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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: How would you suggest incorporating non-equity investments into diversifying a portfolio? For example, if an investor owned an office building:

a) Would this satisfy the "REIT" sector component of the portfolio?
b) Should the investor diversify within the REIT sector, and aim to also own a residential REIT, such as CAR.un?
c) Should the income-producing real estate asset be considered a "bond-proxy", thus not affecting the equity sector allocation?
d) Other?

Thanks in advance!
Read Answer Asked by Jonathan on January 03, 2017
Q: I have just discovered a valuation metric NCAV -Current Assets minus Total Debt...which to me is a significant moat for a Company...if positive. Surprisingly when I look at the Companies I follow, most have a positive NCAV. I assume a high growth Company with positive NCAV would be a good investment...a negative NCAV bad. Can you comment on the pros & cons of this metric.

Thank you and all the best to to i5 team in 2007.
Brian
Read Answer Asked by BRIAN on January 03, 2017
Q: Hello! I have received a decent sized amount of gifted funds (decent sized relative to my existing portfolio). I plan to spread it across my holdings which are almost entirely made up of the BE Portfolio. I know that usually January can be volatile. Would you 1) hold onto the gifted amount in cash for now and deploy later when the markets calm (February for example), 2) deploy now, knowing January can be volatile? Or if there is a better method you would recommend? Thanks!!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on January 03, 2017
Q: I have the above investments in my TFSA, TOY and MX being new. This account has been flat all year, so I am trying to make some changes. FB and AQN the worst, so I am looking to exchange those.
Now, looking at FB it is a strong buy/ buy. Are you expecting any growth this year, or should I sell. I have been looking at something with high yield like STB and PWF. Are they safe enough. I am going to use some of this money in one year.
Thanks for your opinion
Margita
Read Answer Asked by Margita Elisabet on December 30, 2016
Q: Bad day on the market. Virtually every sector is down but one. Real estate. I'm baffled by this. Almost every single REIT is up today, and REITs are performing well in New York as well. All the 'pros' have been saying that this is exactly the wrong sector to be holding now, that REITs will suffer more than any other sector in a rising interest rate market. Yet on the last day of trading it seems like everyone is tossing tech and everything else overboard and gobbling up REITs. Does this say something about the market going forward in 2017, that perhaps people are hedging their bets a lot and don't believe the "Trump Rally" will lift all the cyclical stocks after all?
Read Answer Asked by John on December 30, 2016
Q: My sister and I have joint power of attorney for my mother. My father passed away in 2015, leaving a sizeable estate that includes bamk accounts and investments at TD Bank. I am used to managing all my banking and investments electronically. My sister is so concerned about cyber security breaches that she does not want any of my parent's banking or investment transactions to be done electronically. I would appreciate your comments.
Read Answer Asked by Linda on December 30, 2016
Q: I am going to be purchasing all stocks in the balanced equity portfolio in the next few days. Would you recommend equal weights to begin with or mirror the current weightings?
Are there any companies you would wait for a bit of a pullback before buying.
Do you still prefer WCP over RRX? I am guessing maybe for stability and dividend?
Are you planning on making changes to the portfolio anytime soon. Thanks very much.
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on December 30, 2016
Q: Hi Peter, unfortunately some of us are limited with the amount of cash we can invest in the market, so when you want to buy a company like CCL for example and you can only afford 2 or 3 shares is it worth buying or should you buy more shares of a less expensive company. Is buying more at a cheaper level better than buying less at a higher level. Thanks, Nick
Read Answer Asked by Nick on December 29, 2016
Q: No question today. Just wanted to thank Peter, Ryan and the entire 5i staff the best of the season and all the best for 2017. The support you have given to me this past year has been invaluable, and I assure you, much appreciated! As a retired teacher, I think all public school students should be exposed to your service before they graduate from high school. Not sure how this could be achieved, just know it has huge potential to improve their lives. Just a thought.
Read Answer Asked by Les on December 28, 2016
Q: 1. When using technical aides to assist with buying,selling and setting stop losses on ones positions does this time of xmas/ New Years period affect the use of charts,etc as volumes seem to be down some what during this period?

2. Out of curiosity when comparing ones performance of their portfolio against bench marks such as the TSX, Income Funds and/or ETF's,etc.and you are withdrawing 5-6 percent from your portfolio yet these bench marks do not appear to have withdrawals , how would one put the withdrawals in the equation? Or am I comparing apples to oranges?
Read Answer Asked by James on December 23, 2016
Q: Good morning,

I have been following BDI for a while. I know that they have raised money for a price higher than the current stock price. Also, they have serious debt to take care off and have cut their dividend twice already. Last Monday, they introduced a Drip program for dividend payout. Is this good news or bad news? Explain to me what the drip program will do the share price and how it will affect the current shareholders?

Thank, you

Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on December 23, 2016
Q: I am wondering if 5i is considering an update of your past report on companies that could be poised for a strong bounce after tax loss selling? Members would likely be very appreciative of a re-ranking of tax loss bounce candidates or new companies that have fallen more recently and could be ready to recover somewhat. A special report on the 10 best candidates for a January bounce or something like that. Might that be possible?
Read Answer Asked by Tim on December 22, 2016