Investment Q&A

Q: For anyone wanting to access Peter's webinar, it is on the TD website now. You should be able to access it by going to:

https://www.td.com/ca/products-services/investing/td-direct-investing/investor-education/webinars.jsp

scroll down to "Five Factors to Consider in Small Cap Stocks" and register.

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Q: I was unable to watch Peter's webinar yesterday - is it still available somewhere? Thanks!

Q: Bonjour, my broker suggested an ETF with very low trading volume. But she said that the volume was actually much bigger. Is it because of in-house market or transactions between brokers that do not show on regular exchanges? Not knowing bid/ask, I’m somewhat wary of not getting a fair price for what I buy or sell. I would much prefer an ETF with some steady volume. Comments please.

Q: I would like to get 5iR thoughts on the following March 31, BEI.UN trading activity. BEI.UN high for the day was 59.11. At 3:49 PM the price was 59.00, volume 200. At 3:53 I bought 140 shares at 58.80. Between 3:53 & 3:59 the price varied between 58.78 & 58.87 with individuals volumes less than 1000. Then just before 4:00, 69,000 shares were sold & bought at 58.79.

So my question is, what is 5iR thoughts on why, just before the market closes, shares of BEI.UN previously trading at volumes less than 1,000 shares per trade, an investor sells 69,000 shares (much more than previous individual trades) at a price close to the day’s low. I know you can’t exactly know the sellers thinking, but do you have any thoughts on the seller’s strategy. (69,000 x 58.79 = $4,056,510) Thanks … Cal

Q: Any chance there will be access to an archived version of Mr. Hodson's presentation tomorrow? I am unable to attend.
Thank-you,
Cal

Q: Hi 5i.
Thanks for your continuing great service.

I am trying to find a way to hold US stocks without being subject to US Estate Tax or the need for T1135 tracking.

Are CDRs on US stocks subject to US Estate Tax?

Are CDRs on US stocks subject to T1135 reporting?

Are there other vehicles, besides selected Canadian- company-managed ETFs, that enable ownership of US stocks without exposure to US Estate Tax or T1135 exposure?

Which Canadian companies managing US stock EFTs are not subject to these issues?

Are the Canadian branches of US companies that manage US stock EFTs deemed by CRA to be US or Canadian?

Any additional comments or suggestions that you may have on these topics would be greatly appreciated.

Please deduct as many question credits as appropriate.

Many thanks !

Q: What is Norbert’s Gambit? I have read about it but don't fully understand it.

Would you recommend an inexperienced investor use this to buy US stocks?

Thank you.

Q: I have $ 300 K US to invest . Can you suggest safe investments that would be covered by CDIC. My time frame is 1-3 years. Thanks

Q: Regarding shorting stock….
What is the typical fee to short/borrow stock.
Is there a maximum timeframe to hold short positions.
Is there a float % of shares that shorters can hold.
Is there a total maximum number of shares that are available to be shorted.
Thank you

Q: Hi 5i
As we all know, growth companies need to maintain strong growth to justify their valuations. In looking at some past answers, I am not clear if you prefer earnings growth or revenue growth as the key metric. For a tech company, what would you consider as a strong earnings growth rate and a strong revenue growth rate? How many years do you look out? Are there any websites that show these projections? I do not believe that your website shows forward looking growth rates, just historical ones.
Thanks again.

Q: When holding Canadian securities in USD accounts that pay dividends in CAD$, do fx charges get applied to convert to USD?

Q: Hi 5i
There are some tenured investors behind the answers at 5i so I wonder how the question of taxation is view.

I have always considered taxation something to avoid where possible (buy and hold) and have worked to find strategies to delay taxation (Registered accounts).

How should taxation fit in the thinking of a long term investor trying to grow wealth and cash flow to enjoy life?

It obviously matters. But in the long run except to keep activity low, there seems to be little an investor can do about it.

Dave

Q: This is a comment more than a question. I find having a lot of US stocks in my portfolio dampens down the volatility. On bad days in the market the flight to safety strengthens the US dollar against the loonie and in good days the exchange rate goes against me the other way and reduces the contribution of my US equities. Over time I find my return is about the same but I sleep better on the way.

Q: I am a recently retired 60 year-old investor who has a DB pension, fairly large RRSP, and wish to hold off CPP until age 70 for maximum benefit.
So based on the above, even with some income-splitting, tax-wise I am going to get taken to the cleaners once I hit my 70's. I am planning to withdraw some RRSP money over the next 10 years in an attempt to lessen the hit.

Generally I am a dividend investor, but the dreaded dividend gross-up does further damage to my situation with regards to the OAS claw-back. I am wondering if I should be adding more of the growth type companies instead (eg. BAM, CSU, FSV) instead of adding to my dividend-paying stocks.

I know you are not tax experts and don't expect any specific advice, but do you have a general opinion on a retiree balancing their mainly dividend portfolio with some growth? I always thought dividends were taxed better than capital gains, but that gross-up is the enemy here.

Q: Could you please explain how Dentalcorp declared a 43 million dollar loss and at the same time declared a profit of over 9 million dollars

What accounting magic do they use ?

What do you think of the results that they just posted today

Thanks

Paul

Q: Hi 5i
I use mental stops more so than hard stops. I am just curious that if I place a stop loss limit order, is that order visible to anyone using the market depth order data? Sometimes it seems like depth changes on more thinly traded stocks. That’s why I use mental stops.
Thanks.

Q: Hi,

A question was asked on March 16 about both GOOG & GOOGL splitting in July. (yes, for both).

I checked and it looks like the CDR version trading on the Neo exchange will follow suit as well, but there is a twist.

From the CIBC-CDR website: "... CDR holders will experience the same economic impact of a share split as they would if the underlying security (GOOG:US) were held directly."

They go on to say, it could either be an automatic increase in the number of CDR shares held (at the same 20:1 split) or it could be an increase in the "CDR Ratio", also by a factor of 20.
Either way it's equivalent, but I'd rather see the extra number of shares showing up in my portfolio, as opposed to just having the CDR Ratio get adjusted in the background by NEO & CIBC.

I guess we will know more in July.
Rob.

Q: In reference to having Canadian stock that pay dividends in US$ transferred to the US side of your account. I did this but it didn't work out !! My broker would do a double conversion. They would receive the US funds convert them to CDN$ then back to US$ to put in my US$ account.

Q: HI folks.
Happy Spring.
I believe that I once saw your List of Canadian Companies that pay their dividends in US dollars. Would you please send me the link.
I am slowly going to sell off and then rebuy the stocks that I own in Canadian $ ( over the the US $ side of my accounts with existing US $ cash). Is this the best plan in order to avoid FX charges and receive my dividends in US$ ? At what point is it not worth it??
Much thanks

Q: Hello Peter, I am tuning in my stocks scanner and need some inputs from your team on difference ratios / parameters i should be using. example sales ratio what would be a good low / high limit going into a high interest rate environment. Could you fill in with more more ratio like PE, debt to equity, debt to cash flow,.. with each low and high limits value I can use when scanning for stock with North American markets.

Thanks