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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 Peter and Team! There has been a lot of babble on the potential for negative interest rates. My portfolio is a 50/50 split of stocks and bonds, with the majority of the stocks being dividend aristocrats and 35% growth. The bonds are in an RRSP. Should anything change in my investment strategy should these negative rates come to fruition or should I just hold the course? What would your general advice be should we encounter negative interest rates.? Thank you for your help, Tamara
Read Answer Asked by Tamara on February 25, 2016
Q: Earlier this year, in response to a question about the usefullness of holding gold, you responded that gold can provide portfolio insurance against inflation and investor fear. Could you expand on this idea that investors turn to gold out of fear. What kind of fear drives this behaviour? What kind of events could cause gold to increase in price, because if it is only inflation, it would seem hyper inflation is a long way off. Is gold as "portfolio insurance" no longer applicable?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on February 24, 2016
Q: Would you prefer the Xhy bond etf over the us Bond etf because of hedging currency? Or because the yield is higher for income investors? Would pimcos bond etc be more stable?
Read Answer Asked by Kim on February 24, 2016
Q: Do you recommend using trailing stops? And if so, what levels would you recommend setting them at?
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on February 24, 2016
Q: Hi Team:
Interesting article in Saturday`s Globe about negative interest rates. I have held a # of Cdn
bank stocks for years & have benefited from their dividends & rarely check their stock prices. It is interesting to note the conflicting views in the article concerning the ramifications of going negative. If Canada joins the sub zero fraternity, what effect would this have on the shares of my Cdn Banks?
Thanks: Jerry

Read Answer Asked by Jerry on February 22, 2016
Q: Hello Peter,

Per today's the Globe and Mail, one third of the global government bond market is now trading at subzero rates. Under this negative rates environment, what kind of impact will it impose to prefer shares in general? Does it make sense for companies issued prefer shares to call them back, then reissue them at much lower rates. If the prefer share's rate resets in next couple of months, will the new rate be set to much lower rate than before (other than lower prime rate)? Thanks.

Lin
Read Answer Asked by Lin on February 21, 2016
Q: F-Score or Piotroski Score: Could you give me the 5iR evaluation on this stock screen, validate its performance over the long run and provide the results of this screen for the Canadian and US market. I understand that it uses easy to find information on company regrouped under three factors such as profitability, operating margins and leverage. It would appear that Glacier Media has the highest F-Score for a Canadian company. Could you confirm and give me the results of your calculations.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Jean on February 19, 2016
Q: just need assurance not to sell stocks when market drops out and stay long
Read Answer Asked by dale on February 12, 2016
Q: There is an investment(!) strategy whereby the dividend payout dates are used as the basis of buying and selling equities for multiple payouts during a year. Intellectually this sounds interesting. Is a plan such as this practical, feasible, legal, moral etc. On the surface this might generate reasonable returns if mid tier dividend payers are followed closely , with all the usual selection criteria employed. Are there serious tax implications? Your usual pragmatic overview please.
Read Answer Asked by Ryczard on February 12, 2016
Q: Hello 5i team,
I have learned that, with a positively sloping yield curve, lending institutions provide much needed liquidity into the economy; but the current situation seems, to me, to defy all logic. Mind you, compared to the rest of the world with negative yields across the spectrum, the US yield curve seems OK despite the fact that it is dangerously flattening. How does all this affect liquidity? and is this a precursor of an eventual recession?
Given the uncertainty, 20% of my equity RRIF portfolio is in cash.
Thanks,
Antoine
Read Answer Asked by Antoine on February 11, 2016
Q: Would you comment on articles on Bloomberg and CNBC websites, among others, indicating China's potential banking crisis could be 5 times worse than the US subprime crisis? Very daunting article! Thanks.
Steven
Read Answer Asked by Steven on February 11, 2016
Q: What is a derivative in the financial world? I have heard that derivative values issued worldwide are enormous, in gold well over 100 times the value of all physical gold existing. Are we facing a bank problem with these entities that will repeat the subprime mess again?
Mark Stewart
Read Answer Asked by Mark on February 08, 2016
Q: Hi, I have had this stock for a year,and it seems to be on steady downtrend from around $14. I'am alittle overweight at 7%,would you hang in or reduce to 4-5%.Financials look to be weak right now, your thoughts .
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Brad on February 04, 2016
Q: I am 44 years old and I have $100k, thinking of an even split $50k for CPD and $50k for Zdv. I have also considered putting the whole $100k into XIC, and writing the occasional calls. Your thoughts on this. What would give me best returns over 10years with the least amount of work or worry?
Read Answer Asked by Nino on February 02, 2016
Q: I have this hedged ETF, VXC, for foreign exposure. If I expect the Canadian dollar to trend up over the next few years which ETF should I buy instead? I'm aiming for 15% of my portfolio to be foreign. Sound like a good idea?

Thanks.

Read Answer Asked by John on February 01, 2016
Q: What is the best way calculate EPS Growth. I have noticed it is very erratic from one analyst to another. Should I use historical or future estimates to get the most accurate growth rate?
Read Answer Asked by Cheryl on January 27, 2016
Q: As part of my portfolio, I own five Canadian smallcal stocks, the five I own now are: ALP; EL; LND; PHM and SPN. I have five, no more and no less, small caps so I can spread out the potential risks if one or two behave badly, ie price drops. I am finding small caps trade differently ( ie. sometimes low volume will move price down or up with no news) since volume has a big impact on my decision.

What should I use as a signal to sell my small caps? Cross below the 200 MVA and sell? as an example.

As always thanks for your response.
Read Answer Asked by Clayton on January 26, 2016
Q: Hi, how do you feel about csw and should I consider a or b shares. Greetings, Peter
Read Answer Asked by peter on January 22, 2016
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