Investment Q&A

Q: Everyone, in today’s environment of instant information and volume of information how far back in time should you use information for decision making (with the exception of financial data)? 3 months, 6 months? Clayton

Q: RE: 2025-03-07: Geographic - Diversification - For now, we would still favour the US, with a general suggested 50%, 30%, 20% (USA, CAN, INT). International could be 10% to 20% depending on the investor.

I'm currently converting my 25 stock portfolio to just two Balanced All-In-One ETFs: XBAL and AOM. I've determined the GEO distribution is: XBAL (45%, 25%, 29%) and AOM (62%, 3%, 34%). A mix of XBAL and AOM will leave my portfolio with ~ 30% International exposure -higher than 5i suggests above.

I googled this to try to figure out why these Balanced All-In-One funds have 'higher' international exposure:

"J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions suggest developed international stocks may produce better annual returns than U.S. equities over the next 10 to 15 years. The expected difference is about 1.4% annually – specifically, 8.1% for EAFE stocks (Europe, Australasia, Far East) versus 6.7% for U.S. stocks."


Your comments on this difference in international exposure would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Q: Greetings 5i,

We are possibly entering a period of change in the direction of interest rates. Canada and the US could be heading in different interest rate directions. Up for debate I suppose.

Could 5i provide a quick refresher on sectors and possibly companies that do well with rising interest rates and those that do poorly. A broad explanation would be appreciated as well as your thoughts on the direction of rates today.

Cheers!

Q: What do you think about the recent insider tech sell off by Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, and others? Is this a signal of an incoming tech and general market crash?

Q: Can you elaborate a bit on your philosophy “Letting Winners ride”? Very difficult to do so when consistently managing position sizing. I own companies you have serious conviction in (BN, CSU, CLS, GOOG) that are becoming larger allocations in my portfolio. They feel like “Winners”, so why trim?

Can you provide an example or two that you personally have let winners run? And maybe a reason why you chose not to trim?

Thank you

Q: Hi 5i team,

With the Fed now ending quantitative tightening (QT) and possibly cutting rates, I'm wondering what the combination means for the market from your perspective.

1. How do you think the end of QT might affect U.S. and Canadian stocks in the short term and long term? Are there certain sectors or styles (growth vs value, cyclicals vs defensives) that you’d expect to benefit more? How about Crypto?

2. Some people are saying that stopping QT is almost like getting an extra rate cut in terms of liquidity. Do you agree, or is that overstated?


Thanks,
Matt

Q: Hey 5i, I would like your suggestions on portfolio construction for a retired individual. Basically I would like your suggestions for percentage breakdown between Canada, US, and international. My plans for international is just buying VXUS and calling it a day. For Canada I’m buying ETFs XDIV and CDZ. For the US I’m going to buy the 11 sectors (including REITS) through ETFs, either Vanguards or ishares. So I would like your suggestions on percentages put to the 11 sectors in the US for a retired individual. Thanks so much and what a great service you have!

Q: Similar to how you don't like giving price targets, isn't having a "starter" position a similar sin? Like how lump sum is better than DCA, wouldn't it makes sense to just go all in (to the goal % of portfolio you'd like to have).

Q: What are your thoughts on the recent S&P Global Ratings downgrade on Tether? As reported in the Financial Times:

The rating agency warned that the company has “limited transparency on reserve management and risk appetite, lack of a robust regulatory framework [and] no asset segregation to protect against the issuer’s insolvency”.

Thank you.

Michael

Q: Are you aware of any studies done comparing the accuracy of performance of stocks using - Technical Analisys vs Fundamental Analisys? If so what are the results is one method more accurate.

Q: I think a lot of utilities tied to the wind-farm industry have taken quite a hit since Trump came back to tilt at windmills (Orsted, for example). But Trump won't be around forever. Assuming a significant rebound following his demise, what companies provide the greatest opportunity going forward? Please include one or two Canadian investment opportunities in your answer.

Q: Macro/ banking -financial question

Sub prime mortgage crisis encore?

Do you see any evidence to suggest that this possibility is lurking just below the surface potentially could explode in the near future?

Thanks

Q: Please flesh out your use of RSI.
What patterns or movements do you consider most relevant in trying to identify bullish or bearish moves?

Thank you,

John

Q: Hello,
I assume like most subscribers, I read the questions section almost daily and wonder if any of the stocks mentioned are in your various portfolios.

To find out if they are involves many steps which is inconvenient. Is there a way to indicate if the stock is in a current portfolio? Maybe a Star or similar symbol?
Many thanks

Q: Markets are acting pretty badly with most of AI in retreat. Even growth names like NFLX and SpOT are very weak. What would you recommend for investors who have a medium risk tolerance. Sign me Concerned

Q: Would you consider BTCX.B:CA a good way to invest in Bitcoin. What’s your overall opinion of
Bitcoin and is it worth speculating a small portion
of one’s portfolio?

Q: Goldman shows currently that CTA's will dump stocks in every scenario (market up or down) over the next month, including total sales over $75 billion. This number is large versus average. Is this a meaningful indicator that you watch, or just another "worry"? I guess it is mainly an indicator of flow.

Q: Japan's 20Y has spiked to 2.75%, marking a historic shift. I tead this could trigger short-term volatility in risk assets. Do you act on this? For example my bond portfolio contains some ETFs with 10y and 20y durations. Should I move more to shorter duration? On equities higher risk assets are more vilnerable? How big of deal is this looking forward, or just another "worry"?

Q: Dear Peter:

Given your long experience working with some giants like Sprott and running funds, given the current market conditions, do you think Fund managers will sell and lock in their profits for year end performance figures or buy into weaknesses for a better performance figure next few quarters? Won't their buying and selling behavior affect the volatility?

From whatever I read, it seems that year end performance bonuses are important for many in the industry!!

I am not asking to "time the market" but to withdraw money from my Registered account for living expenses:)

Q: Everyone. As of today this is a normal correction and it will end. So what should we be doing in the next week(s)? Clayton