Investment Q&A

Q: Dear Peter,

Don Vialoux has spoken a few times, most recently on BNN, about the behaviour of the market in mid-term election years. He suggests an interesting pattern for these years: that the market takes a dive in January and then rallies between February and April. From April until October, the market takes another dive, and then begins a huge rally from October to the end of the year. His data goes back approximately 60 years. I realize that 5I believes in long term value investing, and not technical analysis so much, but I was wanting your opinion nonetheless on Mr. Vialoux's thesis.

With all your experience in the market, have you noted such similar co-relations, and if so, how would you play the position with the higher risk stocks in your portfolio? (My view would be that it would be a good time to add to higher risk companies which are essentially solid otherwise, but are experiencing volatility, and to hold down the tent on the conservative parts of the portfolio.)

Your opinion is much appreciated. Thank you.

Q: New video feature - what a great idea. Bravo.

Q: Hello Team,
Just came across this article in The Telegraph and it fits in with my thinking and why I invest independently and rely on the 5i Team for additional advice. Fellow 5i members may find it of interest.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10636217/Terry-Smith-Investors-are-their-own-worst-enemies.html

Kind regards,
Ronald

Q: Thanks for the answer on div of the banks

I found this blog that seems to have done a study of all of them big ones

http://spbrunner.blogspot.ca/2014/01/bank-of-nova-scotia-2.html

perhaps needless, but still to say that I am not associated in any way with that blog and cannot vouch for the accuracy (or lack of) of the info there

Q: re: Scot/Feb 13 - thanks for the info on 'www.longrundata.com'. Be careful with it: enb=22.43% but enb.tse=18.63%. Shud b same: arbitrage. Not all work ie. atd.b.tsx

Q: can you tell me what has historically been average highest and lowest dividend rate of canadian banks?

Q: Tax treatment of spousal trusts. Can income in a spousal trust be taxed in the trust using the graduated tax levels or must all income be taxed in the hands of the beneficiaries at their marginal tax level. Hope this is not too far off topic. Thanks.

Q: Re question on life income fund, after you turn 65 in canada all income from lif and rif can be split with your wife.dave

Q: In response to James,
A LIF is essentially a RRIF, so if James is 65 years of age before the end of the year, his RRIF withdrawal in that year would qualify as "eligible pension income" that can be split with his spouse on his tax return

Q: Re James question about splitting income from a LIF...the following is from CRA's website:

What is eligible pension income?
Eligible pension income is generally the total of the following amounts received by the pensioner in the year (these amounts also qualify for the pension income amount):

the taxable part of life annuity payments from a superannuation or pension fund or plan; and
if they are received as a result of the death of a spouse or common-law partner, or if the pensioner is 65 years of age or older at the end of the year:
annuity and registered retirement income fund (including life income fund) payments; and
registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) annuity payments.

Q: I am 65 years old now, I have a Life Income Fund that I got from converting a Direct Contribution Pension I earned from a large Canadian company, do you know or any of your readers know if I can split this income with my wife?

Also could I have your opinion of Birus Gold and Sea Drgon Energy?

Very pleased with your service and recently reviewed for another 2 years.

Jim

Q: Just a comment. Just saw Peters video answer to timely question. A nice touch. Well done.

Q: In response to Nick about past intraday charting, I always use MSN (http://money.msn.com) but you need to enter "CA:" before the ticker, its chart are the best I've seen, and you can view all charts by date, and they are also very flexible (1.2 years...or what ever you want, by clicking you mouse on the chart and using the scrolling button) hope this helps.

Q: In response to Nick about past intraday charting, on the TSX site if you bring up a specific stock, you can then go to "price history". Enter a date and it displays the chosen days' high/low and volume. Not quite a graph, but probably what he wants, and goes back several years.

Q: I gather you don't report on US markets.

Q: Reply to Paul re-Canadian dividend history. Try ca.dividendinvestor.com. The free service lets you look up any company's dividend history by call letters with increases etc. The free part is for ten years of history I believe. If you get a paid subscribtion, then you can use their screeners and other services. The free site is very good for looking up history if you know which company(s) you are interested in. I have had no experience on the paid site.
Ed

Q: Hello Peter
Longrundata.com give a wonderful list of companies in the US that have increased dividends every year for 25 years or more. I have hunted and cannot find an equivalent list for Canadian stocks. Do you know where to look or maybe some of 5i readers may know.
Thankyou Paul

Q: Hello 5i Team. I have just gone on my own with my RSP (now RIFF) with my 9 holdings. I want to switch some and buy more to get close to your Model Portfolio. Here is what I own and have owned for many years. BCE-11.25%, Enbridge-17.93%, Fortis-11.91%, Imperial Oil-13.52%, Manulife Financial-5.87%, Teck Res (TCK.B)-7.85%, TD-18.93%, UEX (bought at over $7.00 now .48cents)-.47%. Which if not all of the Model Portfolio would you suggest and what should I sell if any? I will keep UEX out of spite and when I'm old and grayer perhaps it will come back :)...you're the best and thank you ahead of time.

Q: Hi 5i,

thanks for the great service. I have a general question: is there a web site where I could see the intraday chart for a past date, lets say a year ago?

regards

Q: Do you believe we are entering an era of disinflation / deflation or inflation?