Investment Q&A

Q: Gentlemen,
About the 30 days waiting to re-buy question.
I own stock X on my margin account, I have a loss this stock.
If I will buy stock X on a registered account.
And after I will sell stock X on my margin account
The loss can be claimed in this situation or I have also wait 30 days before selling ?
Thanks
BR

Q: Hi 5i - I have a portfolio weighting question. Assuming I have a portfolio with 60% Canadian, 30% US and 10% Other International, would the 60% Canadian portion be considered on its own for individual stock weightings? For example, if I consider a 5% position in BNS a full position, should I have 5% of my total overall portfolio in BNS or 5% of the 60% Canadian portfolio?

In general, what would you suggest?

Thanks, Neil

Q: Dear 5i
It is my understanding that withdrawing retirement income out of an RRSP or a RRIF , all income withdrawn is taxed at the current marginal tax rate at the time for that individual based on the total amount withdrawn . Correct?
The taxes paid have nothing to do with how income inside the plans are generated ie., interest , dividends or capital gains . Correct?
As such a systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) is generally meant to be used and beneficial in non-registered accts .only I'm assuming .
Do i have a clear understanding ? Appreciate your comments .
Thanks
Bill C

Q: Re. Oct 1 question, fwd p/e's can be found under statistics in Yahoo Canada Finance. I cannot verify the accuracy.

Q: Tax loss selling

Would you please clarify the 30 day wait period before repurchasing shares sold for tax loss purchases. I sold shares on Aug 31 which closed on Sept. 5. Which day can I buy them back? Thanks for your great service.

Q: Regarding Fraser's question about forward P/E.. Morningstar does provide forward P/E for free.

Q: I recall reading in Q&A earlier in the year that in determining percentage of sector allocation in our portfolio we use the stocks only total sum and not include the sum of our ETF's. Did I understand that correctly? If so, then to understand our sector allocation of our ETFs do we take the average of the ETFs' specific given sector allocation(i.e. for Financials in VFV,SPY and VIG approx. 14.30%) ? So if we have Financials sector allocations of 15% in Stocks and 14.30% in ETF do we view it as approx. 15% Financials in our total portfolio or is is understood to be the sum of the two(29%)? In addition to our personal investment accounts we have an investment account within our small family business.Should I be adding the sum of this investment account to our personal accounts for tracking sector allocation? Thank you for your assistance with clarifying sector allocation .

Q: I received a class action claim form in the mail regarding Amaya (didn't know there was a lawsuit against them). I sold my shares of this company before it became The Stars Group (1/3 for a loss, 2/3 for a small gain). I didn't have a lot of shares and normally don't get involved with these things. What do you usually recommend for people to do in these situations?
Thanks, Paul

Q: As a follow up to cory's question:
What would qualify as a good ROE?
Assuming cash flow is FCF what would qualify as a good number?
What should I look at in assessing management?
Where can I get accurate figures on Insider ownership?

Q: What 5 metrics would you suggest an investor should look at before buying a security? P/E, p/b, etc.

Q: Interest rates (as reflected in the 10 year U.S. T-bond) are up again today.
Canadian term deposit rates are at the same time starting to make me feel all pink and fuzzy. Over the last while I've started to build a ladder of rate reset preferred shares (5 yr with a floor) mixed with term deposits of varying durations, and at the same time moving slowly out of common stocks except for special situations. Good idea or too short-sighted?
(Full disclosure, I am very much a senior). Thank you.

Q: Will Peter's fireside chat with Gene Simmons at the Moneyshow be archived somewhere or, if not, the subject of a blog or Financial Post article?

Q: There is an article in the Globe this morning about corporate bonds to be traded on the TSX ? Can you please give us your thoughts about this new concept. Can we expect being able to trade corporate bonds on the TSX in the near future ? Thank you .

Q: There seems to be some confusion regarding the Brookfield offer to Enercare. Here’s is my experience. The vote for the offer is due September 20th before the meeting four days later.
On the other hand, the instruction for choosing the option 1 (having BIP.UN shares for ECI) or option 2 (the default, receiving cash) had to be given to TD Waterhouse before September 14th at 11h59am. Like some customers I received the notice dated on September 6th just this Monday. According to Kingsdale Advisors all instructions should have been registered by them this Monday September 17th at 5pm.
So according to my experience, TD Waterhouse did a lousy job of making sure their customers receive the timely information. Moreover, on Monday morning, I had to wait two hours on the phone before talking to a TD agent regarding this transaction.
I hope this helps clarifying some of the confusion. May be someone should open a forum for discussing possible recourses against brokers in those cases because this it is a recurring theme, in my experience.

Q: After the 2008 recession, which stocks/commodities made the quickest comeback. Also, which market US or Canada?

Q: I have been a long term Investor of the Mkt . I have my own rules which work o.k for
ME . I have been approached by a neighbour`s & friend son asking for advice re the Market .
I don't want to give or show him ALL of my bad habits. I wonder if you could suggest a couple of books to introduce this lad to the Mkt.He is about 22 & has some university under his belt. I always appreciate your wise advice
Thanks ----- don

Q: My direct investing account shows a time weighted and a personal gain. Can you explain the difference in terms a financial luddite can understand? Many thanks for this extremely useful and reassuring site.

Q: Hi,
I noticed a question about the correct way to draw trend lines and can offer an excellent site called Stockcharts.com to answer this question in detail. The site allows you to use an interactive tool to position a trend line on a price chart, as well as an extensive 'chart school' area that should prove helpful in this instance.
As always, we appreciate all your answers to our questions - so in the rare instance we might be able to offer a suggestion, we do so with great delight.
Dawn

Q: 1) Where can I find a stock screen for Cash to Market Cap? I like companies with high cash on their balance sheet and a cash to market cap ratio of 10% or better.
2) What is the correct way to draw an up trend line on a daily, weekly or monthly chart. Is it the closing price points or lowest price points?
3) What is the correct way to draw a resistance line on a daily, weekly or monthly chart. Is it the closing price points or highest price points?

Q: Hi, I've been holding some cash for a few months in my TFSA. I'm 52, growth oriented investor. I have TV as the sole investment at the moment in this account. Can you suggest a strategy for building out the account with stocks? How should the investments differ from my rsp? Thanks.