Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i Team,

My discount broker (TD Waterhouse) provides me with the “Analyst Consensus” for most stocks listed in North America. How much weight should I give to this information in making a decision as to whether or not I will buy/sell a particular stock?

Thanks for your insights on this issue.

Q: Greetings all and best of the holiday season!

I'm a market watcher (but not a high frequency trader) and I've noticed a recurring pattern recently where the prices of many of our stocks spike early in the day and then trend lower and finish negative or near the open price. What do you make of that? Seems to be more than random activity.

Q: Is there a website/source where I can find/calculate how much dividends have been paid out since owning a particular stock? Thanks.

Q: Hi Peter,

I have noticed in a number of occasions when the stock.20,50 and 200 day moving average intersect at the same time it is a bullish signal and the stock has just taken off. What is your take on this one.
Paul

Q: Hi Peter,

Is writing puts a good strategy to acquire stocks as you not only earn premium from day one which can be invested immediately and if you get called you will be buying the stock at a discount. I have adopted this strategy and I got called only once i.e potash which is offering me 8%dividend enough to cover my borrowing at 3% and don't forget the interest is deductible.

Thanks
paul

Q: I am wondering if I can learn anything about retail investor psychology, the mind set of many and their "investing" approach so as to permit me to better understand and possibly forecast movements and/or trends, and timing, for example.

Specifically, having been a member here now for over a year I constantly see, but have not done a exact study, many, many members posting questions about the same handful of stocks over and over and over... Often only a day is all that exists between the last same/similar stock question in some shape or form with basically the same answer as the only answer available.

What might a lowly investor always striving to improve learn from this?

- Is it that some never read earlier posts?
- Is it that some only look here, say, once a week and do not have the time to do a search or read the heading for the day's posts?
- Is it because some think, "I paid so I can ask whatever, whenever I want"?
- Is it because they are nervous and not really as risk tolerant with stocks as they could be?
- Do they not simply go to Google Finance or some similar site and click on the NEWS once they entered a stock symbol? As this would answer many questions.

Am I missing something?

Inquiring mind(s) wonder!

Thanx for all you produce, provide, as well as, your tolerance and patience.
I can say I learn a lot about other, new to me, investing possibilities from fellow posters also.

Q: Hi, can you please comment on which debt ratios are best to look at for survivability?

For example, debt/cashflow vs. debt/equity vs. debt/marketcap

Even if debt to cash flow is not too high, is there a point where the debt to marketcap is so high that everyone will shy away from it? For example TBE earlier in the year?

Q: Am I possibly missing something, I am setting up a portfolio for my Grandchildren over 15 year time frame.
Considering - dis, goog, fb, amzn. Set it and forget it.
With the current US ex, is this a detriment over the long time frame.

Q: What's the last day of the year for tax loss selling, thanks

Q: Two questions. I was looking at a stock on a stock website and clicked to level II for shares bought/sold data. I see it occur frequently, where a security company (for example 007 TD Securities) is both the seller and buyer of a stock. I have assumed simply the company was satisfying different clients while obtaining commission on both sides. Is that a good assumption?
In this case the security co. was clearly selling off many thousands of its shares ($9.70/share)over several days and to several different buyers. But its first and by far largest sale was to itself - both seller and buyer of one block of 11,000 shares. It just seemed a bit odd to me that a non-bank security co. would have a client who wanted, at full price and at least fair value, 11,000 shares of a stock the firm was selling off. Aside from a large shareholder selling off should a transaction such as this raise any other concern? Perhaps this is a way to maintain the share price for the further sales...
Thanks so much for your patience, hope you guys do take some time off for the holidays.

Q: I am looking for some holiday reading regarding investment strategy, finance or economics and would like to know what you would suggest? I have read many of the classics and would like something more resent although I realize some strategies and theories are timeless so don't be afraid to suggest something that must be read from the past.

Thanks very much for the great advice as always.

Q: Can you please tell me what the ticker symbol for
Oil, Natural Gas & Gold is please.

Thank You
Craig Ogilvie

Q: Good Afternoon: My question is really currency related rather than Visa specifically. I own a few US stocks including Visa which fortunately for me I purchased when there was not as much difference between the US and Canadian dollar. As a result of stock performance and the difference in currency valuation I have done well. I would like to make a few more US purchases but cant make myself do so with the almost 40% hit. In my opinion some time in the future our dollar will get stronger. Do you have any suggestions or can you recommend Canadian companies or ETF's that I can buy without being so concerned about the currency. Thank You.

Q: Peter; I think I saw some babies being thrown out with the bathwater this morning - what do you think? Rod

Q: In the past you have suggested a 30% weighting outside of Canada. If using vxc or xaw for said international esposure and the remainder 'canadian' stocks from the balanced and growth portfolios(atd,csu,cxr,bns,cxi,phm,mg,mda,enb,it,bos,sj,wsp) is 30% still appropriate today? Assuming this is a young investor that would work toward 20 names from the 5i portfolios as funds become available. Thanks

Q: I currently have 25% of my assets in $US but only 20% is in US stocks. The other 5% is EEM. I would like to increase the US component to 25% but that would give me a 30% $US exposure. While I think that the US dollar will remain strong for the next year, I am wondering if 30% exposure is too high. Should I sell EEM, which hasn't done much but is my only international exposure (other than multinational US companies), move up to a 30% UD dollar weighting or stay the course?

Thank you for your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Peter; What do you make if the negative interest rate statement by the BOC? Is it a sigh of weakness ( no pun intended) in our economy or just forward planning? Thanks.Rod

Q: hi Peter

Can you give us a few names in sectors outside oil& gas that you would pick up during this tax loss selling season.

Thanks Gord

Q: You folks at i5 are excellent for all things CDN. Could you recommend a similar service like yourselves covering the US markets?

Q: In your recent Canadian Money Saver article about using call options to enhance income in a US portfolio, you gave a few examples of securities that could be considered for this strategy. As someone who invests only in your BE and Income portfolios, are there any names in these that would be the type of company you would consider for the same strategy in Canada?

Thank you.