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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Wanted to tip my hat to Peter Hodson for his comments on BNN. The clip is a "must watch" for all retail investors:

http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip1067272
Read Answer Asked by malcolm on February 04, 2014
Q: Peter,

You have commented in the past that you like companies to show some momentum in terms of sales and earnings. When we have skittish (down?) markets like we have now, with talk of declining sales and profits, how do you determine if that momentum still exists - wait for a few weeks of upticks?
Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on February 04, 2014
Q: Would you please comment on what is going on in the markets today; is this a buying opportunity or should we wait. What do you do with your portfolio on days like this?
Read Answer Asked by Richard on February 03, 2014
Q: Is this a relatively sound strategy:
"Buy all stocks in a single sector (100% market share) to mitigate risk of competition between the players."

For example, in a stable and growing market like Canadian telecom, I'll just buy Telus, Rogers AND BCE which makes up for 90% (?) of the telecom market. Sounds like a no-brainer. Of course there is risk from outside competition but it sounds like since the Verizon entry into Canada didn't materialize, there isn't much competition anyway.

There is over-concentration risks etc and also regulatory risk, however.
Read Answer Asked by Eugene on February 03, 2014
Q: Hello Everyone:
If one wishes to protect portfolio from sudden drop what might be your suggestion. I am toying with selling HXD Puts. Is this a viable strategy? and how many Puts I will need for a $100K portfolio?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Shah on February 03, 2014
Q: Do not know if this question has been addressed here before.
What are your views on using stop losses?
Read Answer Asked by Andie on February 02, 2014
Q: Peter; For anyone interested in the fracking industry they should get the March 2013 copy of National Geographic. It explains in detail the total system and it's problems and benefits . It is really an eye opener.
Rod
Read Answer Asked by Rodney on February 02, 2014
Q: Hi guys. There is alot of news regarding emerging market economies raising their interest rates in order to boost their plunging currency. is there any possibility of Canada doing the same any time soon?

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by john on January 31, 2014
Q: Picking-up on a previous comment from a subscriber
about "RBCdirectinvesting" honouring DRIP discounts within their accounts, I called them to confirm this and they DO in fact provide this service, but only for selected equity's based on the holdings of their Client's and subject to review periodicaly.
My question to 5iResearch is:
Is there a web-site that lists companies that provide a discount (in a DRIP) to share purchases?
To my knowledge RBC is the only Discount Brokerage that honours this (albiet on a selected basis). Any comments from 5i Subscriber's is welcome.

Thanks in advance!
Read Answer Asked by Scot on January 31, 2014
Q: I have followed Ross Healy for many years and have a lot of respect for him despite getting into some of his loosing recommendations that cost me dearly. I have come to conclude that he is a master at identifying overvalued companies, but on the opposite end many of his picks turn out to be value traps. Mr. Healy constantly harps on the “price to book” ratio of a company and I have heard him state that every other metric is just fluff. My question relates to how you believe “price to book” factors as a metric for evaluating stock picks. How (if at all) does the price to book ratio factor into 5i’s recommendations, and how important do you feel this metric is when evaluating a company’s stock price?
Read Answer Asked by Steven on January 30, 2014
Q: A suggestion to other members. I use canadianinsider.com to see if management has faith in their own company. After the AD and EIF problems, I looked at HNL & insiders have been selling since November.

I give these managements an "F" and either sell or avoid buying them.
Read Answer Asked by William on January 29, 2014
Q: What would you recommend as the best Canadian stocks and ETFs to hold to help offset a continued deterioration of the Canadian dollar?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Glen on January 28, 2014
Q: Peter and Team,

Just a general question --- what are your thoughts on this "emerging markets crisis".
Read Answer Asked by Fay on January 28, 2014
Q: ERF Enerplus has done really well in the past year. I still expect quite a bit more due to their significant growth in production in the US. Question is the Ex-dividend date is Feb 3, the record date is Feb 5. What is the purpose of the ex-dividend date being different than the record date. Is it the record date that counts as to whom gets the dividend.
Al
Read Answer Asked by Al on January 28, 2014
Q: Peter - It looks like this downturn in the markets may go on for sometime. I never knew that the chinese shadow banking system was worth $7 trillion dollars and now analysts are actively saying that it is only a matter of time before one of these banks goes under. That should be a real treat to the market. With Argentina etc. things look like it could be very nasty for awhile. I know you would say that we should hold tight but there must be a hedging system that we can use either with US or Canadian money to protect ourselves. What do you recommend as a strategy to protect ourselves.
Read Answer Asked by Jim on January 28, 2014
Q: In response to Larry's fx question, I call CIBC when I buy and sell u.s. Stocks on the same day and request the same exchange rate (ask for fx netting). Never had a problem they will easily oblige and save you the enormous bid ask spread they charge on fx. Hope this helps.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on January 27, 2014
Q: I feel this is a dumb unintelligent question but have wanted to ask it several times in my life to someone who might be able to explain - On days like the past few where markets drop for no apparent reason, across the board, where does the money that is pulled typically get parked or allocated? I mean I look at my otherwise balanced portfolio and see maybe a 3-4% down in almost everything. Is it the big institutional investors that that get "sell" signals and then start the downward trend and then rebuy, placing money in cash short term? I mean I wish I had done that last Friday, but just curious. - Cheers.
Read Answer Asked by Philip on January 27, 2014
Q: I am trying to decipher rules at various brokerages re: forex charges. I have a $C RSP at CIBC and recently made two $US trades on the same day. I was charged for the full value of the trades both buying and selling rather than on the net amount. Is that the normal practice? Seems like somewhat of a ripoff.
Thanks for your reply.
Larry
Read Answer Asked by Larry on January 27, 2014
Q: This morning in a response to Paul, you recommended corporate bond ETFs for the bond portion of a portfolio. It seems to me corporate bonds are very closely correlated to equities so I'm wondering about the rationale. True that the bonds are less volatile but when equities tumble, so do the corporates.
Read Answer Asked by Fred on January 27, 2014
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