Investment Q&A

Q: Hi !
I presently do all my transactions for the stock market on RBC Direct Investing. However, I am increasingly frustrated by the frequent breakdowns in the site. For example, this morning, 20 minutes before the opening of the market and now, 35 minutes after the opening, it is just impossible to check stocks or pass an order. In trying to reach the site, I get the following message: "The server is busy at the moment. Try later."
I understand the markets are seing increasing traffic lately, but I would expect the biggest bank in Canada to be up to the challenge.
Do you know if the problem of accessibility to direct investment account investment is similar in other providers of such service ?

Thanks for your help,

Jacques IDS

Q: Chr reported that it is proposing a shareholders rights plan...a poison pill.
What would that suggest ?
A way to entrench management or protect shareholders

Q: I understand that for an ETF such as ZQQ, that's hedged against C$, this fund would not be negatively impacted if C$ rises against its US counterpart. But if C$ loses value against US$, would the hedged ETF benefit from it? Or there will be no + or - impact on the value of the ETF.
As for un-hedged ETFs, I assume then the price of these ETFs are affected by a) the movements of the stocks they are holding; and b) the movements of C$ against the underlying currencies. Is my assumption correction.
Cheers,

Q: Under ask a question, how do you find past questions that are not about a security? Members ask questions about capital gains, preferred shares, etc.. This was mentioned in an answer for Carlos on 4/22 where he was directed to the preferred category? What do I insert in the "Companies Addressed in Question" when I want to find out information on what people have written in about in the past of a general nature? Thanks Dennis

Q: Over my investment time frame I have seen a lot of corporate wrongs, from outright fraud, frequent misrepresentation and accounting tricks. These are seldom given proper attention in the investment world. My question is: " Do you know of any reporting service or website that focuses on corporate wrongdoings?
I appreciated Peter's honest answer to the question on analyst. Thank you.Cheers

Q: Before I buy and sell I usually review 5i’s opinion and review StockCharts candlesticks and P&F chart for technical guidance . Investors are presented with presets such as moving averages , MACD, RSI etc . You can add options : OBV, Full stochastics , Channels, Bollinger Bands , Channels, Pivot Points etc etc etc . ( actually too many choices ) . Which options do you find most useful in technical decision making ? Thank you for all of your help .

Q: Taking the following statement at its face value, does that make a case for increasing exposure to covered call ETFs for a retired person looking to income?

"Unfortunately, some of Wall Street’s top forecasters warn that stocks at current prices amid the gloomy economic backdrop are likely to deliver lackluster average returns for years."

Thank you

Q: As I was in margin call sold SHOP,AMZN,and many other high flying stocks,Is it OK to get in now?

Q: For an investor in there 60's , what percentage of cash would you recommend should be in a portfolio. And if one is to reduce is exposure to equities at this time, how would you recommend reducing, i.e. a percentage across the whole portfolio or picking individual stocks,

thanks, Jean

Q: Hi there : what would you recommend to protect the portfolio from a high inflation due to all the stimulus packages for the pandemia ?, gold (i.e CEF) , or ENB (with physical assets that will go up in value if inflation goes up). Are shares of financial companies (i.e. TD) protected against inflation ?
thanks

Q: Can you provide further explanation for why you prefer unhedged products (ETF). I am referring to your answer to Mr. Lei’s questions from today’. Especially With the cad dollar at 70 cents or so, intuitively I have shopping for hedged products. Can you please explain the virtues and and faults of hedged vs unhedged products.
Thank you.

Q: Morning ,
Relative to your recent comments on Canadian Banks and shorts , What % of shorts does it take to make a meaningful impact on the upside. Have benefited in shorts recently in Snap, Shop and ETSY . Cut my investing teeth in the Nortel, Rim , JDSU days and yet my banks have been my best long term move.
Thanks
Greg

Q: I am having a difficult time understanding the purpose of the analysts. The analysts group is: never right; the price variance is significant; they have a large conflict of interest problem; what side of the position are they on - buy side or sell side; who pays them; trust is important in any industry but who do you trust in the group; etc. etc. etc.
The never look at the analysts price information to make a decision, I review the information contained with the analysis to help me make a decision.
Comments are appreciated.

Q: I put in a bid this morning for VET at $5.15 & at that time it appeared the bid would be filled because about 4200 shares or people were bidding at that price while 5600 were asking.The stock opened much higher & the bid was not filled. Why does this happen? When someone puts in a limit order to sell for example, does the market give them the best price or the price they entered for a sell?Appreciate your help, as always
Dave

Q: Are preferred shares on the equity side of a balance sheet or is it part of the liabilities.
For example in the liquidity ratios on the profile page of your website for BPY.UN,
at, Total Debt to Equity : 1.95 . would the amount of preferred outstanding be on the numerator or the denominator side of the ratio.
Thank you

Q: Hi,
Was QSR supposed to release earnings yesterday, as per a couple of web sites? I see no ER.
Dave

Q: I have read articles on the question of share buybacks, some think they are a great idea to "engineer" the value of a particular stock price and others think they are not a great idea as it leaves companies with no "rainy day" fund for times like we are in now.
Would appreciate your educated opinion.
thanks

Q: Hi guys,

In today's environment, would you be more inclined to let these names grow a little larger than normal ie: instead of selling the stock when it grows to 7% (back to 4%) of your portfolio, let it get to 10%.
Thanks

Jim

Q: I use a big bank trading platform but possess limited skill sets in setting up the stock screeners. We can recognize however, this book value to stock price. (aware of the temporary dividend suspension).
How can I more easily find investments like this one ?

Q: I have most of my wealth in an unregistered account and would like to invest in the safety of Bonds or GIC's but I don't like that they get fully taxed. Are there any ETF's or funds you would suggest that use derivatives or some other wizardy to turn Bond/GIC income into dividends so they are taxed more favorably? All without giving the advantage back through high fees or MER?