Investment Q&A

Q: I have a well diversified TFSA with 23 stocks. I usually hold for long term. Looking to add one more stock and I have short listed to AFN, NTR AND RCI.B. Would appreciate your ranking and brief why.

Also, 5i Research is my main source for decision on buy/sell. I use your resources on a daily basis. Thanks for the years of service.

Q: I've marked this question as private but if you feel the broader membership would possibly benefit from it - and more so, the answer, feel free to post it as a public question.

We have one kid who has just finished their first semester of university and a second one who is expected to enter their first year next September (2024). We have a decent sized family RESP consisting of 39% CASH.TO, 35% XWD, 14% HEQT, 7% XBAL, 3% KXS and 2% in cash.

I know portfolio weightings are personal but I'd like your take on maybe dialing back the potential risk of the current holdings, given both kids are/will be in university within the next nine months and the relatively short overall timeframe (4-5 years) the funds will be used in.

I came across an interesting article by Justin Bender on the Canadian Portfolio Manager Blog from Jan 2023, looking at an RESP "glide path strategy" based on the age of the kids that recommends by the time a kid started university that - to err on the side of safety and capital preservation - equity exposure should be 0%, with the RESP funds divided between short term bonds (ETF's) and cash equivalents (HISA ETF's) on a sliding scale of 75%/25% bonds/cash equiv year one of school, 67%/33% year 2, 50%/50% year 3 and 100% cash equivalents by the time they're starting their fourth year.

Can I get your opinion on this particular glide path strategy and if you agree with it or if you would do things differently? If you'd do things differently, what would you suggest as an alternative strategy?

Many thanks for your insight and perspective and all the best for a very Merry Christmas.

Q: Payer; Does RUS even come on the screen for an acquisition re todays Nippon /US a steel deal ? Thanks.
Rod

Q: I know you don't believe in timing the market but after the last few years i've ended up with a fair bit of cash on sidelines, yielding around 5%.
Post pivot i'm now thinking about when/how to deploy. Assuming interest rates have peaked and we start seeing cuts in 2024 i expect cash yields to start decreasing as well.
So if you wanted to "broadly" deploy your cash reserves throughout 2024 how would you proceed? Thinking some mix of SPY, RSP, EMV (much smaller allocation) as I have retained most of my high convinction Canadian stocks.
Dollar Cost Average monthly or quarterly
Wait for next broad pullback, we know it's coming just not sure when. Can still get a nice cash yield while waiting.

Q: AC,BTE,BCE,BIR,CJ,CP,CVE,CPG,EIF,FRU,GEI,NVEI,OLA,PD,
US STOCKS DIS,FOXF,INMD,ICLN,OPRA,PDF.
Please also advise if any of these don't need to sell.(TAX REASON)
Highly appreciate your opinion.

Q: Am I to assume that if Empire’s sales rose 2% for the year and with inflation, say at 4% , that their actual volume of sales really declined ?
Thanks. Derek.

Q: If you were forced to use borrowed $ to invest where would you park it? Interest cost is close to 6%, bonus points if the investment or investments pay a monthly dividend.

Q: If both stocks were held and both at a loss of 10 to 12 % and I was thinking to need cash from one.I like the better dividend from white cap but if going forward I would have only one .Which one do you feel is a better bet to regain and provide higher growth potential? Tks Larry

Q: Hi, In a strong market and a FED induced rally, above stocks sold off sharply, in Today's trading, perhaps for different reasons. Drop in HPS.a, could be attributed to profit taking against the back drop of 300% jump, this year. But, the other three companies, I thought, will be benefitted with lower rates cycle over 2024/2025. May be, I am wrong. It;s just that, when some stocks don't go up ( and decline) in otherwise strong up market, makes me wonder, what am I missing ? Thank You

Q: Hi - as a follow up to your reply from my earlier question today on the above, would you consider a further pullback during this possible rotation to be an opportunity to add back to them? This would be under scenario that once a recession is upon us that they would once again do well. Secondly, do you "expect" that this rotation may last a quarter or two...or is your base case for recessionary positioning sooner?

Q: H - all 4 down sharply post fed day. Only one with earnings was DOL but they did very well. Any explanation as to why severe drawdowns today?

Q: Hello Peter,
Is there a way to participate in SpaceX for retail investors? Also, with Elon Musk being involved in many companies (space x, twitter, tsla), how will this affect performance of tesla in the long run? I have small weighting in well health, is it good time to buy some more.. much appreciated

Q: I'm down a fair amount in registered plans after holding each of the 13 listed stocks for some time. Please rate in terms those that are worth keeping as the prospects are good vs those where it's probably time to cut losses and move on. Timeframe of 5 years before starting to draw down from portfolio.

Q: I realize it's not a very long time horizon but of these three stocks, how would you rank them for Capital appreciation over a one year period, thanks?

Q: Hi, can you please give me your top 3 or 4 individual stock picks for an RESP with 12 to 15 years before withdrawals? I would like to avoid the expense of currency exchanges but CDR's are welcome. Current holdings are GOOG-ne, XCG & XIT.

Thank you.
David

Q: I want to add one of the above with the expectation of a total yearly return of 8% in the next five years.
Could you rank the above and explain your rational
Best of the season
Raouf

Q: I have just read your report covering the hidden gems in the cad market.

Kindly rank, from best to worst, how attractive they are for an immediate purchase.

Thank you

Q: Hi All,
I'm helping my common law wife setup a high six figure investment portfolio. She is 57 and attempting to retire as am I (64). She is hoping to be able to make an income from this portfolio and some of that monthly if possible. We will be setting her up a new Cash and TFSA account with Qtrade. Would you also set up an RRSP at this point? I'm thinking she should put some in Gics, High Interest savings ETFs (at least for now, and Dividend stocks (Banks, Pipelines, Utilities etc.) I would love all the advice you could give in this format? Possible list of some ideas as well as what accounts would work best for these holdings for tax purposes? Thank you in advance!

Q: Hi, my question is of a general nature concerning banks and the differences between Can. and Amer. mortgage systems.
Firstly, why are there two different systems(term lengths) of issuing mortgages and how can Amer. banks afford to issue long term (30 yr) mortgages at such low interest rates (which until recently were very low), now with higher rates their costs for deposits increases substantially compared to their long term loan rates. how can they survive in this situation? Is this the reason Canadian terms are s much shorter?
Thanks, Chris
Best of the season for all

Q: Do you have a preference between these auto sector stocks?