Investment Q&A

Q: What is your opinion on buying LEAPS on blue chip companies during a stock market downturn? I know it's still "timing the market", which you don't recommend, but I have had quite a lot of success doing this in the past, versus buying 30-90 day calls.

Q: What are your thoughts on NOW, PRL, GSY and PLRB. Would you buy any at today's prices?

Q: Omitting sectors, which stock MX, ANRG or NTR do you believe has the most potential upside. Risk is not an issue.

Thankyou for your service!

Q: Do to a few errors/mistakes in switching brokerages, I ended up removing these from an RRSP and TFSA accounts and left them in limbo in a non- reg account. I am aware of the serious overlap among the RBF266, XDV,CDZ and XIU. (They were in separate accounts at one time). If I should consolidate, what are your thoughts? What stays and what goes? If I were to begin selling and adding stocks, I was thinking BAM.A and ?Twenty year time frame. Have maxed TFSA.
Cheers and thanks,
Paul

Q: Can I have your thoughts about these stocks and ETF’s for someone with a 3 to 5 year timeframe and who is in their mid 30’s?

Thanks

Q: This is a follow-up to our question from last week (see: https://www.5iresearch.ca/questions/140708).

Based on your response that nothing in the list gives you much cause for concern, we would understand this to imply none of the 30 stocks would be considered a "sell" today.

Please divide the 30 stocks into a pair of ranked (best to worst) lists, one of "buys" and the other of "holds". As well, for each of the "holds" indicate the principal rationale for caution.

Q: Hello Peter,
Why is suncor not participating to the same degree as others in the sector with surging oil prices? Would i be better off moving to another name and if so, which is a better buy? Also, what do you think of Amazon's results? The stock has not done much if looking at one year timeframe.. Given the potential rise in rates, is it better not to take full position in Amazon? Thanks.

Q: In 6 months my Telus International (TIXT.to) has gone under water 6% : Had I chosen Telus (T.to) , I would have been up over 11%. Ignoring the recent correction,TIXT had already fallen behind Telus.
Is there a better future for T over TIXT ?
Should be be fearing interest rate hikes in the sector ?
Are there seasonal factors to consider ?

Q: Is there a reason for TOY's 12% rise yesterday? Do you still like the company?
Thanks,
Jim

Q: What happened to Dorel today. Down 50% ???

Q: I already own WSP. Is there any reason to add J or are they too similar?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Thank you for helping us navigate through the volatility with a cool head. I have 2 questions.

In a long term horizon 3 years and more for the above list could you separate them into 3 buckets and identify 1 group for which you would add funds, 1 group to keep and 1 group to sell? All stocks mentioned are now reduced to 1% or less in a non-taxable portfolio.
XBC -20%
AT -15%
CARE -50%
LSPD -45%
DOC -60%
WELL -30%
EGLX -30%
ENGH -30%

My 2nd question:

For the following securities in a corporate account with a 2-year horizon. Do the same exercise and separate into 3 buckets which ones you would add funds to, which ones are keepers and which ones you sell.
AT -50%
LSPD -45%
DOC -60%
WELL -30%
EGLX -30%
ENGH -30%

Thanks again

Q: About 1 year ago we created an equal-weighted 'balanced' portfolio of 30 Canadian companies in a non-registered account. Most were chosen from companies either covered by a 5i research report or included in a 5i model portfolio. The remainder were chosen, based on the 5i Q&A section, from what appear to be 5i sector favourites. All purchases are made with the intent to be long-term holds (10+ years). As well, we intend to increase our investments over the next 2-3 years, and then adjust over time as needed. Currently the amount invested represents ~40% of the eventual total.

