Investment Q&A

Q: Good Morning 5i and Happy New Year,
You answered a question earlier this morning and I am not totally clear on the answer. You mentionned that at a certain point in one's portfolio it would be wise to diversify into real estate, commodities etc.

I was confused because normally a portfolio would contain a certain percentage of commodities , reits, etc. That makes me think you are referring to something else. if so, what is it you would be referring to? Here is the post from earlier:
Above $4 or $5M, or even before, we would also consider alternative investments, such as real estate, hedge funds, or non-correlated assets (commodities, etc). We would not necessarily include these in the count of securities, assuming they are indeed not closely correlated to the rest of the portfolio. '
thanks

Q: I would like to purchase shares of WSP:CA on the US side of my RBC account via the ticker sign WSPOF (OTC Pink). I wish to purchase in US dollars to save on FX fees.

What is the impact on my proposed investment? Are their any downsides or is it essentially the same investment with a USD currency risk?

Q: What are your thoughts on investing in the CIBC CDR versions like GOOG.NE versus buying GOOG on the US stock exchange? The lower price makes it possible to buy a board lot but it does leave me in a currency hedged product. Thanks for the advice.

Q: This question may be a little premature however with on line discount brokerages such as CIBC Investors Edge about to charge fees to buy and sell Mutual funds where can I find a place to park short term cash?
I have been using Investors Edge high interest accounts which pay very little however are easy to use. Being a Mutual Fund this will incur fees in the future?
As I have twelve (12) different investment accounts this can become a little pricey for no upside other than minimal interest.
I am now looking for another home for short term cash . Ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Q: Hi 5i a question relating to a members comment, Scott Jan 12, regarding the transfer of US listed ENB to the CDN side. I occasionally use Norbert's Gambit with DLR and had not thought of using a dual listings. Is there any reason the transaction with ENB differs from DLR to transfer currency?

Q: Good morning,

I just sold a US stock in my Non Registered US$ account that was paying dividends in US $ and was subject to a withholding tax.

I'm now considering the purchase of ENB for a solid and good dividend and would appreciate your thoughts on the following:

Q1. Is there any advantage of purchasing ENB in my Can$ Non Registered account over purchasing ENB in my US$ Non Registered account.

Q2. If I buy ENB in my US$ Non Registered account, on the US stock exchange, would ENB:US dividends be taxed as income and subject to a withholding tax?

I thank you and look forward to hearing your sage advice.

Q: Is the Buffett Indicator of any value today. Meaning if it goes above 180% should you rethink your momentum stocks and reduce margin? Buffett indicates that above 200% is dangerous and 120% is now normal. Have these numbers been adjusted in recent years due to quantitative easing and now that the feds have reduced quantitative easing should they be tightened? What do you feel the new normal range is with the feds hawkish change? I know timing the market is never good, but I think reducing margin and removing the gasoline at times should be considered.

Q: I use covered calls on a small number of US stocks to generate monthly cash flow and I am wondering what you recommend when coming up to an earnings report. Typically I use short duration calls of 1 month.

Is it better to wait for the report or ignore that and write a one month call that would straddle the earnings report? The other possibility, of course, would be to write a very short option to expire just before the earnings report.

I am looking at LMT at the moment but this is more of a "What factors would you consider in deciding in this kind of situation?"

Many thanks

Mike

Q: How do we as investors gauge "capitulation" in the markets. Would you say we are getting close in certain sectors i.e. technology. Thanks for your insight.

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor, with a reasonably diversified portfolio. I remember a question a while back (months, maybe even > a year?) about asset allocation, but I can't find it even after a lengthy search.

It had to do with how many stocks-ETFs, MFs one needed for a reasonably diversified portfolio, but in the context of the size of the portfolio as it grew over time.

For example, I hold 2 legacy dividend-income MFs (10% of portfolio), 7 ETFs (40%), 15 stocks (50%), ignoring the fixed income portion of my portfolio => a total of 24 equity positions. I am a firm believer in a concentrated portfolio and vary my allocation to meet my targeted allocations both by sector and security (allowing for my definition of comfort level or risk).

Your answer to the earlier question was that as one's portfolio grew over time, one might consider increasing the number of equity positions. I can't remember where the rough breakpoints were that one should consider adding additional positions.

Q#1 = acknowledging that you can't provide personal guidance, would the current asset allocation be suitable for a total portfolio of approximately $1-2 million?

Q#2 = roughly where should a person consider increasing their # positions? $3 million....$4MM?

Thanks for your help...much appreciated...Steve

Q: If you would like to do a short term trade with a long position are calls a better option than purchasing the stock?

Q: So I read in the G&M that household savings are at record numbers ; some $ 300 billion , twice the average of the last 2 years , yet I understand that Canadians are in debt to an unprecedented degree. How can this be ? The savers and debtors must be not the same person. Personally, I believe the boomers will come to the rescue of the many indebted GenX and Millennials by passing their sizeable assets over upon their last gasp.
Any thoughts ?

Derek ( boomer)

Q: I've heard on a recent podcast that the 'buy and hold' strategy will not work anymore in the current investing environment and that one's holding period shouldn't be more than 10 to 14 months. Would you agree with this?

Q: I’m considering selling Dorel once the dividend is paid. If the stock is sold on the dividend ex-date, who get dividend the buyer of the seller?

Q: Not really a question, more of a comment.

I had asked a question a number of days ago about ABBV, and I had referenced a PE ratio of 32 . Your team said they did not know where I got my figure from (I actually got it from Morningstar), and you had indicated that the forward PE was much lower than that. I see that your own database shows that the PE is 32. I realize that this, perhaps, is a trailing figure, but maybe there is also something else I am missing.

Q: there seems to be more questions recently asking for good entry price points.....for me, I tend to just buy when I'm keen to enter or add to a position...with that in mind, I'm wondering if there are few tips or hints that you would share on how to go about evaluating for a good entry price point or a reference or two to read over and then for me to mull over.....thanks....Tom

Q: Hello Peter and Staff

I have 2 questions on this security.

a) What fees are buried in this ETF?
b) Is the price you pay per unit based on the value of the securities held by that ETF divided by units outstanding or just what investors are paying because they want to own this ETF? If that is the case , is it really a good way to own the six companies ?

Thanks for all you do

Dennis

Q: Hi 5i,
What is the rationale to invest in sector-specific ETFs rather than index funds? It seems like the index themselves typically perform quite well compared to ETFs unless one is looking to gain exposure in a specific sector.

Looking back to Adam's question on 06-Jan regarding 2021 performance:
S&P 500: 28.7%
TSX: 25.1%
Here I thought I was doing reasonable with my 16%...
I certainly enjoy investing and learning about specific stocks and ETFs but this difference is hard to ignore.

Thanks,
Kyle

Q: Hi Peter and Staff

Why do tech stocks get hammered due to projected interest rate increases because “investors compare those earnings to what they can get on other investments”

Do stocks in other sectors not face the same competitive investments ?

Does this not hold true for many companies on other sectors ?

Thanks for all you do

Dennis

Q: I regularly use Globe Investor some terminology used by professionals on these sites and TV require some explanation. For instance, i.e. Trade Desk just as an example, the price/earnings (TTM) 142.2; earnings per share (TTM) 0.57;
Doing my math the share price 79.00 @ 11:00 a.m. divided by 0.57 = 138.59
Am I right you would be paying 138.59? Above I said the PE was 142.2 doing my math would the PE now be 138.59? I realize every move in the stock price changes the PE slightly.
Another frequently used termination is free cash flow. Please explain. I know I have the right people to explain the above.
Thank you