Investment Q&A

Q: In responding to Scott's Jan. 7 question about CRH Medical, you mention that "names like PHM are 'roll-up' companies. What is a roll-up company?

Q: I read in the news that EXFO, an opto-electronics instrumentation company in Quebec City, wants to buy itself back (translating from the Journal LesAffaires). It says that the stock is jumping. Can you explain to me why it is that the stock jumps in that case? Why wouldn't the company buy my shares back close to the current price? I bought my shares around 4.80 so I've been 15% under water for the last while.

Q: This is a response to Dave's question about Globeinvestor Gold. I too have been using this service for many years and was very satisfied with the Portfolio and especially the Screener. It no longer works with any level of accuracy, so I've spent some considerable time looking for alternatives. For the Portfolio management part, I've bought a three year subscription to StockMarket Eye ( I think it cost $74 cdn for three years. It can be down loaded for a free 30 day trial before buying. It is a very good Portfolio manager and allows you to report in numerous ways. I also subscribe to Finviz.com for an exceptional screener. Although it is a global screener, it handles the Canadian market info very well.(the subscription is free).

Q: i constantly read about a 20yr recession about to happen due to the debt of the usa federal government or is this just fear mongering. thanku

Q: A general question. I have been using globe investor gold for information and especially liked the portfolio feature. Recently I have had difficulty with the service and want to switch to a user friendly model. Are there any you or your readers would recommend as an alternative?

Q: will u have a mobile app for apple anytime soon

Q: What is the criteria for choosing a stock for a DRIP portfolio ? Assuming the company I consider has a 5i Research report, What attributes should I be looking for (low debt, clear growth plans etc. )

Thanks!

Q: I want to feel comfortable with my holdings when interest rates eventually begin to rise. Could you simply categorize the following industries into one of three categories. 1) Greatly affected negatively. 2) Affected moderately negatively 3) Not much effect 4) Will affect positively.

Financial - Banks, Insurance, Investment co's

Utilities - Gas/electrical , Pipelines, telcos

Manufacturing ( includes technology )

Consumer - Durables & discretion

Resources - Gold + Materials + Oil & gas.

Pref shares

Any general comments also welcome.

Many thanks

Paul C

Q: Hi guys, Happy New year. I just have a quick question. Whenever I sell a US security in any account (CA, US, TFSA, RRSP), I get charged US tax. The tax is next to nothing, for example I sold $10,800 of a security and they charged me 24 cents. Out of sheer curiosity, what is this tax?

Also, I thought the only US tax charged or withheld was when a Canadian received a dividend in a non-RRSP account. Does the US government also withhold/charge tax when a Canadian sells a security?

Q: Hi 5i team,

For a high growth investor with a long-term investing horizon what would be your recommended portfolio allocation between micro, small, medium and large cap stocks?

Thanks as always,

Jon

Q: I have a Riff pay't coming to me on Jan. 15/15.(need to raise about 9.000. to cover Riff pay't.) And I am wondering what I should sell. Do I sell a stock that is in a negative position or one that is in a positive position. What would you recommend, or one that has no potential for growth. But how does one decide which is the best to sell. My stocks are mostly dividend earning stocks. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for a great site. Ernie

Q: Hi Peter and team

Today, Jan 2, Rob asked for information sources re: preferred stock. I would recommend prefinfo.com published by Hymas Investments It lists all Canadian preferreds by ticker symbol with dividend information, redemption dates, retraction dates (if applicable),type(perpetual, retractable , etc) and misc info such as whether the dividend is cumulative or not. Also in the comments, there is sometimes information on the rating. I hope this helps. Note the symbol is a place holder as your format requires a symbol.

Ross

Q: Good Morning
I have a self-directed investment account separate from our registered RIF, LIF and TFSA accounts and would like to one day take over management of the registered accounts. I'm wondering whether there would be much difference than the account I have. Do you know of any resource that would help me with the transition and management of the accounts such as annual payout minimums, taxes, etc.? I have not found the banks that helpful.
Thanks for all you do.
Thanks

Q: Most analysts warn that you should never hold leveraged ETF's long term. But I see some very large annual returns that are very close to the "three times" the return of the underlying ETF. Is there anything wrong with setting aside 10% of one's portfolio to try to supersize returns in sectors of high conviction. I am thinking of FAS (financials), TECL (technology) and CURE (healthcare).

Q: Hello,
I am learning about Preferreds and am wondering if you know of any websites or books that are a good starting point. Does anyone compile a lot of real-time data on the features of various issues, brand new issues, etc? Thanks.

Q: Do you know of Martin Armstrong's cycle theories? If so, it'll be nice to know what you guys think of it and what you think of business cycles in general.

Q: Hi folks,can u please clarify when u have to buy a stock to collect it's dividend,I always thought as long as u bought on ex-div date,u would collect.I bought penn west on ex-div date of 29 December,thinking I would collect .14 div,am I right or wrong,thanks for help,jb

Q: When calculating sector weightings, in a scenario where say you set your oil and gas weighting at 14% a year ago and its fallin to say 7%,today , would it not be wise to always use your book value when calculating weightings instead of current price weightings to avoid getting to sector heavy.
Thanks Gord

Q: Hi Peter,
Recently you had a link to Jim Richards spiel "The Death of Money", what is your take of what he said?

Q: Hi 5i team,
I would like to have your thoughts on the use of leverage when investing (the use of margin in accounts other than TFSA and RRSP). Clearly I am thinking of someone mostly invested in stocks (no bonds). I understand the danger margin call, and opportunity cost of not having cash available to invest after a market correction. On the other hand, I believe there is some seasonality in companies results and in investing (tax loss selling season and January effect, October to April versus May to October), great investment ideas/opportunities are rarely synchronized with selling an investment, leverage has a good impact on return when return on asset is higher then financing cost, financing cost of margin is low.
Do you see other advantages and disadvantages? What % of available margin would you recommend not crossing?
Thank you for your help, Eric