Investment Q&A

Q: Cramer: I am sure the first "Cramer" comment was well intended and sincere.

But clearly a number of other folks disagree with the need for a Canadian Cramer. I am in the latter camp having tracked many of Cramer's favorites over the years using Globe Investor Gold. Since he has recommended hundreds of stocks I have tended to focus on the ones where he has been over the top - provided the most compelling reasons inlcuding detailed charts - and of course rung the bell, blown the horn, uttered the words "Booyah" many many times, etc. etc. etc.

The performance of my Cramer "paper - portfolio" has been terrible - especially compared to the 5i portfolios and highly rated stocks. Recently Cramer's audience size has cratered dramatically - to the point where the numbers are embarrasing for him and the network.

It would seem that his "customers" have realized that they too are wasting their time and money.

Bottom line here: Beware of Cramer suggestions; and 5i - you are great as is and please don't become Cramer-like. I enjoy making money thanks to you and not losing it as I would have if I had actually bought into his hype.

Cramer reminds me of a mutual fund guy I met years ago whose focus was on getting customers to "like him" as opposed to impressing them with his record of success in helping other clients grow their money. Quite the showman, probably a nice guy and a great person to have a beer with - but not manage my family's money!

Q: I look forward to the day when you can offer individual portfolio reviews. Do you have a time horizon ?
I'm sure many of your subscribers would echo my comment.

Q: Peter & Staff: Please don't go like Cramer or Motley fool as some people suggested.Your service is great and no conflict.I also have been a Canadian Moneysaver subscriber for a long time.Finally I feel that your service as helped me and my wife to be more prudent with investing our hard earned money.Tks

Q: A subscriber claimes we need a Jim Cramer in Canada in my opinion he is a promoter at best .just ask the investors of deep he recommend it the nite before the ipo the next day on the ipo the owners absconded the the cash and ran off .i settled two years later with five percent of my investment.never watched the show again . Nobody said school was cheap but Cramer as a investment advisor should instead sell hotdogs in new york.
Stan

Q: Peter
I think we need a Canadian version of Mad Money and you are it! If Jim Cramer can do it, so can you.
I sure hope you and your team will decide to review portfolios of your clients in a separate section for a fee.
I think I am way too diversified and would prefer a much more concentrated portfolio. I need help and you guys are the people I trust. As the cliche goes: : a broker is someone who invests your money until you are broke. But in 7 months subscribing to your newsletter I have made more money than I have ever made in 5 years, This belongs in the testimonial section but being a techno-peasant not sure how to put in there,hence why I am posting in the question and answer section. Thanks and keep safe on your bike trip.

Q: I read your comments on tax treatment of US ETNs with interest. I hold ETNs in both my taxable corporate investment account and in my RRSP. Am I subject to both Canadian and US taxes on the profits or do I just pay tax in Canada on the taxable account. I assume there are no taxes on gains from any stock sale in an RRSP. Thanks.

Q: Interesting article "Going Big". How would you suggest someone with the right risk tolerance approach such a strategy ie., would you start with say 5 or so stocks and double up with momentum by maybe selling a weaker performing stock? What stocks might be candidates currently? Thanks, Mike

Q: Just to help with Shyam's question: I have been living outside Canada for a few years now and investing in stocks through Canadian brokers. The biggest issue is whether you are officially becoming a tax non-resident. If so, some brokers won't want to deal with you, some are ok. They should start withholding tax on Canadian dividends and again, some will and some will not. As an example, TD Discount will do withholding but will only allow a basic cash account (no margin, Canada & US only), Interactive Brokers does not allow non-residents. Registered accounts are not affected by this. I'm not qualified to give any tax advice but this was my experience. Absolutely doable but can be a pain if you actually switch tax residency.

Q: Hello 5i,

I presently see myself having to leave the country at some point for a year or two to take care of ageing parents. How would I be able to manage a self directed investment portfolio if I have to leave the country at some point? Thanks very much. Cheers, Shyam

Q: Hi Peter and team

My portfolio is large enough so that getting any foreign diversification leads me to exceed the $100K limit the CRA applies for tax reporting of foreign holdings. I don't want to be involved with completion of the T1135 form. Is there any way I can get this diversification by means of ETFs without triggering the requirement to complete the T1135?

Thanks

Ross

Q: I have no problem finding the earning dates for U.S. stocks however, I am unable in locating a free website that provides earning dates for Canadian stocks, do you know of any? Thank you for your response.

Q: I would like to suggest the following web sites for dividend and performance information.
http://www.canadastockchannel.com/
http://www.dividendchannel.com/ (US stocks)

Q: http://dividendhistory.org/

Pretty decent website that documents all the dividend increases for companies on the tsx. A little more user friendly and objective (no opinions, just numbers) than the previous website suggested by a fellow 5i subscriber.

On the right hand side of the homepage there is a "symbol search" field. Enter in the stock symbol and the company's name appears. Click on the company's name and you'll get a historic account of the dividend's paid by the company. Very useful i find.

Q: Hello 5i,

this is not a question but a comment regarding websites with dividend increases for Canadian companies.

Go to : http://www.dividendblogger.com/dividend-increases/

Not an endorsement but the only site that has this info that I am aware of.

Thanks for the great site!

Randy D.

Q: You have mentioned in the past that it is best to wait at least an hour from the market opening before you start trading in order to get an more accurate read on the market. I was wondering, in the same vein, if the overseas markets give any indication as to the direction the North American markets will take. Do the overseas ones "follow" North America, lead North America or not have any connection at all. For all the reliance analysts put on what happens in China, it seems to me there is almost no connection to what their markets do and the North American ones do.

Thanks.

Paul F.

Q: Hi Peter, as asked by Gordon today I use an app on my iPad called Real Time stock tracker downloaded from the App Store for $9.99. It has many good features to follow your portfolio, the market, has a stock screener and many other good features to give an overview of the market. The main news portion is slanted towards the USA but news for each Canadian stock you enter is specific to that stock. I use it daily to follow the market as an adjunct to my bank investment info and 5i research info. Please note that I do not know how it works or if it is available for other tablets. Stay healthy and keep the cadence high!

Q: Hi 5i team,

I am working on getting a more diversified portfolio in my non-registered accounts when I add new money. According to RBC Direct Investing I have 0% utilities, 0% industrials, and 45.1% in energy.

It seems that you consider ENB, IPL, and PPL as utilities. Is that correct? If that is the case then utilities make up 22.9% of my portfolio, and energy is 22.2%. Still too high I suppose.

I would like to add some dividend paying industrial stocks that would make up around 5% of my portfolio. What industrial stocks do you recommend at this time? [I guess STN and BAD] Is there a seasonally good time to buy industrial stocks? I can wait if there is.

Note: If I recall you classify BAD as an industrial stock, yet TMX lists it in the energy sector. Sometimes it's difficult to figure out sector allocation when some stocks get classified differently depending on the site you use.

Paul

Q: What is the advantage of in kind transfers from a non registered account to a TFSA if one is charged capital gains anyway, and can't claim capital loss--which presumably you COULD claim if you sold the stock and transferred the $? Is it that the transfer is done without a transaction fee?

Q: Are you aware of any website that publishes a listing of companies that are starting to pay their first ever dividend?
Thank you.

Q: If I wanted to start building my own portfolio, what is your recommended mix in regards to sector and industry? What is the mix of your model portfolio?