Investment Q&A

Q: You have said that there is lots of money on the sidelines. How do we know that? Who’s money is it? Retail or institutional? If it’s retail and a recession comes will it come back into the market or be spent or elsewhere?

Q: Has the smart money turned bearish? If so, what does that look like?

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and 5i Team,

My wife and I need to reduce holdings in some stocks in our RRIFs to raise enough cash for the mandatory RRIF payments, which in our case is in late December.

Portfolio Analytics allows various ways to rank stocks, so I looked at the column "Total Portfolio Equity Weight" and ranked the stocks accordingly. For example, in my RRIF, my highest weight is with MG, and my wife's highest weight is with GSY. Not surprisingly, Portfolio Analytics also indicates that the Consumer Cyclical sector (MG), and the Financial Services sector (GSY) are overweight in our combined family portfolio (RRIFs, TFSAs, and non-registered accounts).

Is this a good way to determine the stocks that could be reduced to raise the required cash while at the same time putting sector weightings more in line with the recommendations of Portfolio Analytics?

I notice that many members ask questions about their holdings in various stocks, but 5i generally answers that weightings are personal.

Perhaps there's an alternative "rule of thumb" to use when going through this yearly process, and your valuable advice would, as always, be greatly valued.

Q: Canadian/USA dollar, where do you see it in 6 months/1 year according to economic uncertainty, which currency would you want to be involved in?
thanks

Q: Dear 5i,

does VIXY behave like a leveraged ETF such that they are not suitable for buy and hold investors. I understand that leveraged ETF's reset every day and there is price erosion so they are only suitable for short term investing. Would VIXY be ok for a buy and hold investor who believes that there was going to be a significant correction in the overall US market in the medium to long term? Your thoughts are much appreciated.

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor, who usually follows a fully invested, buy-and-hold strategy for the long term but trims-adds around core positions to achieve the targeted asset allocation. I currently have <4% cash in the combined family portfolio.

Question #1 = for new monies into my wife's account as they become available, please rank the order in which you would invest into BCE, LNF, NWC....and why? I'm looking at where is the most Total Return upside over the foreseeable future. Ignore asset allocation, I've got that covered.

Q#2 = ditto for my account, please rank for new money investment into LIFE, ZRE, BNS, WSP...and why?

2 questions...please deduct 2 credits.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.....Steve

Q: Your Portfolio Analyzer tells me that I need more 'Healthcare" since I only have UNH and Well. Can you suggest an addition?

It also noted that I have zero consumer defensive. Can you suggest two for this sector.

A further note was being over weight in Canada.

Thanks again! Dan

Q: Given the consensus opinion that rates are likely to rise, do you perceive a risk that the US dollar might spike, driving down the price of commodities, especially oil? Could a 2014 scenario be in the cards?

If the dollar does rise significantly, could oil/gas rise in tandem? Would you be inclined to position a portfolio for higher oil and gas prices in the coming year or so, regardless of what the dollar does?

Q: Following up on Mary's question about compelling buys, can you explain why each stock made your list?

Q: Nasdaq is down again today (Monday) after a period of many down days. Sentiment right now is poor. Can you provide insight on what is happening and when and how this will reverse trend? Is this a time to be buying or sitting tight and waiting for things to start to turn?

Q: About 1 year ago you provided some general guidance on a retirement portfolio and I’m wondering what changes, if any, you might recommend given another year has passed. I’m not looking for specific guidance but rather suggestions for me to investigate further given how the investing landscape has changed this past year. Retirement horizon is 5 years and the portfolio has the following holdings: ZAG(26%), ZSP (3%), CDZ(65%), ZEA(6%). We have a large cash position that we’re ready to deploy. First, what is your take on the viability and allocation of the current holdings? Second, what are some ETF suggestions for the cash - add to existing ETFs or do you have alternative funds you’d recommend for us to investigate. Thanks so much!

Q: Hi 5i, I like to know what 5i thinks of the huge US & CAD government debt, this could be a very interesting topic for a column. What is the US credit rating today? When will the various credit rating agencies chime in with their view on US T-Bills. Do you think that it is very likely that the ratings will be down graded (rated)?

Q: Am looking at Magna for my TFSA with a 2 year rebound focus. The chip shortage seems to be depressing the stock ; would a 2 year period to fix the shortage seem reasonable ? It looks like a battle is looming to acquire Veoneer and the stock has been hitting lower highs over the last 6 months. Would you wait and see how the takeover ends, see some turnaround in the chip market ? In essence, buy now or wait until some clarity on these issues ? Thanks . Derek

Q: I once read that the correlation between the price of gold and inflation is only about 60%; i.e., not very strong. Do you have any data to show otherwise?

Q: Purchased AEO anticipating strong sales with back to school, reopening, stimulus and success of their aerie brand. Unfortunately, purchased this high and now have a 20% loss. Do you see opportunity for AEO to recover and do well or time t switch to another stock. This is in a registered account, so tax write-off is not a consideration.

Q: In the interests of proactively rebalancing my portfolio for the coming year, I'd appreciate your recommendations on the sectors you would be inclined to overweight in 2022...and those you would underweight. On a related note, my tech stocks have now grown to 21% of my total holdings. As a recent retiree - with a solid pension, reasonable risk tolerance, and relatively balanced portfolio - would you be comfortable with that weighting? If not, what would you advise? (As a loyal 5i reader, I'm mindful that portfolio weightings are a personal call.) Thank you.

Q: Hi Team,
My tech/ growth portfolio is getting massacred today on the spike in 10yr yields again. Should I be holding or dumping some stock to raise cash?? Your opinion would be much appreciated . Thanks

Shane

Q: Can you offer 5 companies in Canada and the US that have pricing power in the face of inflation? Thank you

Q: Bloomberg is saying today "Tech stocks sell off amid spike in treasury yields". Can you please explain what the spike in yields is referring to, how much is the spike, will it move somewhat predictably with the withdrawl of govt liquidity from the market, etc?
For a retiree, should I do something?
Really appreciate your clear views. Many thanks

Q: The markets pre-COVID were rising at a reasonable rate year to year, with the odd market downturn. Since March/April 2020 the markets have shot up and stocks are trading at much higher multiples than pre-COVID. Eventually, reality may kick-in. There are many companies trading at very high evaluations. If you look at the overall market (i.e. Nasdaq) you see an exponential growth curve for the past 18 months, definitely not sustainable and possibly overpriced.? I still buy stocks but sometimes feel that if the market turns around, it could be years for it to come back. (I am more concerned about companies such as SHOP, NVEI, TTD, LSPD, NVDA, TOI, UPST, ... all of which are great companies but if we overpay, payback could be much more than 5 years.) I thought same about Netflix, I was totally wrong and missed out on one of the biggest lifetime opportunities BUT there must be a point where the price is definitely too high. Are we overpaying? Will we regret this at some point? Your thoughts? Thanks.