Investment Q&A

Q: Hello, as I watched the EFN episode today,I can't help to think how fragile the market really is.With the market just itching for a good correction, do you think it would be wise or prudent to cash up now say 25-35% + and wait for the inevitable to come?
I realize this is timing the market and no one can tell when this will happen,but for the conservative investor who has seen it before,it seems like it's time.

Q: Paying only casual attention to your recommendations I have unrealized capital gains in my account to pay your membership fees for the next 250 years.
Had I been more astute/aggressive this number would be in the thousands.
My questions:
1. When you have cash in your model portfolios do you ever add to existing positions rather than add a new name to the portfolio?
2. Could you add a column to your portfolio summary page that would indicate the month and year that a stock was first included in the portfolio?
Dave

Q: Hi, I have these two stocks in the energy sector for about two years. Down on avg. about 25-30%. I really have no faith that this sector will rebound anytime soon,but I'm in just for my sector weighting, and watching it go down every month.
I don't feel this is a good reason to own a stock.If you have a good stock in a bad sector you could be waiting 5 years or more to break even.
Why not get out of the sector and at least wait till the whole sector is up at least 10% before getting back in with the possibility of upward momentum? 5 years or longer is a long time to wait for any sector recovery.
Thanks

Q: HI Peter and Team,

I would like to add a response to one of your previous posts re the stock action in EFN and ECN today.

As you say there can be many reasons why a stock loses 40% of its value in 10 minutes or so.
I do find it disturbing that a short attack or the rumour of a short attack in this case,can cause such technical damage that it may take weeks or even months for the stock to fully recover. CRH was another stock that recently fell victim to this activity. This appears to be happening more and more and the regulators do nothing and the so called circuit breakers employed by the TSX never seem to kick in until it is too late if at all. However these same circuit breakers do seem to be very effective in halting a stock if it going up at a rapid rate.
I know one of your mandates is to help level the playing field for us lowly retail investors and is very much appreciated,but unless the TSX/Regulators do something to curb these destructive activities then the retail investor will always be at a disadvantage and remain cannon fodder for these unscrupulous shorters.

Peter

Q: Hello,
Trading was halted Monday afternoon for FCF and as of today it still has not resumed trading. Any ideas why? Does a trading halt usually take this long?

Q: Can you tell me the difference between a trailing stop loss order and a trailing stock limit? Also is there any information on the your website with recommendations on the advantages and disadvantages of using stop loss orders. Thanks, Bill

Q: For the non-dividend stocks that I own I would like to set Sell Stop Limits. Using the stock’s current market price, what parameters would you recommend to use to determine a TRIGGER PRICE & then a LIMIT PRICE. Also, what would you recommend as a GOOD TO DATE. Thanks … Cal

Q: Dear 5i
My portfolio with my current financial planner is made up of stocks , mutual funds & etf`s and some cash .
If i want to transfer my entire portfolio elsewhere and i state to do so "in Kind" does that mean the whole portfolio gets transferred just as it is including the cash or does "in Kind" only refer to non-cash holdings ?
Thanks
Bill

Q: Can you provide some data points around dividend "growers" companies and if not available dividend companies in general. Current P/E forward looking vs. historic average and ranges. Just wanting to get an idea on how much higher than the average these stocks are currently compared to historic levels, how overvalued they "may" be to help assess downside risk. Thanks!

Q: If I may add my two cents worth to the question from Valdis re RRSP or RFSA, another advantage for the TFSA is estate concerns. When a person passes on, should there be say, $100,000 in an RRSP or RRIF, that RRSP or RRIF will be added to the final net income and therefore, attract a huge bill from the tax man. On the other hand, the TFSA will be passed on to the heirs tax free. In this situation, an individual is better off to convert as much as possible from his/her RRSP/RRIF to the TFSA, depending on the current income tax situation (take every opportunity to do so). The TSFA is, of course, paid with tax paid dollars whereas the RRSP pre-tax dollars.

Q: Hi: can you explain the advantages to holding some stocks in an RRSP while others should be in a Tfsa?

Thanks

Q: Good afternoon,

I'm thinking of replacing individual stocks that I've held for a long time in my RRSP with either XAW or VXC for the foreign portion of the RRSP portfolio and adding XIC or XIU for the Cdn portion of the portfolio. Is this a good idea and if so which would be your preference and recommendation. Thank you.

Q: A former financial advisor friend of mine tells me to be cautious regarding ETFs in a downturn because they have not been tested yet. He informed me that the sale protocol is different between selling a mutual fund vs an ETF and that the ETF could be more volatile. So far I have found both to be less volatile than simply holding stocks which to me can move up and down much more rapidly. For example: PKI moves significantly from time to time while FAI which holds PKI among other stocks moves up and down marginally due to the variety of stocks held. That being said, if there is a strong correction would a mutual fund be a better hold than an ETF of similar holdings?

Q: Hello
Is there a reason the recent options price will be set on the second day after earnings? Thank you
Dave

Q: Hi 5i, what are your top 5 small or mid-cap dividend growth stocks? Also, please provide a few companies that you believe may be initiating a dividend in the near future. Thanks Rob

Q: Can you please recommend some resources, particularly books, that would be ideal for a person, in their mid 40's, who is just starting to learn about investing. Also, I am trying to understand the world of bond prices/yields since they are very important in intermarket analysis. Any good books on this topic? Thanks again.

Q: For portfolio weighting purposes do I include preferred shares in fixed income or equity? Is it also necessary to further break out pref shares as to the industry they are in or is credit worthiness the primary concern? In other words, if 10% of my total portfolio is in financial pref shares, and I also have 15% of my equities in financials, should I then consider myself to hold 25% financials and thus be overweight?

Thanks for your help.

Paul F.

Q: Good morning

I am currently looking to exchange approx $100,000 US to CDN...however, was wondering if I should wait until the announcement of the US rates in June...do you think it is more or less priced in...also, at this time would you invest in US market and look for more upside prior to conversion...I would make approx 34% on exchange currently, then invest in CDN...no tax issues or allocation concerns...

In addition, where do you see current upside in US (3 stocks) and CDN (3 stocks)...

Thanks..feel free to deduct for additional questions...

Matt

Q: Responding to Ernie’s question about stock quote software.

I use a program called MSMoney quotes which downloads stock quotes (and currency exchange rates) from most major indexes. The quotes are directly uploaded into MS Money which microsoft has made available for free since they no longer are developing it. I use MS Money to track performance, dividends, and other transactions for stocks spread across 9 different investment accounts. And MS Money allows me to export my stock data into an excel sheet I wrote which performs sector, currency and risk analysis on my entire portfolio.

Hope this helps.

Q: Hi %i Team,
This is a followup question to my May 16 question regarding bail-in regulation. Would bank money market funds be considered bank deposit and subject to the bail-in OR are they considered mutual funds and outside of the bail in?
Thank you for your great service.
Regards,
Danny