Investment Q&A

Q: hello 5i:
could you advise where I could find, and track, the following information: earnings yield of the S&P 500, and the current 10 year Treasury Yield. And, is there a site that charts the current year earnings for S&P 500 companies that readily shows whether consensus earnings or rising or declining.
thanks
Paul

Q: There is an opinion that every 5 years we have a cyclical downturn in the stock market. Considering all the macro negative information should I be selling some or all my A and B holdings. Thank you for you advise.

Q: Do you recommend equal weighting of positions in an equity portfolio, or do you recommend the weighting vary by security rating?

Q: I have bought about $6-7K in each of the 30 stocks you've recommended as B- to A+ and am very pleased thus far with how they have done in such a short time. I also have a more mature portfolio about 40 other equities that I had before subscribing, some go back many years. In all I have about $1M in the market. I plan to inject another $500K into the market this year and am wondering what the danger is of increasing the number of equities I have; for example buying new recommendations from 5i that are -B to +A. Would you recommend that I lessen the number of different stocks I am in.? and why?

Q: Thank you for a wonderful sincere website. Keep up the excellent work.
For 10% of my portfolio do you have any suggestions for 2, 5 or 10 bagger stocks.
Yes I know, greed kills but it's fun.

Q: Over the past few years, I have on several occasions taken advantage when our loonie was solidly above parity with the US$ to purchase US$ (cash) with an eye towards getting some diversification outside of Canada. The trouble is I have yet to make any foreign purchases and US$ cash now represents about 15% of my holdings. I have been patiently waiting for a meaningful pullback in the US markets which hasn't arrived. I realize that 5i's focus is primarily Canadian, but could you provide any general recommendations (either individual names or ETFs) that you feel would be suitable for new buying at present to provide some broad diversification in the US or abroad (priced in US$). Thanks.

Q: hi peter, a hypothetical question for you . Alot of dividend yielding stocks have similar looking charts with there valuations going up and up .I am wondering if and when interest rates go up , is there any stocks one should be looking at that could benefit from a down turn in dividend yielding equities ? thanx for your time.

Q: Hi Peter,

I have to admit this fact first. What's making 5i research more popular is this QA session which covers your brief opinion on a wide array of companies compared to the actual company analysis. So hats off to that and the amount of knowledge and insight offered by these comments would definitely be helping a lot of people invest in good companies and avoid bad ones.

My question for today is about timing. Generally perceived notion is to stay invested for the long run for many years. But in today's market it might end you up where you started or much lower. Let's take an example. I invested in MMT at $1 at $1.40 and $1.66. If I exit now I would be making a good return after inclusion of dividends. On the other hand I invested in TOL at $3.75 and then at $2.19 and it went down to $1.40 and I am still holding on to my shares where I am now thinking of selling the latter position even though it might go much higher or go back to $1.40. How should one behave in these two different circumstances and when should one draw a line for profits or losses if the future direction is not very clear and the opportunity cost of investing elsewhere or staying invested might be huge. ( Another good example could be AVR which at one point was $2.50 and now languishing at $0.67)

Thanks

Q: Hey guys. Was thinking of shaving positions off of several reits I’ve ridden from when they were yielding in the high 6%, 7%, and 8% to now when they are “only” yielding in the low 5% range or slightly under for new shareholders (ie pmz.un, kmp – I guess kmp is not really a reit but anyway…).

Was thinking of substituting those names for other high yielding vehicles like weq.un, fc, bpf.un, eif (hopefully on pullbacks). With these moves I’m hoping to increase my monthly dividend income a little and pocket the difference waiting for any possible market correction. What do you think? Totally horrible idea? I dont expect comments on each of these names, just a general sense if its a decent strategy.

Q: I would be very interested if you could shed light on the process of equity raises in Canada. Specifically the potential conflict between a good investment banking client and a less than stellar company. Also, if you could shed light on financing cycles and how to know if "too much paper" is in a sector or space (or not enough). Much appreciated, Thanks.

Q: Hi.My question is what percentage should each stock be in a portfolio? Can you have too many stocks? When building a portfolio do the rules change when you have 10k,100k,or 1m plus?
Thanks.

Q: hi Peter and staff , I am hearing from different analysts that various governments have and will continue to print money. I am mostly in cash and I have been wondering how I can protect my savings if there is inflation leading to devaluing our currency . But if this is happening how are interest rates being kept so low. What would you recommend especially with high valuation on alot of dividend paying stocks. I appreciate your help.

Q: Can the VIX Index go to a zero value, why or why not?
This HUV on the TSX is being crushed, but why?
Horizons Betapro S & P 500 VIX Symbol: HVU-T
Is this reasonable level to buy?
Many thanks for sharing your knowledge with us all.
Sincerely,
ANDY

Q: In some of your writing and responses you indicate that Canadians have too much exposure to the resource sectors. For someone in their mid-40s with no need to access the capital what would be reasonable? I would include firms that sell to the resource sector. As well, do you see gold miners as a part of that? If not, what would be a reasonable amount of exposure? I have persoanally tried to diversify inflation protection to hard assets other than just gold. Thanks for the excellent service!

Q: Hi,
I bought VXX as insurance when Europe was looking very bad and have ended up in the red. It seems to be bouncing around $14 now and I was thinking of holding it until things go wrong again and at least try to break even. Some of the BNN brain trust suggest that one should never hold these funds for any length of time but my feeling is that it is somewhat stable here and will either stay the same or go up. Am I missing something? Thanks for your answer.
Brian

Q: What is your thought on writing covered calls Do the equities
you cover have options?

Q: Hello,
I have a general question about inflation. Is moderate inflation (2 to 4%) a positive or negative for stocks in general ? How about high inflation ? The articles I read over time on the topic suggest that some inflation is good but high inflation is very bad. Thank you in advance for your comments and best regards.

Q: what is the purpose of small caps paying healthy dividends rather than plowing it back into the company for growth/expansion...etc......

Q: First I want to say what an amazing resource 5i has been. You just started and I already feel it's my best bang-for-the-buck investment! My question is on portfolio hedging. If we are holding stocks we like, but are worried about a general market sell-off, what is the best way for a retail investor to take market risk out? Specifically, I'm asking about accounts I can not short in, RRSP, TFSA ect. Puts usually have high bid-ask spreads, inverse ETFs have high fees and performance slippage. It just seems there is no efficient way for a retail investor with trading costs to hedge. Is selling some of my holdings the best way then?

Thanks,

Matt