Investment Q&A

Q: Hi the great 5I team, following Harry's question on ask and bid price, how unbiased is the market maker? Your answer seems to suggest never put in a market order ? Thanks always.

Q: I am considering realizing some capital gains now at the 50% tax rate in case there is an increase to say 75% in the fall federal budget. How and when will I get more info on the fall budget? Will there be an announcement at some point?

Q: Hello
Could you please tell me averaged over time what has returned more to an investor dividends or share price (broad market). Or worded another way how much money is paid out in dividends and how much is from share price increase. More of an economics of the stock market question. Is there a value? Example on average $2Billion is paid in dividends and $2Billion is share price increases. This question pertains to the TSX but are all stock markets similar in their returns. Thank You
Jeremy

Q: Can you explain currency hedging with a SIMPLE example. Maybe include when it would be advantageous to use a hedged product versus unhedged. I don't think I'm slow, but it's just not clear to me, and I may not be alone.
Len

Q: Hello Peter and Gang,

Would you please enlighten me on how prices are determined for stock trades. For example if I put in an order to buy a stock at a limit price of $1.00 (max that I would buy at). At the same time, someone puts in an order to sell the same stock at a limit price of $0.98 (minimum the seller would accept). Under this scenario, at what price would the trade be consummated? $1.00 or $0.98?

Also, if I put in an order to buy a stock at market price. Meanwhile for the same stock, one seller is asking $5.00, another one is asking $5.20 and yet another one is asking marking price. How would the "trade" price be determined in this case?

Thanks....

Q: Feature suggestion: Are you considering showing the portfolios directly on the website in the members section? I think this would add some convenience. Thanks for a great service.

Q: Hi 5i
I hope you could clarify an issue for me. When a Canadian company, say Methanex, declares a dividend in ($ USD) but the holdings have been purchased on a Canadian Exchange, would you expect the dividend hitting one's account (which can and does hold multiple currencies) be in CDN or USD $ currency? Does the base currency of the exchange play a part in this and/or is it up to the brokers' discretion to apply a certain policy in these cases?

Thanks

Q: A couple of years ago a guest on BNN stated that when a Canadian citizen has over $100,000 IN U.S. stocks, they have to inform the U.S. government. I this is so how does one go about telling the correct U.S. government department ? Thanks.

Q: Greetings Peter and team,

Your answers to members' questions are impressively lucid and objective. So, here is another one for you.

Jack Bogle, the father of the hugely successful concept of passive, US index fund investing does not recommend rebalancing in an individually selected asset allocation strategy. "If you want to do it, once a year is probably enough," he has stated.

Taxes and transaction costs diminish the benefits of rebalancing but Canadians have a lot of tax-deferred and tax-free room in their registered portfolios. Further, transaction costs keep coming down so that with trades above $10,000, investors can (almost) ignore them. With a million dollar trade they can do so, absolutely.

So why not rebalance every time that a given imbalance, say 10% develops?

Q: You have emphasized that it is better to invest in good companies than to try and time the market. However, when considering a new position, I have read that it may not be a good idea to enter a private equity fund near the end of a business cycle. Do you concur with this idea? Why or why not? Thank you kindly for your discussion of this issue.

Q: I have seen my investments total value in US stocks and non hedged ETFs going down lately, although individual stock price are doing OK.
I know it is very difficult to predict currency fluctuations, I would like your view and recommendation on how to protect my portfolio. Is buying hedged ETFs is the solution and what about your view on the Canadian dollar against the US $ and the Euro.
I value your opinion
Raouf

Q: Doing the tire-kicking here on your service (have received magazine for years)...looking over the company reports, at what point to you update them - every 'x' years or if there is a material change to the company? So when I see a company that has a report a year or two old, is that because nothing really has changed regarding the company or you just don't update them every year? Thanks.

Q: What just happened to the TSX over the last 2 hours? Is someone running algorithms looking for stops?
Thanks
Ian

Q: What is the payout ratio on these two stocks? When i research there is conflicting information from a payout ratio of 60-70% to a high of over 175%.

What is the forward 1 year P/E ratios on these? Is this an important figure to watch?


Morningstar reports BIP.UN and BEP.UN free cash flow dropping 3 consecutive years and BEP.Un reporting Negative earnings. Would a short seller like the one on EIF pounce on this or do you view these companies as more safe?

Are these still good investments on a 10 year plus time horizon and would it be better held in a registered or unregistered account.

thanks

Q: Please help me understand this.Recently when oil price declines,Enb & other pipelines generally decline,& when oil price increased these 3 days,ENB et al is more or less moving sideways or down.Yesterday the LNG project in B.C. led by Petrons of Malaysia was cancelled at this point.This coincide with the ascension of a new government(NDP & GREEN) who openly oppose the project.Poor B.C.Does this has a negative impact.Thanks for your usual great services & views

Q: Good morning,
I recently (last 2 weeks) added BCE, Enbridge and Goeasy to my kids' accounts with a 2-3 years investment horizon. Last night's guest on Market Call had nothing but bad things to say about these three companies as long term investments. I rely a lot on what I hear on market call is that a mistake and do you think my entry points were ok?
Thank you,
Chantal

Q: A friend of mine who wanted to access the cash portion of his portfolio was told by his advisor that that the cash was part of a "sleeve" and therefore could not draw on the cash that showed in his statement. He ended by having to sell some of his stocks to get the cash he needed.
Can you please explain what is "sleeve investing" and why he did not have access to the cash portion of his portfolio?
Thank you

Q: What is your definition of momentum? How do I find a particular stock has momentum and how long does the momentum last?

Q: Re: EIF and other companies that become targets of a short attack, typically how long do the shorts hold their short position before they start to cover it? Shouldn't the price rebound somewhat once they start buying?

Q: My overall portfolio is down 3% the last 6-8 weeks which I justify as the downside of having equities in the portfolio. I am 40% in cash so the drawdown could have been worse. My concern is that the 3% drawdown is just over $20000 and that is a lot of money. We are 70 with defined benefit pensions and really don't need any more capital; just want to preserve what we have. You preach the downside of market timing, but I see $ 20000 worth of paper gains slipping through our fingers. Short of investing 100% in gic's should someone with my profile be more of a trader ie use tight downside tolerances and sell when a predetermined gain or loss is met rather than buy and hold. Please comment as I very much value your opinion. Thank you.