Investment Q&A

Q: As an avid market follower I value your comments on the market. Knowing that market timing is virtually impossible, what would your favorite indicator(s) be that we have reached the "euphoric" apex? Thanks for the great service! Ron

Q: With markets at all time highs Is this a good time to look at taking some profits and moving to bonds such as ishares 1-5 laddered Bond ETF or a DEX ST Corp Universe ETF?

Q: What is your opinion about about VIX( volatility index ?). Is it worth investing money on this stock for future gain. ? It has been very low for a while and something is going happen sooner or later.Thanks. Ebrahimk

Q: Hi Peter,

My condo is for sale; Any thoughts on where/how to invest the proceeds in the most tax efficient way? Right now I have a decent income. Should I still be in dividend paying stocks/etfs? Are growth stocks too risky at this point? Thanks for any ideas!

Q: Greetings: I have read countless articles and books on asset allocation, most of which have a different twist on AA. What is your expert opinion on AA? What % equity,fixed income, and cash and also what do you consider fixed income? Some consider REITs and prefs fixed and some consider only bonds,GICs fixed. Considering the current environment which way would you "tilt" the portfolio and by how much? Thanks Ron

Q: Peter, thank you for all the sound advice you offer to us. we keep hearing that what goes up must go down. I remember back in 2004 people saying bank stocks were a no brainer as they kept going up although we were starting to see some segments of the economy ie car indusdry showing signs of weakness. However the stock market continued in a positive trend for another few years. Should we be concerned at this junture or continue to have faieth in the capital markets? Would you consider this to be a hold period and buy on weakness or sell on strength so you have cash for a future downturn. I realize you do not have a crystal ball and no one can time the market but there are trends I am sure you have seen.thank you again for the service you offer.
m

Q: What are your thoughts about the Canadian dollar vs the US dollar?

Q: Hi Peter: My husband and I who are both in our mid 70's have sold our house and so have a lump sum to invest. We are retired so looking at fairly conservative investing. We are considering investing in ETF's and would appreciate your guidance as to the percentage diversification between Equity ETF's, Bond ETF's and cash equivalents. Thanks Judy

Q: Hello Peter and Co,
In my opinion, stock prices have gone up in the last few years because economic prospects were improving; by bringing more liquidity in the system, quantitative easing has greatly contributed to the rise in stock values.
QE will fade away soon (in the fall? early next year? don't know for sure; when that happens,it would stand to reason that stock values would correct. How does one prepare for such an eventuality? I could raise some cash, say 20-30%. For your info:
my long term objective was to get a growth rate of 7% pa; however, my portfolio has gone up by 14.6% pa in the last 3½ years whereas the benchmark has gone up by only 5.4% pa in that same period.
I value your opinion.
Thanks
Tony

Q: Hi Team : a general question on takeovers using PFE as an example. Is it fair to assume the buyer's stock price will weaken while the buyout rises? Assuming the buyer (PFE) has to raise equity/debt and the price of the target keeps rising,PFE share price will likely stagnate/fall during this process?

Q: It's my understanding that the yields on Greek, Spanish and Irish debt are currently trading at very thin spreads to US teasuries. My instinct is that this represents an overall high level of risk complanency in the markets in general and that we are likely due for some weakness ahead as things normalize. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks,

Q: Hi Peter, Can you explain the difference averaging down vs. averaging in? For explain I bought 500 shares of AVO at $27 a few weeks ago and I bought 250 more shares at $21 on the initial dip. Was this a bad strategy?

Averaging down didn't work out too well for investors in Nortel or Blackberry.

Q: Hi:
In iffy markets like this , I usually grab some profit and duck for cover ... even when I react OK I never get back in the market soon enough ...
This time I am taking the daily blows and am staying put ...
Are there stocks I should be looking at as best buying opportunities or sectors to which I should focus ???
Your site has helped me immensely . Thankyou .

Q: Hi,
I currently only have cash and Canadian stocks in my portfolio, the cash accounts for roughly 40% of my portfolio, but I am looking to invest into some EFT's, mutual funds and US stocks as well. can you please advise me roughly what weightings i should be giving to EFT's, mutual funds and US stocks under the assumption that my Canadian stocks are relatively diversified. And also which EFTs, mutual funds and US stocks would you recommend as of today? I am in my mid 20's and have a relatively long term horizon. Thanks in advance.

Q: What sector weightings would you recommend for a conservative middle age investor, with a balanced focus on capital gains and dividends. Thanks

Q: What is your opinion of market neutral hedge funds as an alternative to bonds in a rising interest environment? Is such a product available through ETF's and, if so, what would you recommend or, if not, what is available to the retail investor in this area? As always, many thanks for your valuable insight.

Q: Hello 5i,
In my childrens RESP, I have AVO, CBO, CDZ, CF, DH, DHX, HCG, IWO,SGY, SJ, SLF, WCP, XGD and ZWB. IWO is about 30% because it is the only US stock but this is down about 7.5% , I do have a 6 year time frame, my thoughts are I will wait until IWO goes back up (hopefully it will) after that I will trim its level to about 5% weightage. Otherwise I am slightly overweight on CBO and SLF which I am quite comfotable with. I put in about $400 every month towards my 2 kids RESP. I am slowly trying to add stocks to match your model portfolio/income portfolio. Please advice whether I should trim add something. Your advice has been great and I hope you continue doing this for many more years to come. Thanks. Shyam

Q: Hi.How low a stock should go down before you should sell i(10%,20%,30% )even if the company looks to be a good company (e.g..AVO,or AYA ) ?.Thanks.ebrahim

Q: Tech stock have really fallen off a cliff. Is there still a bull market for them left?

Q: Does it make any sense to buy 5 year GIC's as part of a balanced portfolio given that interests rates are at all time lows and rates are forecast to rise over this time frame? Thanks. Michael