.un so would like to know where to put new monies as it seems brookfield would benefit from the energy transition. Alternatively, am i better off simply putting all my monies in BN and forget the spinoffs.. please explain and thank you ..

Q: BCE is so hated right now, it's trading like it's doomed if the dividend doesn't cut substantially. Dividend is now yielding 11%. Is this the next AQN or do they have a chance to turn things around with divesting TSN, laying off more people, etc? Was the Ziply purchase too high? Is the Air Canada Wifi deal a bad one or even move the needle? Is the Palo Alto partnership also bad? Seems like every news story coming out just drives the price down. I never want to catch a falling knife, but is the story really as bad as it looks right now and could this be a good opportunity to actually get in low with a high yield? Even if they cut it in half it would still be a great yield at this point. Maybe I'm blind, but I'm seeing more upside to this than downside at this point.

Q: With Bank of Canada cutting interest rates and oil up, why would pipelines be lower? Shouldn't this also be good for telcos/pipelines/reits or are institutions positioning themselves in cyclicals for new a economic cycle so these rate dependent areas areas are under pressure. I have noticed Pembina was doing well but has been consistently down for many days. Thank you!

Q: Peter et al:
An opinion please on this one with the following points in mind. We all know the sector has lagged, but CVE has a lot of people putting it in the enigma pew. Quality inventory, 71% heavy, diversified with three refineries, fair dividend, BS ok and yet it goes no where. Sentiment is definitely against these guys. G&M article Dec 3, Brian Donovan " The intrinsic value of Canadian oil stocks and what Trump's proposed tariff would mean for them", ends by picking CVE as the one their models show upside for . Eric Nuttall on Nov 21 said that it was one of his worst calls in 2024 picking this instead of Suncor. I await your detailed reply, and I thank you by not asking questions with 30 companies like some. I do my own ground work.
All the best,
Ben.

Q: Hello 5i
Given the intention to increase a position of any of these currently held for income (and growth as all being held long term), in what order would you suggest could be most beneficial considering all are currently underweight.
Thanks

Q: Hi Guys

I hold AltaGas and was thinking of swapping for South Bow. Thinking better dividend at a minimum. What are your thought on this switch for a long term hold. Which do you think will have teh better overall return 5 years out?

Much thanks

Stuart

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. Sitting on roughly 5-6% cash for topping up existing positions to, over time, hit Asset Allocation targets.

Candidates = BCE, GSY, HHL, HMAX, XST, ZUT. If I was deciding to deploy funds to create the largest total return over the next year or two, from their existing valuation, a) in what order would you deploy the funds and b) a short qualifier for each position?

My view = buy in this order:
ZUT = good momentum, room to run before hitting earlier peak
GSY = good value, $150-155 should be excellent value
XST = graph against 50 and 200mda...very tight chart....could buy anytime
HMAX = good value, banks should run
HHL = healthcare stocks should get over their fear of their new boss in a few months....or not. Give it some time.
BCE = last on the list. Just rebought after cap loss capture. Give it even more time.

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: In a recent question you stated "Alternatively to VFV, we also like ZSP, which focuses on the S&P 500, and it has some tax benefits given that it holds the US stocks directly." Could you elaborate on the tax benefits? Thanks for your help.

Q: What are your current thoughts regarding plaza reit as an addition to the income side of my portfolio? If negative, do you have any suggestions for stable high-dividend Canadian stocks that I can investigate? thanks, J

Q: Just wondering if you saw any reason for the big drop today? I did see the volume was up by nearly double.
Thanks! Paul

Q: I am thinking of selling AQN and SPB and investing the proceeds to NPI .
I feel that NPI presents a better road to recovery. Your comments please.

Q: Hi,

Your comments on Transcontinental's results ?

Thanks

Q: Good afternoon!
I have some substantial cash to deploy, ideally into Canadian dividend payers at 4% or more. I already have many of the usual suspects, including the following: ENB, BCE, PPL, BNS, CM, LIF, SIA, T, LIF, BEP.UN, DIR.UN, FSZ
I have been waiting until the December sell-off (i.e. Benj Gallander’s suggestion that it is the best time to buy), hoping to find some that have made the sell list that are good candidates for bounce backs in the future. After observing the market in the early stages of tax-loss selling, would you have some names that might fit that bill? Ideally maybe 5 or 6, although I realize that is a tall order, perhaps! Again, I am seeking dividend paying Canadian equities paying 4% or more.
Thanks! Paul

Q: Good morning,

About a month ago I took a tax-loss sale on BCE. Was a ~ 2% weighting. My 30 day "waiting period" is up this Friday, and now I am undecided as to buy it back, initiate a 2% position in SOBO, or do 1% BCE and 1% SOBO. I know you don't love to comment on portfolio weightings, but if you were me, what would you do?

Thanks as always.