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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: Regarding Cheryl's question concerning U.S.$ registered accounts with ScotiaiTrade, I am not sure if this is what she is looking for but for RRSP accounts (maybe TFSA?) one can make the account US$ friendly so the 2% premium on Forex is not charged for sales, purchases and dividends. You make your account "US Friendly" and they charge $30 per quarter per account that is converted to that service. There is a way to do it online but one can also call them. I hope that helps.
Read Answer Asked by Derek on May 12, 2016
Q: Hello my question is about corporate bonds. I hear analysts discuss various corporate bonds on BNN and sometimes subscribers here ask about particular bonds. But when I go on to Scotia ITrade often those bonds are not listed or shown. Is there some reason why and is there a website that lists all corporate bonds US too) that may be available, such that I could at least ask ITrade about them? Thank you, Bill
Read Answer Asked by Bill on May 12, 2016
Q: I'm afraid I'm a bit like a dog with a bone, I don't let go until I have the correct answer. so I phoned back to Scotia and talked to a very informative person who states that because they don't have $US accounts for registered accounts they have to convert them back to $CA at there FOREX rate with a 2% premium. I am now comfortable with this information and hope it helps others as well. Thank you again!
Read Answer Asked by Cheryl on May 11, 2016
Q: Further to my question re Canadian stocks paying $us dividends in a Canadian account I phoned Scotia itrade to ask about the fees for the conversion. They stated that no fee is charged to convert the dividend. In disbelief I asked well is there a premium charged on the conversion rate. They again said no fee is charged, I double checked. If this is true I don't need to do anything. But somehow I have a hard time believing this...your thoughts and if anyone else has any experience with scotia itrade to confirm this it would be greatly appreciated. thank you
Read Answer Asked by Cheryl on May 11, 2016
Q: Hello,

I am looking to get some exposure in emerging markets. I currently own only Canadian and US equity. I am looking into ETFs, more specifically; XAW, XEF, VEE, amongst others. I'm looking to invest moderate to long term.

Doing you have a preference amongst those, or other suggestions? Secondly, do you think the timing is right, especially with respects to China? And finally, which countries/continents would you have a preference for?

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Karim on May 11, 2016
Q: My recent questions about stock charts - May 9, I don't navigate much outside questions and answers and you had indicated it would be put into Forums to find out any indication about free stock charts. How do I navigate around the Forums to find out about stock charts? Also navigating around reports. I found 4 reports - TMA, AHF, EXE and RIP. I imagine there are more reports so could you tell me how I go about finding them? Thanks Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on May 10, 2016
Q: I'm always looking for good quality dividend companies (4-6%) with some growth potential. I'm currently at about 85-90+ % dividend companies with 10-15% that have more growth potential and little or no dividends. Can you direct me to the best source/list of the companies you sometimes refer to like Fortis that have never reduced their dividend. I believe they are referred to as the 'Dividend Titans"??
Read Answer Asked by Graham on May 09, 2016
Q: Hi,
Thanks for the tip of TMXMONEY to identify the sectors. It turns out I had miss-classified 3 of my stocks (SJ, IPL and ECI). I'm now questioning my weightings. I currently have the following:

Cons. Cyclical 11.9%
Cons. Defensive 0.0%
Financials 17.1%
Healthcare 3.6%
Energy 14.7%
Precious Metals 13.9%
Real Estate 0.0%
Industrials 9.2%
Utilities 0.0%
Technology 24.5%
Materials 4.6%
Communication 0.0%

I'm ok with some risk, which is probably evident from above. My precious metals may be a little high due to the recent bounce in this sector.

Based on the current market environment, do you see these weighting as appropriate? Are there any particular red flags that you see?

Thanks, Ian
Read Answer Asked by Ian on May 09, 2016
Q: Where to find which Sector and Industry relates to a given stock
Read Answer Asked by Hanna on May 06, 2016
Q: What do think about comparing the current dividend yield to the historical yield of a stock as a way of assessing its value as an investment? i.e., if the current yield is greater than the historic yield (the average yield over the past five or ten years), than the stock would be a "buy" (notwithstanding other factors) or a better value than companies in the same peer group with yields lower than the historical average yield.
Read Answer Asked by David on May 06, 2016
Q: Feel free to disregard this question if its not the type of thing you're looking to get into.

Do you have any thoughts on Marc Cohodes? Raises red flags for me when I see a guy based in the US but specializing in shorting the (much smaller) Canadian market. Does he have a good reputation in financial circles?

Any thoughts on his recent interview on BNN? To me, it looked like if he was given 2 more minutes of air time his answers would have devolved to include a zombie apocalypse scenario.

Thanks again for your opinions.
Read Answer Asked by john on May 03, 2016
Q: Lately there have been stories about extremely wealthy Canadians taking their money offshore. Additionally, it is well known that large US corporations are domiciling in foreign countries to avoid paying taxes. I find that this anti-investing attitude becoming so pervasive among the very wealthy that I have to wonder why I should risk my hard earned cash, when these two groups seem to be protecting theirs and not reinvesting it. Please make the case why I should invest the 75% of my money now that is in cash ... frankly, I see nothing truly compelling in the markets these days.
Read Answer Asked by MARK on May 03, 2016
Q: I'm a conservative investor and planning on investing 60% of my Portfolio on the following ETFS.
ZLU, NMW, ZUQ, ZGQ, ZWH and FHC, what are your thoughts?

Thanks Valter.




Read Answer Asked by Valter on May 03, 2016
Q: You recently answered a question by Isabel about Sherritt bonds. Where does one go to see what is available in high yield bonds? I use TD Waterhouse as a broker, and when I search high yield bonds, I only find a very small selection, usually 5-10, and I couldn't find the bonds Isabel was asking about. The same thing happened when I searched for Pengrowth Energy bonds that I read about in an article a couple of weeks ago. Where can I get a complete listing? Thanks for your help.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on May 02, 2016
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