Investment Q&A

Q: Re Brians question about tax relative to RiF's on death relative to charities. An excellent source of information is your local Community Foundation. This is one of their specialties.

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I'm wondering if you have any suggestions for using options to generate routine income. So far, I mainly write puts on companies that are temporarily out of favour but that I wouldn't mind holding for a while and also collect a dividend if I end up having to hold for a bit (e.g, ENB, TD, BN, CVS). I do this randomly (e.g., once or twice a year on a couple of companies) but would like to increase the frequency. I don't have a good sense for what expiry date I should choose (I typically go out six months or more) or the best strike price (I usually pick around the current price). Do you have any good ideas for the current market that you could suggest and could you recommend a resource to do more research. I'm currently thinking of writing puts on TD, CVS, and BTI and wondering if I should scatter their expiry dates.

Thanks as always,
Lisa

Q: I would like to give money to charities from my RRSP is there a beneficial way, what are the tax consequences?

Q: Hi Gang

Can you give me list of Reits and companies that pay in US cash

Thanks Mike B

Q: As for the Q. on Annamaque Mines and other worthless old stock certificates, they may still have some value as the artwork on some of these scrips is quite good and the promoters and "boiler rooms" that sold these to an unsuspecting public often put more $$$ into these pieces of banknote quality paper than the project.
A hobby exists called Scripophily and the better ones can be hundreds of $ in trading value.

https://scripophily.net/international/canada/

I have about 20 of these inherited from ancestors and the best adorn my office wall, some with an interesting history such as National Portland Cement Co. from 1908 with the Topeka bridge pictured crossing the Kansas River which collapsed in 1965, though I'm not certain it was from faulty concrete.

Q: Hi Peter, This might be a dumb question but I am going to ask. Do the graphs on 5i or yahoo or any other website reflect total return I.e include dividends ? If NOT then how to compare two stocks performance over different period of time ? e.g SLF vs MFC , Thanks

Q: I am hoping you can shed some light on the best way to receive dividends from Brookfield. I have used BAM in my example but I think all their companies work the same way.

The dividends are paid in US dollars. As a Canadian resident but holding the shares on a US exchange, it seems that I will be paid first in Canadian dollars and then the dividends will be converted to $US. That is unless I write my broker and ask for the dividends in US dollars directly. However, if I hold the shares on the TSX, the dividend will still be paid in US dollars and then converted unless I ask the company to pay me in Canadian dollars!

What is not clear is if there are any conversion fees attached to any of these options. What is the best/cheapest /easiest way to receive Brookfield dividends? Can it be done without having to contact either my brokerage or the company?

I tried to ask the company but their response was quite unclear.

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: A further question on AI. Has your firm investigated using it to aid investment decisions? I recently had a discussion with a university professor using AI to write papers for instance and it sounds like the possibilities are endless.

Q: When purchasing a CDR of a US company in a non tax sheltered account if the company pays a dividend what happens regarding withholding taxes.
Keith

Q: Dear 5i,
I came upon old (1945) stock certificate for Annamaque Mines, Limited when looking at old family papers. How can I check if shares have any value. Much Thanks for your advice.

Q: Good morning 5i
Just a clarification on your covered call strategy that you mentioned today. You said that if called away, say, at $45 you would immediately sell a put for $45 for about a month out. One of the reasons for this i imagine is that you think the stock has the wind in its sails. Right? Also, how would this strategy affect the superficial loss rule. I don’t imagine you would be seen as buying the stock within 30 days?
Thanks

Q: Could very briefly outline your covered call strategy? Thanks Jim

Q: After the Fed decision and Powell’s commentary on Thursday, a number of pundits declared that real rates will be higher for two or three years. What do you make of that assessment, and how would that affect the outlook for gold bullion and precious metals stocks?

Q: Hi, I want to buy Sonova Holding AG. It is a swiss company - how do i buy that as a canadian? Can I?

Q: I am seeking to understand geographic diversification as I confine my equity exposure to those listed in Canada or USA. However, many of these equities have international operations outside of North America. I think of this as my international diversification, although I believe this is not how geographic diversification is generally viewed. Appreciate any brief comments or insight you can give. This may be too general a topic to reply to in brief, so perhaps you could advise one or 2 references on the topic.
Much thanks, as always.
Cyril

Q: This is in response to Jim’s question regarding selling covered calls on Microsoft. I understand the fear of it easily rising above the strike price. Just a suggestion from an amateur, if you feel it would likely go up, you could instead sell a put. This is, of course, an opinion on the direction the stock is headed and 5i may not suggest that. But, it is maybe possibility

Q: Hi,
Is there an easy method to unsubscribe to all the printed documents I receive from Computershare for Annual General Meetings. Unless being a large shareholder, the voting material is usually of no interest (auditors, compensation plan). I still receive this material by email from many companies, which is fine. I like the letter to the shareholders, but too often absent. I prefer a better use of my recycle bin.
Thanks

Q: When 5i subscribers have done there homework and have made a decision to buy a stock for as you suggest a 2 to 5 year hold, why do so many of the daily questions concern a one day drop in price. Do you think that these daily watchers are just day traders and wondering why they cannot sleep at night?

Q: Question for the 5i team. I took over our investment accounts about 8 years ago and since then bonds were not particularly attractive. As bonds my be about to have their day in the sun I feel it may be time to consider adding them to our portfolio. I however lack the knowledge and experience to make informed decisions at this time. The first part of the question is, can you recommend any informative reading or sites that would be of benefit to a novice bond investor. The second part would be a quick summary of your outlook for bonds, longterm, short term, etc and opinion as to which bonds, ie treasuries, to junk, would offer high yield without excessive risk for young retirees. Thanks for all your helpful and sage advice.

Q: Chaikin Power Gauge
The infomercial on his tool to essentially time the market is puzzling on many levels.
- Is the performance valid to your knowledge?
- If a system can accuratly predict industries or stocks that will fall or rise in the next several months, what if everybody use it. What would be the impact on the market. Something like a self fullfiling prophecy? So people in on the system would sell or buy at the same time rendering the system useless because it could not predict the timing anymore.
- Why selling it when you can make money of it and maybe jeopardize it?

I know 5i would not comment on specific analysts but in general what would be your caveats on these kind of stock picking tools sold on the market?

Thanks as always for your excellent support and advices