Investment Q&A

Q: In response to yesterdays "tapering" report, if one is looking to add liquidity in order to take advantage of a resulting market dip, would you consider selling existing positions that have done well in the recent market growth with the intention of buying back in at a low point? I know you often advise against trying to time the market but this seems like one of the few scenarios where it could be in ones interest?

Or would I simply be better off to leave my current positions alone (everything is slated for long term holds) and try to put aside as much cash as possible in the meantime while we wait for the opportunity to buy?

Thanks

Q: Do you know what the average portfolio turnover rate is for retail investors and how that compares to actively managed funds? My sense is that lots of individuals feel that they are long term investors but that in reality there is much more "swapping" and trading within individual accounts than would be expected.
Thanks
Marc

Q: CN took a bath today, and it looks like CP may get Kansas City after all.
I have no rail stocks; would you pick one today? Would you prefer the "winner" of Kansas City Southern?
John

Q: As a portfolio manager would you consider a 5-10 % of gold assets in one portfolio (income balance for example ) as a strategic stabilizing asset ? Or you are not in favour of such asset and of different opinion?

Q: Please kindly suggest a reasonably priced EFTs and stocks in a consumer cyclical and consumer defensive categories for an portfolio. Possibly with a reasonable dividends if such exists.

Q: Hi,
What are your favourite criteria to evaluate a company? for example, PE ratio, quick ratio, etc.
Also, could you rank your criteria by most important to least important?

Thank you!

Q: Hi 5i Team

When investing monies into a diversified ETF, such as SPY or QQQ, which investment approach provides the best risk-return profile? More specifically, how would you rank the following investment approaches: lump-sum, dollar cost averaging, (DCA) and augmented DCA?

Augmented DCA is a modified version of DCA where the investment strategy is more aggressive if the economy is expanding and more conservative if the economy is contracting. Macroeconomic factors are employed to determine if the economy is expanding or contracting (e.g., market volatility, unemployment rate, and capacity utilization).

If an investor chooses DCA or augmented DCA, over what investment period would be reasonable? Is it 6 months? 9 months? 12 months? 15 months?

Thanks

George

Q: Can you provide guidance on what is the most appropriate strategy for profit taking? Should you have an objective in mind when purchasing, and when that goal is achieved, sell? Or if underlying investment still has solid fundamentals, continue to hold?

Q: I am going into retirement and below are the weightings of stocks held in my portfolio. Although the portfolio performed okay over the years, I wonder if there is too much concentration and would appreciate your ideas on diversification given the economic times we live in. My portfolio is about $2M with an investment loan of $150K for which I use the dividends to repay. Thanks. BNS 37%, TD 18%, CM 14%, BMO 14%, BCE 6%, SRN.UN 6%, RY 4%, POW 1%

Q: I read your article about the correlation between stocks and bonds and it made me wonder whether this was a good or not so good time to purchase them? I read a little more in another article and it said that in the same historical instances, bonds have tended to do well after. Would you agree with this?
I only have room in my margin account so would CVD, CPD, and HAB be giving me interest as apposed to Dividends so there are tax implications?
Thanks!

Q: There has been a lot of talk about hyperinflation coming. Do you have any thoughts on the issue and how would you adjust your portfolio to protect one's capital and/or take advantage of increasing inflation.

Q: How does a company repurchasing it's own shares, protect against the action assisting a potential takeover ?

Q: I would appreciate your opinion on the Bit Coin craze. I feel that it is important to be involved in but as a retail investor safety is very important and I am considering BTCC for my investment. So far this company has proven very reliable as I have other investments with them. So, is this a good start into Bit or can you provide better alternatives. Thanks James

Q: what would be a good sector to invest in with possible market downturn scenerios?

I've heard some people say commodities are a good play in a downturn espeically due to inflation but I can't see how they would be due to demand destruction from higher prices.

I think bonds and equities would both suffer - it seems they are more co-related nowadays.

Can you recommend a safe haven in anticipation both a credit-binge/inflationary-based downturn as well as a credit-bust/deflationary downturn?

Q: Good morning,

I recently started selling puts and put credit spreads in SPY, QQQ, IWM and AAPL, these being among the most liquid underlyings with very tight bid-ask spreads. Things have worked out well, so far, as the market has been moving higher and higher.

I'm told that my positions are highly correlated and should consider underlyings that are not as correlated to the broad markets. Could you suggest some underlyings that I can consider? I prefer liquid underlyings so that I can exit them quickly in the event the trade goes against me.

Thank you

Q: Hi 5i,

I enjoyed your article on Ron in the FP and his financial practices. My practice as well is to hold only equities and no bonds. Like Ron, I have an indexed DB pension plan, which serves as my fixed income. Are you comfortable with an all equity portfolio for an investor in these circumstances?

Thanks again
Dave

Q: The data currently coming from Israel and the UK indicate that the vaccine efficacy is waning, earlier than many predicted. Given that most Western countries have employed a vaccine strategy to address Covid, I would like your advice regarding how to position a portfolio in the event of a Black Swan event.

In the fall, we will likely have another flu/virus season in northern US and Canada. Basically, I see 4 possible scenarios of decreasing probability but increasing risk: (1) the vaccine acts as advertised and we have few cases/deaths; (2) the vaccine is less effective than expected and there are many cases, but few deaths; (3) the vaccine is not effective and there are both many cases and many deaths; and (4) as has been suggested by some top scientists, there are long-term risks with these mRNA vaccines and deaths/ adverse events are much greater than if no vaccine was taken.

If an investor has concerns about scenarios 3 and 4 in particular, but is hopeful that such an event does not occur, how should one best position the portfolio. Should one stay fully diversified sectorially and geographically in stocks? Should one consider increasing allocations to gold, cash, bonds, etc? What are your thoughts?

Many thanks for your insightful advice.

Q: I want to understand the economic and financial impact of the Fed’s tapering it’s bond purchases. Is there a good source(s) that discusses this topic in detail and what the difference in impact compared to raising the Fed’s rate?
I would also appreciate a summary response from you on this.
Thanks.

Q: what sectors could really be affected badly if interest rates go up significantly? thank you.

Q: What sectors on the TSX are going to be strong in the next 3 months?