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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: Hi Team,

With the assumption that retailers have an inventory problem there seem to me there are 2 outcomes:

1. Retailers take a hit on the products and sell at a lower price
2. Wages rise bringing more disposable income to purchase said inventory

Is there another case I don't see? How do you see this playing out?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by David on May 24, 2022
Q: With the probability of a June interest rate hike and GIC rates following,

would a lot of people be moving into GICs and out of stocks.
Thank You.
Read Answer Asked by nick on May 19, 2022
Q: Hi, I liked the reference to the CNN Fear&Greed Index in one of your Updates (Nov21). Would you have some comments on it with the awful market behavior since then. Do technical analysts or investors rely on these Indexes for decision making (F&G, VIX, Baltic Index or others) ? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Denise on May 18, 2022
Q: Hi 5i team,

Given recently many tech companies share price meltdown, I keep asking myself that are we going through 2000 dot com bobbles again? Could you please walk us through current situations your lens? If people have time to hold tech names for 3 to 5 years, will they be rewarded?
Read Answer Asked by Lin on May 17, 2022
Q: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/investment-ideas/article-the-stock-market-is-still-dangerously-bubbly-plus-four-reasons-why-the/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Globe%20Investor&utm_content=2022-5-13_18&utm_term=&utm_campaign=newsletter&cu_id=nVp9GpU7OpyOBgUaQxyFDw%3D%3D

Link to "The Stock Market is still dangerously bubbly"

I have been a blue chip dividend investor for almost 2 decades and have been more recently challenged to incorporate "growth stocks" and don't have a feel for this sector at all.

Please provide the 5i response or rebuttal to the bubbly status of the market?

Do larger growth stocks example, Googl, apple, Microsoft and amazon. represent a safety over the "average" growth stock?

thanks

Ernie
Read Answer Asked by Ernest on May 16, 2022
Q: Market Call - David Driscoll - He said that at the top of the market (S&P 500) people were ready to pay 26 times earnings. $26.00 for every dollar of earnings - it is now 20 times earnings. He said that in the last big market correction, earnings went to 16 times earnings. That is what he is waiting for before he puts his money to work. Your take on this?
Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on May 16, 2022
Q: So all of a sudden all the stocks which have seen nothing but strong momentum for days, weeks, months, are a big buy. Stocks down 30-40% just this month, down 20% this week, are shooting up. I assume this is not everyone getting together and deciding to buy the stocks which have been pummeled, even though they'll probably all drop again tomorrow. It's programmed trading kicking in on some sort of signal we mere mortals don't get. What would that signal be?
Read Answer Asked by John on May 13, 2022
Q: I have lived through the 2000/2001 tech wreck and the 2008 market correction and this market is just as ugly.What reasons do you have for believing we are near a market bottom. Has capitulation has already happened? Is the VIX telling us anything?Are rising rates not going to overwhelm government debts?An extended recession seems inevitable. IMHO

Read Answer Asked by Allen on May 13, 2022
Q: TSE60 hasn’t dropped as much as the S&P500. Reducing individual stocks risk and moved into TSE60, would it make sense to now move to the S&P 500? Or is the expectation that the TSE60 won’t drop as much as the S&P500? Where do you see the most up side potential from here.
Read Answer Asked by Carlos on May 13, 2022
Q: I've seen you mention in the Q and A that the bottom is likely close. And I've seen that in other analyst articles etc. But if the reaction is to the increase in interest rates and they keep going up, then why would the market bottom now? What are the chances that the market will be higher at the end of the year? And what happens if we then go into recession?
Read Answer Asked by Carla on May 13, 2022
Q: I found this excerpt from a December 29, 2000 New York Times article instructive:

From 1995 through 1997, the bull market was good for almost every company. Then, starting in 1998 it became more selective and by late 1999 and early 2000 it was focused on a fairly narrow group of stocks -- many of them highly speculative. The big market news of 2000 was the bursting of the bubble for many of them.

The collapse of Nasdaq appears to have damaged consumer confidence and contributed to the poor holiday sales this year. But most investors have stuck to the stock market, even as they abandoned Internet retailers and saw Microsoft lose 62 percent of its value. The Dow Jones utility average is up 46 percent in 2000, its best showing since 1943, as utilities profit from increased demand for power after years when few new generating plants were built.
End of excerpt.
In 2001 we had a 8 month recession.
Sound familiar?
I realize that there are a lot of differences now. We have the supply chain issues caused by the pandemic and a war which has caused a temporary spike in oil and gas and some agriculture related shortgages. in 2001 we had a recession. All this will pass. Not clear who will be the winners in the next 18 months. My guess is, all that money to be spent on infrastructure, anything to do with electric cars and weapons. Follow the money.


Read Answer Asked by Murray on May 12, 2022
Q: Nasdaq is now down about 28% from its' high in Nov. Based on the past history of corrections/bear markets, etc, what would you guess is the likelyhood of it going past 35% ??? Thanks Jim
Read Answer Asked by jim on May 11, 2022
Q: Hi 5i
Just curious. I realize there’s always 2sides to a trade. So with the market going down for a while now, who do you think is doing the trading.
Retail selling/buying or smart money in there somewhere.
Peter thanks to your advice over the years I’m watching the market and not doing anything irrational and definitely not worrying about today or tomorrow.
Thx
Read Answer Asked by Gerry on May 11, 2022
Q: Yesterday would have been Benjamin Graham's 128th birthday. Born in London on May 9, 1894, Graham founded the disciplines of security analysis and value investing, was Warren Buffett's mentor and wrote the classic book after which this newsletter is named.

Graham knew hardship. His father died when Ben was only eight years old, and the family business -- importing porcelain and decorative objects -- fell apart. His mother's brokerage account was wiped out in the Panic of 1907. Graham never forgot being sent to the bank as a boy and hearing the teller ask whether his mother was "good for five dollars."

Then, in and after the Crash of 1929, Graham's investment partnerships were almost wiped out. He went on to build one of the greatest investing track records of the 20th century, but he never forgot the lessons of loss:

Don't invest using borrowed money.
Never pay too much for the prospect of future profits.
Never count on greater fools to bail you out of reckless risks.
Above all, your results depend much less on how markets behave than on how you behave.
As fear fills the air and financial markets around the world continue to totter, do yourself a favor and read -- or reread -- what I consider the most important paragraph about investing Graham ever wrote. It may, in fact, be the most important paragraph about investing anyone has ever written:
Peter; Publish if you wish. Rod
Read Answer Asked by Rodney on May 10, 2022
Q: Stagflation - not sure if that’s on the horizon or not but what is the strategy of it is?
I am a buy and hold investor but feel I should hold off on putting more in for the time being. Or maybe keep averaging in over a year?
Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 09, 2022
Q: I have just made a charitable donation of securities. Normally I would replace them in my portfolio with a new buy. Is it a bad idea to put money in the market now, or should I just go with it and hope there isn't too much of a continued downdraft?

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by M.S. on May 09, 2022
Q: Peter; If this smells like,looks like and act likes capitulation- do you think it is ? Thanks. Rod
Read Answer Asked by Rodney on May 09, 2022
Q: Hi 5i

I'm far too naive/optimistic to believe we are headed for seriously tough times ahead - just what will it take for markets to settle down a bit and what indicators do you monitor to give a hint of turning a corner ?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by mike on May 09, 2022
Q: Without knowing my asset allocation, where would you suggest putting about $50,000 to get away from losing out on inflation with savings accounts. I have free stock and etf trading brokerages at this time. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Stuart on May 06, 2022