Investment Q&A

Q: Hi, I'm looking for low-fee ETFs similar to CBO in makeup and yield but priced in USD. Any suggestions? Specifically, I'm looking for somewhere to keep bi-monthly USD cash contributions to a USD TFSA before making equity purchase decisions (I don't like seeing cash sit in an account without getting any yield). My account has relatively low commission fees (none to purchase ETFs) so transaction costs aren't a huge concern. Maybe I'm thinking about this incorrectly, however, and any other suggestions on how to best hold monthly contributions would be appreciated. Much appreciated!

Q: Is there any website that an individual retail investor can go to find out the number of shares shorted on any particular stock. thanks

Q: My simple calculation for SGY NAV is $4.01 whereas the corporate report states $4.88. I'm not an accountant - please explain.
Thank you.

Q: Is there anything wrong with buying 1000 ABC shares @ $10 today that pays a 10% Div, with Ex date of 2/23. Selling them all on 10/27, and then repeating with another stock with an approaching ex Date? Seems too simple to be making a G every week?

Thanks!

Q: How often do you recommend rebalancing a portfolio and what does that process look like?

I started with a 5% position in CXI in January and am up 38% and want to know at what point I should sell some shares, how many and what to do with the proceeds of the sale.

Thanks!

Q: Hello Peter and the 5I team

I have been having a debate with a friend as to how interest rate hikes affect stocks (especially REIT's, pipelines and utilities shares) in the North American stock markets (FED and the BOC). His take is that it only increases the cost of borrowing. My take is that it 1.increases the cost of borrowing, this would put pressure on all businesses not just pipe, REIT's and utilities. It would actually put pressure on all asset classes. 2. Make bonds a more attractive asset class to own compared to stocks. The risk/reward balancing act would slightly tilt in the favour of the bond over say REIT's, utility or pipeline stocks which are generally known for their safe dividend yields. So people would flee the equity market and go toward the bond market causing the stock prices to fall. Would you say that I am more right then my friend??? Is there more to it then my rather simple explanation???

I was curious about BEI.UN, what is the pay out ratio? What is the P/B ratio and would you consider this a ok place to put money?

Thanks

Q: You have probably answered this several times b4 but I couldn't find anything related so sorry for a likely repeat. I'd like some information on the MER that is quoted for a mutual fund or index fund. Some quote a MER of say 2.13% and others (like Vanguard) at 0.10%. Are these really the same thing and does this mean if I put $10,000.00 in each of these I am charged $213 in the first and $10 in the second (Vanguard)? Also is that charge very year or just a one time charge when I put money in assuming both are no load? Thanks. Much appreciated.

Q: Besides a subscription to 5iresearch could you please recommend any introductory books or courses that teach basic investment information on topics like diversification, ETF, bonds, equity, MER, risk, dividend, capital gain, brokerages, IPO, volatility. I'm sure this has been asked before but I just can't find it on the site. Thank you for all your help.

Q: Could you tell me what the index total return (including dividends) was in 2015? Where can this information be found? Thank you

Q: Hi 5i, I would like to add a new position to my granddaughters' trust accts ( 2).

They currently hold:

REIT ( KMP and AX.un)
Bank ( BNS and RY )
Insurer ( SLF and MFC)
Pipeline ( PPL and IPL )
Oil ( ARX and VET)
Utility ( BEP.un and NPI)

Could I get your top 2 suggestions in the following sectors:
tech
telecom
consumer staples
consumer discretionary .

Timeline would be 5 to 7 years.

Thanks for a such great service! You really help to remove the DREAD from investing

Q: In response to a query from "M S" on Feb 15th having problems downloading Confirmations to his MAC (getting blank pages).
I would suggest you check //www.td.com/to-our-customers/tdhelps/#psce|cid=871|lid=1|tid=001|tags=3.
This is a TD Helps forum that you can search for solutions. I typed in 'download confirmations to a mac' and it turned up 5 questions/answers. I do not use a Mac so cannot be of any further help, but you can also post your own questions.
Hope this helps you out.

Scot

Q: Hi Team If I were to do a ratio of EV/share what would it mean if the price were less than the today's market price of a particular stock. Trying to ascertain weather it is a bargain or ?? Trying to make sense of it. Thank you for your help. I'm going with no question is a stupid question, hope you agree.

Q: Are there a couple of good articles about why market timing does work... or if not could you tell me briefly?

Thank you.

Q: Paul asked a question about a site for U.S. Dividend Aristocrats. This is the only one I know of: www.dripinvesting.org/tools/tools.asp

Q: On February 9,2016 Allan responded to Mike's search for dividend aristocrats. He gave the following site www.dividendgrowthinvestingandretirement.com/Canadian-dividend-all-star-list. Thank you very much Allan! This site will be extremely useful to me.
Has anyone found a similar site for U.S. stocks? I have tried playing around with that site's name but to no avail.
Many Thanks

Paul

Q: There is an investment(!) strategy whereby the dividend payout dates are used as the basis of buying and selling equities for multiple payouts during a year. Intellectually this sounds interesting. Is a plan such as this practical, feasible, legal, moral etc. On the surface this might generate reasonable returns if mid tier dividend payers are followed closely , with all the usual selection criteria employed. Are there serious tax implications? Your usual pragmatic overview please.

Q: Hi Peter, I apologize for a general question.
TD Direct Investing (aka TD Waterhouse) has told me that they can "journal entry" my gold stock positions from my CAD margin accounts to a CAD Cash account. The question I'm fussing with is whether the CRA will consider this JE transaction a deemed disposition (for Capital Gains reasons). I'm trying to avoid dealing with the CRA bureaucracy and did a google search to get some insight with no luck. Do you have an opinion on this? Do you know of any chat rooms, websites, other sources where I can get an answer?
Thanks for your patience, Ralph.

Q: Hello, thank you for the p / e article. Reading it made me reflect to p / e ratio vs p / cf and p / free cf. I thought professional money managers don t look too much at p / e but use p / free cf to really assess the merit of a company. Can you please comment on that and clarify how it is calculated. My understanding is that cf is net income plus all accounting expenses which are not really paid such as amortization and free cash flow involves reducing the cf by deducting all capex necessary to maintain your asset base. Please add some subtlety to your explanation if you have time. Thanks.

Q: Could you explain when the funds are hedged and unhedged how they work with the movement of the dollar ?

Q: Hello:
What do you think the chances are that the Bank of Canada might lower its benchmark
intetest rate.
Thanks: Jerry