Although a goal is to keep the portfolio roughly equal weighted, of the 30 companies, the following 14 were acquired in 3 purchases (full position) and currently have weights in the 2.31% (SHOP) to 5.00% (ATA) range for an average of 3.71%: CSU, MG, GSY, WSP, LNF, ATD, ATA, SLF, BAM.A, BIPC, FTS, DOO, SHOP and TFII. The remainder were acquired in 2 purchases (2/3 position) and currently have weights in the 1.98% (BEPC) to 3.17% (TCN) range for an average of 2.56%. So, overall, the weightings currently range from ~2% to ~5%.

Over the next 6 months we will invest another ~25% of the eventual total. As we make additional purchases, we need to strike a balance between keeping the weights roughly equal while taking advantage of market opportunities. Please provide some broad guidance/wisdom.

Of the 30 companies in the portfolio, which 10 would you have the highest conviction in today? Please rank them.

Are there any of the 30 that you might consider as candidates to be replaced because there are better options, and if so, what replacements would you suggest and why (disregard tax considerations)?

What additional 3 Canadian companies might you consider adding to the portfolio and why?

As always, thanks for the great service!

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor who usually has ALL of my cash at work. I am currrently sitting on roughly 2.5% cash and am considering topping up the above holdings to achieve my asset allocation targets.

Q#1 = Assuming a diversified portfolio, if I wanted to deploy my remaining minor amount of cash, in what order would you spend it and why?

My view is as follows:
First = PBH and WSP (good value right now = fundamentals and technicals look good, if you ignore the death crosses).
Second = ZRE (should do ok in a rising rate environment?).
Third = XIT (wait until at least the first interest rate increase has happened?).
Last = ADW.A (may need another quarter or two to get past the Covid impact).

Q#2 = or should I continue to sit on this cash if you think there are better opportunities coming in the future. It's not as if this minor amount of $ is going to make a huge impact on future performance.

Thanks...Steve

Q: Of the above mentioned stocks, would you please list in order of first to last which would you recommend today. Also a brief explanation as to why you chose the first and the last. Thanks … Cal

Q: What are your recommendations for 5 Canadian Stocks and 5 US Stocks for an RRSP Account?

Q: In yoor recent reply to my question regarding how to evaluate returns, you suggested CDZ. Thanks for that, it does seem a better comparison. Of interest, though, I did a comparison of CDZ to the TSX return, and found that the only difference over 10 years was the actual management fee of .66%.
I also appreciate your comments about risk. I had about 20% of my investment assets in "play" money, but over the last 2 or 3 years I have reduced that to essentially nothing, since - as you pointed out - an extra percent or even more would not make any difference to my lifestyle. That frees up my time, and I do sleep very well at night!
Thanks again!
Paul K

Q: I might have missed it but in reviewing your portfolios I notice these two names absent. I hold them for longer term gains but am wondering now if they may be more risky in an adverse even "bear" market?
Thank you

Q: Hi 5i,
Two questions if that's OK, and please deduct accordingly.
In October you counseled me to not sell ATZ when it had reached $50 and I was tempted. I'm glad I listened to your advice then and held on as it's now up a another $8 and my gain is about 90%. Your advice then might still hold - don't sell the stock just because it's up. But the economic backdrop is considerably different now than it was in October and I wonder if you would still counsel holding on, especially since a lot of what otherwise might be discretionary income could be going to servicing debt going forward, and consumers might just generally feel like reining in the spending.
Also - CURA has not been so kind to me and I'm down 50%, meaning I need a 100% gain from here to get back to square one. My understanding is that it is a good company but the regulatory framework in the US hasn't changed as was needed/expected, and the stock is therefore wallowing. So, sell and put the money to work elsewhere, or ride it out for a while, bearing in mind it needs to do very well to even begin to heal the wound it caused?
Both are in a TFSA.
Thanks!
Peter

Q: In a response to Craig on 19 Jan you stated that "Without reference to goals or risk, we would side with the significantly larger and more diversified BAMR". TD Waterhouse lists the market cap for BAMR at $534 million whereas TSU is listed at $1.8 billion. However I see that on your profile page you list BAMR at $1.93 billion, only slightly higher than TSU.