Investment Q&A

Q: Peter
Best of luck with your bike trip. I was wondering whether the fees paid to 5i can be written off against taxes? Or is it a gray area? Publish this at your discretion but it could be a minefield!!

Cheers Jim

Q: For those of us who are time challenged I very much like your bullet response to Paul's question on the Utility Sector, where 9 companies were covered (8 requested). Just wondering: in the new/future question limit would such a question count as 4, 8 or 1 question or perhaps a blending of 2 (best/worst)? Perhaps you could clarify the limits for questioners who ask for opinions on multiple stocks in one email, too. Thanks, J.

Q: This is in response to Dave's earlier question re: Stop Losses/Limits

A very simplified way of thinking of the orders is like this:

Stop Loss orders generally guarantee that your order will be filled - however, there is NO guarantee that it will be at the price you specified. (In the case of a rapidly falling stock price, there's a very good chance that your fill price will be BELOW your specified stop loss price. This usually happens when there is bad news: earnings misses, Sino Forest type situations etc.)

Stop Limits generally guarantee the PRICE of your order - but NOT that the order itself will even be filled. (Again, when there is a rush to exit a stock, there's a good chance that the limit order will be by-passed altogether and one is then exposed to whatever market risk is at hand at that time.)

Q: Hello team, wondering...could you - expain to me like I was a child....buy/sell/limit/stop. I'm confused. I saw you suggest to someone re RPi.un to put in a sell order at a higher amount than market. I have been told in the past that a sell order with a (limit or stop?) could be dangerous because in a free fall the stock could sell for much lower than I wanted to. Is there a reference for dummies on this sort of thing?
many thanks Dave

Q: Hi Peter, Further to your answer on SGY, is there a website I can access which will show when large investors (not necessarily insiders) are buying or selling big blocks of shares? Thank you.

Q: What are your thoughts on beta? Does it play any kind of role in your analysis? I was getting beta info from the TSX website but notice on the few I looked up this morning, that the info is marked NA.

Q: Hi.How low a stock should go down before you should sell i(10%,20%,30% )even if the company looks to be a good company (e.g..AVO,or AYA ) ?.Thanks.ebrahim

Q: Tech stock have really fallen off a cliff. Is there still a bull market for them left?

Q: Not a question but a comment, I am a shareholder of Constellation and did receive notice of their AGM.

Q: Free lunch! There's probably one being served for you this week or next if you're a shareholder and go between 11 and 2. This is where you want the better hotels and golf clubs for the best catering, not a convention centre, and be sure to arrive half an hour prior to the start time of the AGM, maybe schmooze with some bigwigs, too.

Our most memorable AGM yet was a few years ago where my wife and I sat cheek by jowl with Pamela Wallin and Hugh Segal to hear the colourful Ira Gluskin hold court on the state of the economy and tell anecdotes such as his Mother griping to him that she hadn't made any money on her GS shares from the time of the IPO, which he assured her she would, in time.

They not all drab and dull affairs. 'Tis the season, so enjoy your dividends.

Q: just a comment and suggestion. In looking at being accountable,I look at past results only superficially.Your past results in 2013 were great. What I am subscribing for is for the future performance of your recommendations, whether inside the samply portfolio or in your answer to subscribers, questions. I want to receive your prediction on stocks for the future, at the current point in time. I am not interested in what a stock did last year, last month, only what it will do next month, or within the next year or so. Timing is important as price is truth about that point in time. I pay for research which should make me more money than I would be able to do, without it. many thanks. just my opinion of course.

Q: CSU

Noted with surprise the comment earlier today about the CSU AGM being tomorrow. This time of year I am flooded with invites and proxies for other stocks that I hold. For the one I am most interested in, CSU, I received nothing. I am in Toronto so attending is easy. My question: is it mandatory for companies to make their AGMs open to shareholders? I assume not given this example. I called the company number on their website, got an answering machine, and left a message which has not been returned as yet. Any insight is appreciated and thanks.

Q: Does it make any sense to buy 5 year GIC's as part of a balanced portfolio given that interests rates are at all time lows and rates are forecast to rise over this time frame? Thanks. Michael

Q: I have approx $600,000 to invest over a number of accounts. For example RESP's, RRSP's, TFSA, Investment acounts.

Currently I invest a Maximum of $5000 in each stock that I own.

Would you suggest I only own 25 stocks total for all the accounts.

Thanks for your great service.

John

Q: Could you explain how investors in western Canada buy stocks after the TSX closes at 4:00 EST (which is only 1:00pm to them)?

Q: Hello 5i
I am trying to re-balance my 25 stocks in a combined portfolio, at 4% for each position. I have not included ETFs. Should ETFs, such as XIU and XIC, be included in the number of positions, or treated separately? For instance, I hold BNS and TD as part of the stock portfolio, but they are also included in the ETFs. Your advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Q: I have a question about diversification. My understanding is you should not have more than 20% of your stocks in any one sector. Right now I own HWO, POU, BXE, WCP, TOG, RMP, RE, RRX, TOU in the oil and gas sector, with a portfolio weighting of 13.5%. However, if I include BAD, ENB and BDI that takes my weighting to 28%. Would you include the last three in the oil and gas sector even though they're not producers?

Q: Could someone point in in the right direction to find a spread sheet template for keeping track of my stock purchases and sales, and dividends earned. I am doing my taxes, and I don't want to go through this ever again. Thanks for any help offered!

Q: I received a mailout of a class action lawsuit form for Swisher (swi). I remember a past question being asked about participating in these things for another company. I unfortunately still hold the shares. Would it hurt to be part of it, mail it out, and see what comes out after all the expenses are paid out? Are there taxes involved in these? A mail out cheque? Have you ever been part of these situations before and what has come out of it? Good? Bad? If this company is bleeding cash still, is it even possible they can settle? Thx.

Q: Further to Steve's question and your response about when the dividend is paid to a shareholder, and particularly with reference to your comment “The easiest way to look at it is to only consider the ex dividend date. For Teck, this is June 12. If you have bought the stock prior to this date on the market, you will get the dividend. If you buy it after this date, you will not get the dividend on July 2. If you buy on June 11 and sell on June 12 you will still get the dividend.”
In my Direct Investing account, if I buy shares on the open market on a given day, they don’t actually appear on my ledger until about 3 days afterwards. Does this time lag have to be taken into account with reference to receiving the dividend? In your quoted example, if I bought the shares on June 11, I wouldn’t see them in my account until about June 14 or later. Would I therefore need to buy the shares on June 8 to make sure they were in my account prior to the ex-dividend date?