Investment Q&A

Q: Annual Exchange Rates - US dollar: Where can I get these exchange rates for the years 2011 to 2018? The Bank of Canada web site only shows 2017 and 2018. Thank you.

Q: I read this article in the Globe today that appeals to me because of it's simplicity, low cost (few commissions, no MER's) etc and it's relative performance as measured by the author.

I know it a very simple approach and mirrors the Buffet "Here's what you should do when I die" with my money.

Would be very interested on your take of this and if you think it would be a good idea or not and why.

Thanks

Sheldon

Q: I am retired, DB pension, and mostly hold equities that generate some dividend income as I prefer to be paid to wait. I believe I need more ex-Canada exposure. Other than VDU most of my portfolios are heavily oriented to Canadian equites and only a handful with apparently significant non-Cdn. revenue streams (ENB, HOT.UN, BAM.A. BIP.UN, TRI, SLF and MFC). Do you know of a source or list of Canadian listed equities that 1) have foreign income streams and 2) pay a growing dividend in Canada? How does someone go about finding this information?

Q: When i log to todays questions, I got Jan 17 questions. Surprised there's nothing so far for Jan 18. Fooklin

Q: 1. I am curious about what are the new website features/tools you are working on?

2. Any news on when your next webinar will take place?

Q: It's challenging to assess the earnings of REIT's if using the distribution payouts as a base of information. It would seem logical that payouts with a high return of capital would suggest weak results, yet individual price quotes suggest often refer to low P/E's.
Or maybe it's better to compare Return on Capital vs Cost of Capital?
Thanks from Randy

Q: I read with interest the question from Richard about the Canadian Income Tax System. I was wondering how 5i would handle it. Not very well. My view is that it should have been immediately directed to a blog for those who want to discuss it. It has no direct bearing on 5i's reason for being, and what I pay an annual fee for, which is:

Investment Research For Regular People
Conflict-Free Research on Investments: Stocks, Funds, IPOs
5i Research works only for you.
We are conflict-free.
Our research is independent.
No one else in the investment industry can honestly say that.

But instead of doing this, you presented specific views on the tax system. You would prefer a flat tax system. You make a broad statement that "lots of time, money and effort is made by Canadians to lower their tax burden, which we think everyone will agree is too high on average". Everyone doesn't agree with this. I for one absolutely don't want a regressive flat tax system and I also don't feel the tax burden is too high, on average, for what Canadians get back in services from the government. Could it be more efficient and effective, absolutely.

I subscribe to 5i for good conflict free investment advice. I continue to subscribe to the service as, on average, I'm generally pleased with the results. But I don't subscribe for quick, superficial, one sentence views on very complex topics that have no bearing on my investment decisions.

Q: Hi, a couple or questions here. First, I am wondering about switching a lot of my portfolio to US$ and investing there. Just thinking Canada as an investment place will be a bit dead for quite awhile. Apart from a few of the Cdn growth stock ideas you are touting which I would keep. Is this a good idea? Or if one is spending Cdn $ does the currency risk say stick to Canada. Or do you just hedge that somehow. Next, you have mentioned you are working on "new services". Would this be adding the USA to the Cdn service you now provide? Thanks.

Q: I spend a lot of time flying,do you know of or could you recommend any podcasts to listen to that is similar to your service or just stock picking in general thank you

Q: ZDY.U is thinly traded, so shares must be bought/sold carefully. Looking at this security under your 'Companies' tab, I see that at the time of this writing, there is a bid of 23.25 x 22000 while the current market price is 23.27. If I put in a sell order at 23.25 at that very instant for less than 22000 shares, is it likely that the order would get filled and my shares would sell at 23.25? Thank you.

Q: Can you please suggest a site where I can find the following 3 pieces of information regarding a companies next quarterly release: date of release,EPS estimate, and revenue
estimate. Thank you, Ian

Q: If Canaccord as an example raises capital for a public company, and usually if not always obtains warrants, is Canaccord then allowed to make an analysis with a buy recommandation on that stock ?
Is there a time restraint at the onset ? Is there a time restraint at near a period when warrants are about to expire ? For a junior company particularly when any or few analysts cover such a stock, my feeling is that Canaccord could influence strongly the stock price . I welcome your comments.
Thanks.

Q: We often hear about the advantage of keeping U.S. dollar denominated securities in an RRSP to avoid the 15% withholding tax. We need to look at the formula used on tax software to verify how much of the withholding tax that is refunded if in a non registered account. I just reviewed my tax return for last year and got all my 15% withholding tax refunded.

Paul

Q: Where can I find information on your company ratings system? Does a high rating indicate an attractive price or is it indicative of the company's fundamentals? Thank you.

Q: CTL has just announced a voluntary partial lot purchase or sale program, but at a cost of $3US a share (to a limit of $65US). Why would anyone participate for three or more shares given a $9.95 trading fee at, for example TD? These programs are usually free to a limit.

Q: Do you have a resource for accurate tabulated annual returns of the TSX and S&P500?

Q: I've been looking at the StockCalc reports on some of the companies in my portfolio. Do you know them and put much confidence in them? For example, they report Kinaxis is 68% undervalued, while BBU.Un is 46.1% undervalued. Do you trust their uhm, evaluation of what is and is not over or under valued? I'm trying to get a handle on how much credence to lend these for buying and selling purposes.

Q: Having 150K in cash that will want to investment.

1. how many stocks should be in the portfolio?
2. based on the number stocks, then that establishes what a full position or half ?
3. how many sector should be included?

any other items to consider?

Thank Ed

Q: Hi, I assume this might be common among your readers. I have had 2 kinds of promo calls. One fellow calls periodically, offers a name, but no follow up, so it does not bother me.
The other call I received about a year ago there was a boiler pot operation going on in the States, calls were from NYC. Over the course of several calls, I got to know the fellow at some level. Their company was paid to elevate the stock price of various companies. So they had a system where they established a databank of customers. The deal was they would give out the tip and they knew how widespread the information was . You had to buy at the level. you received the information They would monitor your compliance by watching the block trades going thru . Of course, the price lifted as expected since their database was buying...then at some point outside people watching the technical indicators would see the stock rise and also buy in. The company would then give a call when to sell and sure enough it was like letting air out of a balloon since the stock rise was all based on hype and not quality. I never engaged this fellow beyond trying to find out how it worked since for me it is immoral . Some poor person is left buying high and getting stuck with valueless paper. I don't know if this is helpful.

Q: Hello again,
Further to my most recent Question, I just went into the Forums now and there is already a forum for Tax and FX strategies and some address Norbert's Gambit. Perhaps Youssef and others might want to engage in the forum and see if people can or will update FX strategies for them and the rest of us.
I am as guilty as anyone, but it is disappointing how little the Forums are used. I never thought to check them before posting when that is the first thing I should have done.
Cheers,
Mike