Investment Q&A

Q: Advice please on weathering this first time correction or worse for a rookie DYI investor (not my day job.)

I appreciate your calming replies about the fundamentals of the economy and the companies you comment on.

I have made only a total of 6 or 7 buys this calendar year and 1 good buy GWO offsets a few poorly timed purchases HSE, TA, SGY AND WCP

IN TOTAL IF I SOLD IT ALL, I would break even today, bearing in mind this is all together only 5 to 10 % of portfolio, would you suggest

getting rid of it all and waiting 30 days (by the way if I sold for a loss today when is the 30 day limit for claiming a capital loss? )

OR waiting things out because my selections above are fundamentally sound and I have a long time horizon (> 10 yrs )

thank you for the support !

Q: I have read with interest how many of the comments during this downturn refer to selling positions now. It is very important for investors to realize and remember, that it is during these downturns that the "smart money" begins to buy, not sell; perhaps not today, but soon. A 10% correction will take the TSX to around 13150, the DOW to 15600 and the S&P to 1800 and that is when there will be bargains to be had. Don't sell during these times; re balance your equities and fixed income and get your cash back in...just a thought :)

Q: On Oct 6 James asked if it is a good idea to hold dividend stocks in an Rsp.
Do you agree that if a senior's OAS is clawed back then he should hold dividend stocks in a Tfsa and or a Rsp in order to reduce the clawback?

Q: Peter, there are a couple of errors in your graph. Since the yellow line is derived from the red and blue; it must always be between them. Hope the cockroach theory doesn't apply.

Q: Block trade question of Ernie of Oct 9/14:

Available as end of day report:

http://www.financialpost.com/markets/data/market-block_trades.html

Q: peter, I see in one of your answers to a question on the markets you said and I quote riding it out is the best course of action, I agree. but I thought that maybe a general statement on the markets to your membership would be a good thing after the hammering of the last few weeks. dave

Q: Just an observation on the selling of these shares. I noted that HLP.UN buyout is set to occur in the new year. I liked this as it puts capital gains tax off for a full year. Considering that late date for shareholder approval on CFN (Nov.3 I think?) this might likewise happen in new year. Considering the dividend on these stocks I have allowed myself to borrow against future sale to buy stocks I like today.

Q: Another AVO

I bailed out wen it hit $14, unfortunately the bottom. I am used to these type of drops because I have had drug stocks that do that on a regular basis when they do not get to phase 2. Sino forest, which I held a few years ago, I rode all the way down to 0. I've learned over time, the market knows best if a stock is under performing. People closest to it know it best and they are selling it. I will cut my losses if it gets 10% below my purchase fee or if it has risen a lot and starts to lose momentum. What is your opinion?
Dennis

Q: Hi Peter & Ryan
Just reread Peter's piece on how to evaluate an individual stock correction such as we have recently seen in AVO.

Can you tell me where a retail investor (with no Bloomberg Terminal) can access info on Block trades. I see Volumes for individual ticks on various exchanges on TMX Money Quotes. It is not clear to me that any given large volume is a block trade as distinct from an aggregation of smaller trades.

Your handholding on AVO has been rational & soothing. We need a lot of that it seems.

With thanks
Ernie

Q: Hi
Regarding recent question on Sector allocation recommendation, you don't mention Services. I am currently 18% in Services of which is CGX,DHX,A&W,TCN, H&R and QST according to RBC sector classification. Do you consider this appropriate? Where would these fit in your classifications?
Thanks
Kathy

Q: Watching the market drop daily and many of my "paper gains" evaporate I wonder if a few STOPS would not have been appropriate? I stay away from STOPS to avoid being stopped out in a "flash" crash.

Still sitting on the same stock I owned a month or two ago. Nothing has really changed for those companies except some panic in the markets and the price of crude oil has dropped. Fall is generally the point in the year when the price of crude oil drops and this year is no different.

Q: Hello
Could you recommend a couple of Social Environmental focused companies that I could add to add my equity portfolio.
I like the Tesla stock but it is very pricy at $259.



Thank you so much

Q: Hi , Do you think were heading for a Bear market and if so when do you think will be in one , the other day I read that we are currently in the eight inning of the Bull market how long will this last before the bear arrives.

Thanks

Q: Hello Folks at 5i,
I am selling my condo here in Ontario and almost ready to "hit the road" and not come back to Canada on a full-time basis but I do have a worry on how to invest the proceeds ($350,000). I do have $250,000 account of which 60% is invested in the model portfolio and about 40% in the income portfolio. What should I do with the rest and how soon should I be fully invested? I do have a high risk tolerance and a excellent pension to cover all living expenses and then some. Thanking you in advance for your excellent service ...

Q: Hi 5i,

Like others here, really like what you do, and have found your work more valuable than that of other groups I follow/subscribe to.

Over the years I have learned that the management of a company is one of the most important factors in making a successful investment. I would very much appreciate a one liner (or addition to the "Report Card" section of reports) which would speak to how effective/honest/reliable/capable the management team is.

You often address this in the question section, which is valuable for non-reported companies, but seeing it embedded in the reports would be great.

Thanks again,

Cam.

Q: comment only a lot of concern about surge most clients of this site are investors not traders syg operates in three diff basins has a excellent hedge plan and a out standing mang team with lots of skin in the game don't be a leming and jump off of the cliff with the traders
Stan

Q: In your experience when do institutions do most of their tax loss selling? Would it be mid-November or late November and then they buy back in January and that would account for the so-called January effect in small cap stocks. Thanks for all your sound advice.

Q: I am aware that you favor not selling when positions are down a significant amount when nothing has changed with the holding; good companies are good companies even when the stock price is down. You also believe, and I agree, that market timing is very difficult.

I am an older investor and I favor dumping a position if it declines by a set percentage { eg 10% } to restrict my losses. I then take the proceeds from the sale and move on to another good company.

My objective is to avoid situations where the stock price can fall more than 50% and who knows how long it will take just to recover.

I am interested in what your thoughts are as this applies to older investors. Thank you for any input.

Q: My cousin has never invested in the stock market. She has 100k and is thinking to invest in a portfolio of 20-30 different stocks now. Her time frame is 15-20 years. Understanding you don't have a crystal ball, what do you think of the timing?

Q: Hi: Thank you for your Sept.28th. article "Signs to Watch for When the Market Declines." Perhaps you could follow up by suggesting where I can find the data to implement the criteria in that article, data I find hard to find. Thank you for your excellent service.