Investment Q&A

Q: Where to find which Sector and Industry relates to a given stock

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.

Q: Where would one find insider ownership of companies . ie evertz et

Q: I’m new to this ….what criteria’s should I use when choosing a stock?

Q: I own half Nhc and half Hlth which is the same stovk but on the U.S. exchange. I notice that the U.S. versiob isn't going up as much as the canadian one percentage wise. How can This be?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Q: Regarding Kim's question about fees her broker might earn from putting her in ETFs. Why not simply ask the broker how he/she gets paid. It's a fair question. If the broker does not provide a clear answer, perhaps it is time to find broker who will.
Guy R.

Q: I know it is difficult to predict the future of currencies. But I am still interested in your opinion on the Canadian to US dollar exchange. With the current price of oil, do you think the Canadian dollar is about as high as it will get, relative to the US dollar, for the next couple of years? Thanks!

Q: I didn't know where to post my comment as the forum sections seems very inactive.

What this post is about is the article you sent us entitled: 'The Portfolio Management Assumptions that Harm Clients'.

Very excellent article IMHO. I am not a portfolio rebalancer and never have been. In his article he writes and I quote:

"We may rebalance periodically – quarterly for example – or we may set percentage boundaries around each asset class and rebalance when they are exceeded. Either way, the underlying assumption is that our target allocation is better than the allocation the markets have given us.

Research on the value of rebalancing suggests that it has little ability to increase returns or decrease risk. Whatever utility exists depends on factors such as time period, the direction of the market and the relative future expected returns of the asset classes being rebalanced. Yet few, if any, of us take these factors into account in developing our rebalancing strategies. Instead, we employ simple, mechanical rebalancing strategies that add little or no value and may even detract from long-term performance.

The only thing we can be sure about is that our rebalancing strategies result in transaction and tax costs."

5i constantly encourages/recommends that we rebalance our holdings especially when one becomes more weighted than say approx. 5%.

I feel the writer has a very interesting POV and would like to ask you to let us know how you feel about his POV on rebalancing.

Q: Since we have "bail-in" legislation in Canada and since, as people whom deposit savings in banks, we are considered "investors" in those banks and subject to "bail-ins", how would cash simply left in brokerage accounts be treated in "bail-ins"? As we receive zero interest on cash in brokerage accounts, we could not be considered "investors". Seems a safer place to hold cash than a bank account. Thanks.

Q: Can you please comment on the pros and cons of using a put write strategy to generate income, as these 2 funds do?

Thanks

Q: I see Apple is down in after market or pre trading. What does that mean and can a retail investor have access to that? Many feel that the market moves for people in the know before us mere mortals. These types of things don't encourage investment if people think rightly or wrongly that the market is rigged.

Charlie

Q: If a Stock has an Ex-Date of Tomorrow & I buy it today, will I still avail of the Dividend? OR, will it be denied because I technically will NOT own the stock until the Transaction Completes in a couple of Days?

Many thanks as always!

Q: Hi Peter! You have often made the point that every trade has an opposing view. If I hold a mutual fund or ETF that is currency hedged does that mean that someone on the other side is betting against my decision to hedge the fund or ETF. I lack a proper understanding of this situation and would appreciate your clarification. Ian

Q: Hi,
I have taken up a few half positions in stocks with the following details in my portfolio:
Full position = 4% of total portfolio = $6400
Half position = 2% of total portfolio = $3200
Transaction fee = $9.97

For full positions, my strategy as been to consider trimming them if they get $2000 or more above a full position. I will consider adding to them if they drop at least $1500 to $2000 below a full position. This keeps my transaction fee at about 0.5% to 0.75%

This same strategy with half positions will cost me more on a percentage basis. Should I ignore this and just be happy I'm diversified, or would you employ a different strategy? My current half positions are HCG, CXI, GUD, and PHM.

Q: Hi, 5i.

What are your top picks for fixed income at this time? I have a small position in XBB and that's it.

Thank you,
Robert

Q: Hi, 5i.

What are your top picks for consumer staples at this time?

Thank you,
Robert