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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: Are there any rules regarding insider purchases? Once they disclose a purchase, are they required to hold the stock for any specific period? If you know of a site where I could research this more fully, I would appreciate it.
Read Answer Asked by Brad on November 13, 2018
Q: I’ve been reading much negative commentary on this site lately, mostly shots against 5i’s recommendations, and I feel compelled to add my own observations.

Having invested since the late 90s, and earning my sole living from it since 2008, I find the shots against 5i alarming, and their defence against them heartwarmingly reassuring.

I’m essentially a large-cap, dividend-growing financial & utilities/pipeline/reit/preferred oriented-type investor, including looking to the US for what the TSX does not have (in essence, I’m investing for income first and growth second, though growth is still important), who has subscribed to 5i since its inception.

The alarming part is that while I’ve bought into ‘some’ of 5i’s growthier stock picks, my conservative-oriented big cap stocks (both US & CAD) have fared just as badly in recent weeks. So much for my own - intensely researched - so-called safety stocks. The reassuring part is 5i’s comments back to everyone, which is basically summed up as: relax, move to the sidelines - by ‘doing nothing’: meaning: hold - watch the show, but don’t be a part of it.

I was fully invested in 08/09, and while I fortunately ‘did nothing’ at that juncture, I certainly could have used 5i’s wisdom and calmness at that critical time.

This too will pass. Some companies will not survive. Most will. Those that do, will typically prosper. Try not to make large bets. Spread it around. Don’t react. Invest for growing income. Accept some losses, and let them go.

I write this more to remind myself, but since I have greatly benefited from other 5i members who have voiced similar thoughts, I thought it important to include my own.

I trust and hope that Peter, Ryan and The Team will keep their skins proficiently thick, and carry us through a multitude of turbulent times long into the future.

Thank you for helping us keep our heads in these difficult times.

Warren
Read Answer Asked by Warren on November 13, 2018
Q: Not a question but more a suggestion. I have been a client since year one of 5i I have done very well with the service using it as a guiding tool followed up with my own research. A suggestion for other investors out there who maybe experiencing some panic in this sell off that we are having. I suggest that when they do look at your recommendations and after they have done some of their own research and decided to buy they should write the reasons down in a note book as to why they are purchasing this company stock and date it. Then they should list the reasons why they would sell it. This way when the market starts the sell off they can go back and read their notes and see if anything has changed with their pick and if they should sell or maybe buy more due to an irrational sale. Once I personally implemented this practice I found my feelings of panic in a sell off were gone because I know and can look back at why I bought a certain equity and make sure the story has not changed. Please feel free to put this out there and thanks for the great service looking forward to 2019 ideas.
Read Answer Asked by Kolbi on November 12, 2018
Q: Having read a number of complainer's questions in the last few days it occurs to me that not everyone should be a do-it-yourself investor. I well recall the myriad compliments fawning over you and your staff when certain members were watching their 5i recommended holdings climb in value on almost a daily basis. You likely knew that those words of praise would at some point turn to venom which they have. My plea to those who see fit to complain at this time is that you carefully consider what you are doing by making your own equity investment decisions. It may not be the right way to go. There are numerous options for you such as mutual funds, robo-advisors and broad-based etf's. However it isn't constructive nor in my view appropriate to complain to 5i that your stocks have diminished in value at the moment. Peter and staff don't control market sentiment nor momentum. They provide valuable information and opinion without bias for you to assess and then for you to govern yourself as you see fit. Please don't complain about this service solely because your holdings are down. That is one of but three alternatives of equity investing (along with breaking even and having your investments appreciate). A better approach at this time is to ask questions so as to position yourself more wisely. Publish at your discretion.
Read Answer Asked by Ken on November 12, 2018
Q: Comments. There has been a change in the market and the economy. We have had almost 9 full quarters of U. S. growth, acceleration, etc. it may be coming to an end and we could be entering a downturn. This is the view of many smart people who do not publish or broadcast. Of course, based on the past, there has always been a recovery. Past results do not guarantee future performance and the winners may be different next time. The market is up or down for many reasons, but lets be frank here. 5i is not providing a hedge fund type service. I am sure many of the subscribers are inexperienced investors and feel the pain, if they bought stock near the peak of prices for certain areas. Common mistake. One's view of balance is critical but does not take into account major change in direction over a shorter time frame. One should not expect to have the market in their stocks recover. It may not. Risk mitigation is always the rule. Try not to lose your money or your can't play......Its my money and I expect to keep it and have it grow but I do not rely on anyone's opinion in the end. 5i is just one source of information or opinion.
Read Answer Asked by john on November 12, 2018
Q: Most of the companies I currently own are listed on the TSX. I believe some of these companies must be claimed on a T1135 (foreign ownership) form. Is there a list somewhere that will help me identify which TSX companies are considered foreign?
Read Answer Asked by william on November 12, 2018
Q: Just my 2 cents..having been with 5i for 4 and a half years I gave learned to trust your opinions and then do my own due diligence. These are difficult weeks and the market is fearful. But it is still here after many many years and decades of ups and downs. When we stand back and look at the charts....we are up over the years. This is an opportunity to slowly dip into some of our favourite holdings. The world and hence the market has always had problems and always will. To those who doubt 5i opinions...stay the course...and do your own research as well. I'm glad I have.
Post at your discretion.
Read Answer Asked by El-ann on November 12, 2018
Q: Peter & Ryan, I have been a 5i member for over a year now and do not own all of your stocks but do own the ones mentioned above. I am down thousands of dollars based on your recommendations and expertise. Please help me understand what service am I paying for? I understand the market goes up and down but there is many of your recommendations that are getting wiped out. What is 5i's due diligence process for picking companies?
Appreciate your feedback
SF
Read Answer Asked by Steve on November 12, 2018
Q: When one has acumulated sufficient funds in the RSP, TFSA ,unregistered accounts, etc, to fully fund ( after tax consideration,) a retirement lifestyle that matches ones current lifestyle, is there any reason to continue to be in the stock market? Age is 67. I am thinking of selling all my stocks, bonds etc, and just having GIC`s . Aside from FOMO, would the risk of very high inflation be my only concern?
Read Answer Asked by Allan on November 12, 2018
Q: Here is a list of some of my holdings. Most of them are frightening. TOY, GSY, PHO, COV, TSGI and KXS which I just increased to a full position the other day.
RHT, CXR and SINO FOREST. I have seen them go from dollars to pennies and out of these I am very concerned that TSGI -- one morning I will wake up and it will be pennies and when I go to 5i you will be telling us that you will be removing it from the portfolio and selling it. If it will take years for these to recover, should we not put our money somewhere else until that time comes?
Thanks Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on November 12, 2018
Q: This is to follow up on the comment posted by Wilf earlier today re. his concerns with portfolio tracking through Globe Fund. I have created a new topic " Globe Investor " in the Forum category " Brokerage and Research Tools" for anyone experiencing problems they would like to share/discuss re. the new portfolio tracking platform introduced by Globe Investor a couple of months ago.
Thanks.


