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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: Greetings 5i: I have some XLB which I thought would do well when/if interest rates fell. When interest rates plummeted the unit value dropped almost $7. Now I could be wrong (again) but I don't think interest rates are moving up or down any time soon. It's my expectation that when rates do eventually start to go up that XLB may not be something I want to own. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. Rick.
Read Answer Asked by Roderick on March 20, 2020
Q: When things seem like theyve settled down some, I plan to average down on some of my higher quality (less speculative) stocks. Im also planning to do this around dividend dates since this seems like a good time to compound DRIPS and collect extra shares.

Now, the core of my portfolio is still in a few broad market etfs. Do you think in the recovery that a certain market (S&P500, Nasdaq, DOW etc. - Im assuming not the TSX since Canada is fighting an economic war on multiple fronts) will happen faster than in others? Would you think in the recovery that buying hedged would be better since the US Dollar has been climbing recently? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by david on March 20, 2020
Q: I am wondering about Bond ETFs and why they are dropping when interest rates are at historic lows. Does this have to do with liquidity issues of the etf's, with people trying to sell them so fast that the managers of the ETF cannot sell the underlying assets quick enough? Does that mean that the underlying assets of the ETF are actually much higher than the price to buy the ETFs themselves? As an example I am considering the 9% drop of ZAG that occurred today.
Read Answer Asked by Federico on March 20, 2020
Q: I Have held these bond etfs for a long time and they are down considerably. (-16 & -30% -9.00 % -5.16%)and still counting

My question is :
Do I have any reasonable reasonable expectation of ever recovering the capital if I hold them ?
Or I am reasonably safe in selling them and putting what is left in a better place ?


Read Answer Asked by Leonard on March 20, 2020
Q: Further to my question about S&P500 etfs, is it better to buy a U.S.-traded or TSX-traded fund, given the current $ situation? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by chris on March 20, 2020
Q: I know very little about bonds and most ad advisers suggest some bonds for a 73 year old like me. Is this a good time to add bonds to a RRIF? If so, what bonds or bond funds do you recommend?
Thank you for your service.
Don
Read Answer Asked by Donald on March 20, 2020
Q: Dear 5i
I'm always a little confused as to which companies are CDN hedged and which are not . Just because it's listed on the TSX doesn't` always mean that it is hedged I'm guessing . I'm also assuming that it looks like the CDN dollar is going to be weak compared to the US dollar for awhile .That being said which of the ETF`s listed above are CDN hedged and is it wise to have a balance of hedged and unhedged anyways ?
Typically you expect share prices to rise as earnings increase . With the state of the economy ie covid19 it is likely that earnings will be lower for the next couple quarters at least so there are few expectations for higher earnings from most companies .Given this , would you expect the market to rebound higher even before there are rising earnings simply on the anticipation that higher earnings will eventually happen once covid19 is proven to be under control , or do you think we would actually have to wait for increased earnings to occur before we would see any meaningful bounce in the markets ?
Please deduct points appropriately .
Thanks
Bill
Read Answer Asked by Bill on March 20, 2020
Q: To several members, you've suggested an S&P500 etf. Among those are ZSP, XUS, VFV and HXS, all trading on the TSX in Canadian $. They all appear similar, except that HXS pays no dividend (why?). Then there's SPY, trading on the US exchange. It has dropped considerably more than the Canadian versions, and consequently has a higher dividend yield. Can you explain the discrepancy, please? Don't they all hold the same stocks? And there must be other S&P500 ETFs trading on US exchanges, besides SPY - could you please name some? Which version of these ETFs would you choose?
Read Answer Asked by chris on March 19, 2020
Q: Which best bang for the buck should a retiree look at when looking for some US exposure through ETFS, for the future recovery, I have no US exposure as of now and would like to take advantage of the downturn, I get by on the pensions I have.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by James on March 19, 2020
Q: Thanks for your calming influence these days. Also appreciate your expression of empathy in your market update: we all recognize that what is unfolding brings a lot of emotional strain.
I own some ZWB because for the last few years didn't really see any catalyst to make banks move rapidly. Its Beta is 0.94. I am wondering if ZEB would be a better holding during the recovery with its Beta of 1.02. Does the "covered call" aspect of ZWB carry a downside for such market conditions?
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Marilou on March 19, 2020
Q: Could a covered call fund on a major index ever stop paying dividends? I realize they could plunge 50% or more in value. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on March 19, 2020
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