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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: Peter Could you please tell me the diff between a ETF and a mutual fund in my opinion some else is controlling your future for a fee .
Kind Regards
Stan
Read Answer Asked by Stan on December 09, 2013
Q: are there any good nanotechnology companies worth investing in, and are they potentially a good investment long term. thank u
Read Answer Asked by dale on December 09, 2013
Q: Goodday peter and team, heres my 2 cents on the new portfolio (growth vs. income) idea. before I subscribed to 5I I was pretty much fully invested in the Canadian resource sector,thinking that the world would always need resources. well they do and don't,ive turned a 180,000 portfolio into a little over 60,000 today . ive had to grind my teeth, grrrr as ive sold losers to invest into 5I reccomendations to see somewhat of a turnaround (thankyou). income or growth? for me its growth growth growth. tkx pat
Read Answer Asked by patrick on December 09, 2013
Q: Hi Peter & Team:
Appreciate your help. I Submitted this question on Dec 4 and was
informed "your question has been submitted.", so I don't know what transpired. Anyhow, on Dec 2 Edward submitted a question about year end distributions. Is it true or not that in many cases with stocks, mutual funds & etfs the drop is not as large as the payout and so is advantageous? Also, many years hence I
owned some seg funds,and my advisor, who passed away a long time ago had me sell them, because he said he had made an error.
The funds were not popular, volume was low, and he anticipated that it would be wound down. He feared that the last holders would be stuck with large distributions. I asked if those who
sold during the year wouldn't get a t3. He replied," they are gone." Did he understand the workings of funds?
Thanks in advance Peter.
BEN
Read Answer Asked by BEN on December 09, 2013
Q: While asset allocation is more personal to ones situation whats your opinion on these ETF's for a portfolio revamp or are there better options that one should consider.
Bonds - XBB, U.S. - XSP, International - XIN, emerging markets - VWO, there is also a Canadian allocation and cash but I am not sure about these 4 ETF selections.
Read Answer Asked by Peter on December 09, 2013
Q: Safe Fixed Income Instrument

I am a retiree, and need a safe place to keep money in fixed income instrument. I consider this money as last line of defense. I have a stock portfolio with which I am satisfied.

I kept this money in GIC which pays almost nothing. Also tapering is expected in 2014. Please suggest a financial instrument. If I go back to GIC please suggest how long to tie up the money. I do not need it now. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Shah on December 09, 2013
Q: Hello Peter et al.

There have been questions where the subscriber listed all or most of his/her portfolio. I suspect that reflects a need (and an opportunity) for an expanded service from your company to address and give advice on an investor’s total portfolio.

Such service would be in addition to the regular subscription and would necessitate the investor providing his Investment Policy Statement and financial and personal details. Naturally the service would be in addition to the regular subscription service, and at whatever the going fee is for such service. An investor may desire a review every three or four years.

My wife and I have a total of five accounts which I handle as one large portfolio. No doubt some dogs have slipped into the portfolio over the years (my first investment was in 1961 at the age of 26) and I would gladly pay (no idea of the going rate, perhaps a thousand dollars) for a portfolio review and recommendations (about 32 stocks plus 4 ETFs and a couple of Pfds and Cnv. Debs. There are other organizations that provide that service, but I know of none that carry your credibility.

In my view the service would be a separate niche within your company, with the service only open to subscribers of the regular service.

Your choice on whether or not to publish all or part of the above.

Bob
Read Answer Asked by Robert on December 09, 2013
Q: What is your near term market strategy with regards to the Fed set to begin tapering in one of the next four months? Thanks as always.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on December 09, 2013
Q: I have $15,000 in TFSA and I am wondering how to structure it.
Main goal would be income (dividents) and hopefully 7-9% capital appreciation per year. Nothing aggressive, but steady income and some growth.
The problem is the size of the capital on hand, only $15,000.
Read Answer Asked by Ivan on December 09, 2013
Q: Is Peter and team going to start another model portfolio for 2014.
Read Answer Asked by vince on December 08, 2013
Q: Hi in a response to an earlier question you mentioned the main drivers to equities are (1) earnings (2) interest rates and (3) money flows (people going to cash/shifting from bonds to stocks). Where would an investor find information on money flows and how would you use it to inform decisions? thanks
Read Answer Asked by Rob on December 08, 2013
Q: This is more of a comment than a question. It would appear that some viewers would like you to be a a portfolio manager rather that an information source. Kudos for responding to those requests in the manner that you do.
Read Answer Asked by steve on December 08, 2013
Q: I still own some shares of Poseidon Concepts. I don't know if I can even sell them but is there any point to holding on to them?
thanks. Great service.
Read Answer Asked by John on December 08, 2013
Q: hello 5i:
please share your views on the Price/Sales ratio, and what that would look like for one of your A rated stocks versus a B or C. Or, would it be easier to give your guidelines for mature vs growth companies? 5-year ratios for this metric are easily obtained, and I've always TRIED (not successfully) to use Ben Grahams' <0.9. Very difficult to find nowadays; is that just because the market valuation is so much higher?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by Paul on December 08, 2013
Q: Good Morning,

I am wondering is there a single location I can find out which Canadian Companies offer DRIP plans and what is the percentage discount offer. Also is there any other key facts I should be looking at when considering a drip plan also could you discuss the merits of a drip in or out of a tax free accounts. The TD securities rep did know where to look. Thank you again for the excellent service.
mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on December 08, 2013
Q: Hi, could you please indicate your criteria for your Park & Hold List selections? Thx, Gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on December 06, 2013
Q: I got a question regarding my LIRA. I have 26 stocks in the account and I am just curious if I have too many or now enough. Also if I am diversified enough or to heavy in a certain sector. MY one rule I have for this account is the company must pay a dividend.

The securities that I own are as follows:

ALA, AGNC, ARX, T(AT&T), BTE, ZWB, BNP, CNK, CPG
DCI, DFN, DD, FTS, FRU, HR.UN, IDX.UN, JNJ, LIQ
MRT.UN, PPL, PKO, POW, REI.UN, SBUX, SPH, WJX

I am above on almost all stocks and have held most of this since April 2011. My lowest holding is 1.15% of portfolio and my largest holding is 10.81 % of portfolio. My general rule is no one stock should be over 5% of portfolio. (SBUX and JNJ have gone up and now break this rule)

What are your thoughts on this portfolio and if you recommend selling anything what would I replace it with long term (15 plus years)

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Jimmy on December 06, 2013
Q: Re: comment posted by William Dec5/13 on Corby class B shares:
Excuse my ignorance but what is meant by the term "coat tail provision"?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by William on December 06, 2013
Q: I have had good success following 5i's advise on stock picking, so much so that my wife has decided to let me invest her rsp savings.(oh oh)I plan on following 5i's model portfolio with a few stock exeptions. My question is I understand that December is a turbulant month because of large investor sell offs for year end results. if you were me, would you wait for January or go for it now.
Read Answer Asked by david on December 06, 2013