Read Answer Asked by William on November 07, 2018
Q: Is there any way to find a listing of companies that are in your database?
It is frustrating to enter tickers an receive "not in our Database"

regards
Ernie
Read Answer Asked by Ernie on November 06, 2018
Q: Hi Peter & Ryan,

The company I work for recently brought in a speaker, Salim Ismail from Singularity University, to talk about 'exponential organizations'. The basic premise was to discuss the speed of innovation and disruption that's occurring today. The improvements in various technology is doubling every year. I can't help but wonder if I need to rethink some of the companies I've invested in (from your portfolios).

For example, he gives the example of the drive train in a combustion car having about 2000 moving parts, while a Tesla has 17. There's a small company in the US called Local Motors that has a car with only has 50 parts total and takes 1 man hour to assemble, compared to the average combustion car that has 25,000 parts and takes 1000 man hours to assemble. What does this mean for a company like Magna? Also, with so few parts, there won't be a need for car maintenance. The use of autonomous cars, which should result in less accidents - how does this affect Boyd? EV's in China are also doubling every year, now at 5%. It doesn't take long before it becomes a very significant portion of the market.

Another example is the energy sector. The price performance of solar energy has also been doubling every 2 years for the past 40 years. At this pace, the world supply of energy could be met in just 13 years. The costs of solar (unsubsidized) has been dropping and is now cheaper than all other forms in the US. Obvious question is where does that leave the energy and pipeline companies? Maybe we should be more focused on solar panel makers and solar energy storage. Again, the shift from combustion to electrical vehicles comes into play here as well.

If a company isn't going to be a disruptor (like Tesla, Google, Uber, Amazon), they at least need to be flexible and adaptable. is this a key metric when you grade a company?

I'm interested in your thoughts.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Ian on November 06, 2018
Q: Is there a web site that provides details of buy or sell trades made by company executives, directors or other key management people?
Read Answer Asked by Helen on November 06, 2018
Q: This is a response to a question asked by j stuart regarding the Globe and Mail stock watch list having recently disappeared.
Globe and Mail has now transitioned to a new platform in an effort to add more functionality etc. Currently only subscribers have access to most of the features that were previously free. As it stands right now being a long time subscriber, I find the new platform is full of bugs, lacks many of the previously available details, is missing many of the previously available tools and is a very frustrating work in progress.

I have been tracking my performance and ACB's for almost 15 years using the paid subscription on the old platform service and now I am quite unhappy with the current status and fear that I may permanently lose my data and the information I rely on to track my investing performance. Hope that helps those considering this paid service.
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on November 06, 2018
Q: Hi,

Is there a web site where I can see the short positions on various stocks? In the same vein, is there a site that detail which days companies report their results?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Yves on November 05, 2018