Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i Team,
Could you please suggest 2 high growth Canadian stocks for each sector?
dividend is not a concern.
Thank you for your wonderful service.
Henry

Q: In a very recent article on momentum stocks (not yet posted on this site) Peter Hodson wrote: "Bloomberg has a great function key on analysts’ revisions, showing the degree of earnings estimate changes. It can be an important factor in trying to determine which stocks might catch momentum." Where can we find this? Terrific site, BTW!

Q: Hello 5i
We looking for advice on the order/strategy for adding our 2nd position to your model portfolio. We have money earmarked to add 1-1.5% to each holding which is fairly equally weighted btwn 3-4% depending on the performance. We started your model portfolio with no VRX or AYA in mid November. We also purchased AD(-28%), SJ (+7%) Verizon(-4%), Ambev (-3%) JNJ, Unilever.
We want to add gradually over next 6-8 weeks. Which 7-8 stocks should we start with? Should we start with the ones that are doing best with momentum or the ones that are under performing?
Top performers are: ACQ(+6%), CSU (+15%)CSS, FSV,ENB(+4-5%), ESL and SJ (+7), KBL (+15%), TOU (+17%)
Top underperformer's: AD (-28%), FSZ(-8%), VZ(-4%)
Everything else is up or down slightly from start price depending on day. Could you please advise which stocks to start with and strategy for moving forward. Any other recommendations are welcome. Thank you,
Kerri

Q: Hello i5 Team,
Can you recommend sector weightings for a conservative to moderate investor. Many thanks.

Q: Can you explain why IAE Ithaca has gone down. I put in an order to sell it at 2.80 when it was within a few cents and then before I knew it , it dropped. I read the news release about options to directors but I'm not sure I fully understand. Could you put it in lay mans terms. Thank you also do you think it has a chance to get back up to my target price.

Q: Hi
PLI jumped in price on high volume.No news
Someone must know something.
Do you agree?
By the way are you planning any webinars in the near future?
Have a nice weekend.
Hersh

Q: hello Peter:
I am in full agreement with you on the topic of analyst upgrades and downgrades (got to keep people trading). Having said that, how can I trust the very same analysts for earnings estimates? Or, is there a better way of tracking companies earnings that I'm not aware of? I've read that an average of 63% of companies usually beat (reduced) earnings. Your comment please, as this affects the entire stock selection process (obviously).
thanks
Paul

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I recently read through "is there a perfect stock" and "selling too early..." in the blog section of the site, great articles. Myself, knowing a lot of the technical analysis aspect of stocks I would like to strengthen my fundamental approach. Could you please give a checklist that retail investors could use, for example, return on equity(ROE). Or even describe your process of buying/selling. It builds confidence to act on buying the dips when you know the fundamentals are strong. Anyways, thanks guys for having the first market advice service WORTH paying for. Keep up the fantastic job.

Q: Hi Peter

I am a new subscriber and I am not sure if I understand the letter grades in a the reports. Do the "A" and "B" grades mean a good time to buy where the "C" grades mean hold, etc?

Is it reasonable to think the higher the grade the more attractive the value to "buy first"? Thanks. Greg

Q: What is your view on HAC -Seasonal Rotation ETF?

Q: Peter, I have $15,000 to deploy after clearing my own unsuccessful picks from last year. The rest of my portfolio is as follows: purchased recently ACQ, WEF, CGX, ENB, CSU, STN. These picks are all thanks to you ! And I am already up on almost all of them.
Now, what to do with the $15,000 available capital ?
I am after decent dividend, but my main aim is growth, so I can make up for the loss of last year.

Q: In response to the question about using margin to purchase dividend stocks. I suggest looking at interactive brokers who have the lowest margin interest rates I could find. 1.5 to 2.5 percent based on your balance.

Q: I would like to know what is the rule of thumb for evaluating the risk/reward of using leverage to buy dividend stocks in a marge account. For example, buying BCE on margin with a tax bracket of 50%, what would be the cost/benefit of being charged 4,5% interest vs the 5.03% income in dividend from BCE. Finally, is there a link to a calculator where I could plug in specifics and get an estimate of the limits of scenarios. Thanks

Q: I hold seasonal stocks such as Agrium, can you provide insight into when to sell them and the best seasonal buys right now.

Q: after previous 5I recomendations for portfolio adjustment could you please reanalys as it now is.phn balanced fund 20% cig686 div. mthly. income 20% xtr div. mthly. income 30% xgd5% xsu5% xhd5% vus12% and international fund 3%. this is a retirement growth and income portfolio . i also keep my tfsas and operating cash as gic and bond fund seperate as a bearmarket reserve and cushion. i am considering selling the phn fund for the current 5I model or waiting for the growth or income one that is in the works.the phnfund sits at 100k.and the tfsas and cash are about15% of the core. do you think i should leave things as is or could you suggest some allternatives. greatly appreciated. larry

Q: Hi, just wanted to know if anybody was aware that on top the MER of 0.73 percent BMO also charges 0.22 percent "trading expense ratio" for a total of 0.95 PC for the etf ZWB. This was brought to my attention in a summary document I received in the mail. When one looks on their website it only states annual management expense of 0.65 PC. I phoned them and confirmed this extra charge has always been there but is not disclosed on the website. I find this rather misleading and wonder if there are other etf providers who don't make the total fees black and white on their website. Any comment would be appreciated. Post this if you feel it is relevant. Thank youverymuch.

Q: Hi Peter & team - My portfolio includes AFN(30%), CGX(13%), INN.UN(10%), WIN(4%), HCG(13%), SGY(17%), G(4%), AHF(3%) and AQN(6%). AFN, CGX & INN.UN are up 42%, 20% & 13% respectively for me and the rest are all up or down within a +5% to -5% range. With a focus on growth, what positions, if any, would you sell or reduce and what would you then add? Thank you for your response. Dave

Q: Hello team, thanks for the well reasoned reply to my AYA question. I am thinking it may be time to add an industrial mining company to my portfolio, like a VALE for iron ore or TCK or FM in the coal or copper space. I have no miner exposure presently. Your only miner is in gold. What would you do here? Are you tempted to add one to your portfolio as a value play on eventual global recovery to include these stocks. Many thanks.

Q: Re: Member comment about brokerage Cdn-US$$ exchange rates , perhaps a look at "Norbert's Gambit : The Complete Guide" ( Google search) may be of interest - Peter, I'm sure you folks can comment - regards Don

Q: Hi Peter
I try to monitor short positions before entering a new TSE position (or an old position for that matter). Do you think this is worth doing? How do you find this information? I know that the TSE releases data that is 2 week old of the top 20 stocks, which I do not find all that satisfactory.
Thankyou, Mark