Investment Q&A

Q: Hi, bonds in USA, what time frame would you pick. I have SHY now.

Q: Hi
I am trying to build a portfolio based on ETFs. Could you provide me with a list of recommended ETFs, grouped by sector and sample weightings for each sector. I am looking for income first followed by some growth. I am retired, have a pension and would be comfortable with moderate risk as well a 70 equity - 30 fixed split. I understand that this list would just be a start. I would do more research on my own. Thanks, Len

Q: Is there an oil and gas etf which is not cap weighted that is tsx listed? Thanks Bill

Q: Considering holding this ETF as a portion of my Cdn equity weighting. Is it considered an income generating portfolio or more growth?
Is WXM considered large cap or mid cap holdings ?

Q: Hi,
I read an article on how a hedge fund made money during the coronavirus sell off. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-hedge-a-coronavirus-11583321400). Can you give a small primer on how this is done..or typical hedging strategies. Thanks. Shyam

Q: What do you think of convertible debentures as a part of an overall fixed income allocation ? Could you give 4-5 debentures that you like with low to medium risk ? Thanks you!

Q: Hello 5i,
I usually only hold individual stocks but am wrestling with choosing a “green” company. I like the potential of companies like GRN,XBC and QST but their size gives me pause. Can you recommend and ETF that captures these smaller companies as well as larger ones to reduce overall risk?
Thanks
Dave

Q: I know you don't follow US companies that closely but what are your thoughts on this one ? I'm an RBC client and they have an outperform rating on it and a target of $102.00 USD. I recently purchased it around $80.00 USD only to see it drop to $64.00. Thoughts on a recovery ?

Q: You are right when you say preferred shares are not bonds, they fall fast in a bad market.

Would it be wise to add a modest amount of ZPR or CPD during this period and take the dividend for a while? This would be in an RRSP

Q: My current portfolio is somewhat similar to your BE portfolio but with a small (15%) portion of foreign holdings (more if you consider BEP which I also hold, as foreign since it has a lot of foreign investments). Foreign is far too small in my estimation. I have some cash to deploy which would bring it up to about 30%.
I currently hold VEE, DXG and DXU, an awful lot of US. Do you have any suggestions of ETFs I could or should add? I have held ZDM in the past.

Q: I am buying European exposure via one of 2 ETF's, either XEH or XEU. As a CDN resident, how might the Cdn Hedged ETF ( XEH) help or hinder my future ROR ?

Q: Can I please get your opinion of this new ETF. Larry Berman was talking about it yeterday on BNN. He seems to like it a lot in this current environment, paying a 6% dividend yield.

Thanks

Dave

Q: You don't hear often about this one, but it was a solid performer over the years. Equal weigh and reballancing appeal to me .
Any comment'd be appreciated.

Q: Greetings 5i,

What a week! Looking to sort through the rubble next week and start picking away at a few hammerd down blue chips. I have a question regarding ZDY and its dividend as I have 3 different postings for it.
TD states its $1.29/year = 4.32%
5i show its $0.20/month which should = $2.40 or 8% and yet states its 3.743%.
To make it more confusing Morning Star states 3.25%.

Hmmm.. everyone can't be correct? What are the true numbers here?

Cheers!

Q: Can you please tell my if 100% of ZWC monthly income received is eligible for the dividend tax credit?
Thanks!!

Q: If I want to buy ZTL, I have this message: "purchase this security online, a limit price must be entered. If you wish to submit this buy order at Market, please contact a representative ": I don't get why you can't buy at the market price ...Thanks. Martin.

Q: I am a long time subscriber and an avid reader of the Q&A. Even with all I have learned, I am still having a difficult time understanding how to invest the fixed income portion of my portfolio. I want fixed income to provide portfolio stability by protecting on the downside while offering the possibility of capital gains along with some income.

I am a buy and hold investor on the equity side and I am comfortable deciding when to sell a company. However, the fixed income side seems to demand a more active approach - or does it? For example, you have been suggesting that interest rates seem likely to decline in the coming months so that would favour long term bonds. But for stability, or as an offset in case I am wrong, should I also hold short term notes? Should my fixed income portion be split 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 among cash, short term and long term and just left at that or is it necessary to continually monitor and adjust these weightings? Or is there one fund that does all that already?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Can you explain why gold has dropped sharply today? My expectation is that through times of uncertainty, gold should usually go up?

Q: Could you review the situation with covered call ETFs during this type of market where everything is dropping?
Do you buy covered call ETFs to obtain income?
Do you sell your covered call ETFs?
Do you wait until the market moves upward before buying a covered call ETF?
Do you simply stay away when the market turns and buy the individual security?

Thanks....

Q: Once the current rout in the market bottoms, please suggest the best ETF's listed on the TSX to ride the market back up, purely for capital gains, covering both the TSX and the Dow. These would be short-term investments during the recovery mode.