Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter, Over the next couple months I'll be building a $100K+ portfolio split between my trading acct and $35K TFSA. I wish to choose about 20 positions (across 5 sectors) using picks from the Growth and Model portfolios. My time frame is 5+ years. With this goal in mind, are there 5 or 6 stocks you would suggest directing specifically toward the TFSA? And why? Many thx.

Q: Dear Mr. Hodson and Team:
I am still on the % Allocation wagon.
What Percentage of our Canadian equity should we allocate to two 5i portfolios together- Growth and Balanced?
How would you characterize them- Growth as Small Cap, Balanced as Mid Cap- Am I right?

Q: Hello,

Unfortunately, I was not able to participate in the new Growth Portfolio when it was announced and looking at it now I see some stocks are up 20%. With that in mind, what will be your suggestion for somebody today: buy all or only the few that didn't grow so much and wait for a dip for the others?

Thanks
Marios

Q: Appreciate your thoughts on recent quarterly results.
Thanks
John

Q: Since your most recent adjustment to your model portfolio, I have been looking at Progressive Waste Solutions (BIN). Today, I was planning to purchase until I noticed a PE ratio of about 27. Since this is much higher than the 10 -15 that I usually target for buys, I thought I would investigate further. Their growth is about 5% which indicates a relatively poor PEG ratio of about 5 and I see that their cash flow for the year indicated borrowing to pay a large portion of their dividends and share buy back. Also the dividend is relatively low at about 1.7%. I am certain that you would not place this company in one of your portfolios if the negatives I have described above was the basis for your decisions. Can you explain what I am missing and why this is one of the new replacements to the portfolio? Thank you very much. I always value your analysis and opinions.

Q: In your excel spread sheet, for the portfolios can you add a column with start date after the symbol column? This will really help..

Q: Since I am retiring within the year, would I be wise to move my stocks to a more dividend paying portfolio or as 5I calls it "income portfolio". Would this move protect my RRSP money better if the market slips

Q: HI Folks: I assume the Growth Portfolio is based on "earnings growth". I can find info on "profit growth" and "Return on Equity", but nothing on Earnings Growth. Is there a source for this information or a calculation available to determine it?

Q: I own 13 of the stocks in your growth portfolio. I previously owned 9 of these stocks in anticipation they would be in the growth portfolio.
my overall portfolio is up 22 per cent ytd which is amazing with half these gains coming since april 1.
my question is how much of the gains in the growth portfolio since april 1 are because of your membership positioning themselves in the growth portfolio. can you evaluate this, personally I think a lot of the gains are from this action. dave

Q: Hi team!

I currently own Enghouse and would like to now if there is a similar company in the growth portfolio? Thinking of adding Open text(OTC) to my mix, but not if they both are too similar.

Or would maybe descartes(DSG) be a better option or something else?

ps..I don't mind riskier stocks because I am well balanced.

Thank you

Q: Have been watching this stock since since growth portfolio came out,it trades very little and when you put a bid in someone tops it by a few cents with a a 100 share bid.The ask and bid price are often fairly far apart.If I do eventually get some it may be hard to sell when the time comes.

Q: To me, it appears both PHM and NHC pre released very good quarterly numbers. What did you think of them?

Also I remember 5i being hesitant on NHC due to past experience with management. Has their recent success tempered your concerns? To me it still seems quite cheap relative to the sector (based on forward estimates).

Thanks

Q: I set my wife's RRSP Model portfolio last year to match what 5I recommended. Even though her portfolio is not large, she did very well thanks to you. She also has a pension plan from work. I have just finished adjusted this years 5I recommendations, but avoided CCL.B and CSU. Can you recommend a couple of less expensive stocks to replace these two?

Q: Your answers keep implying that atd is in the growth portfolio, but that doesn't appear to be the case to me.

Q: Hi Peter,

Your recent answers about Surge Energy (SGY) have shaken me a little. Your advice is all about the long-term and don’t worry what the markets are doing with the current price. In answers to members, SGY has gone from a strong buy to a sell (Peter’s answer on April 9) in less than a year. In my mind, that means SGY is no longer a good long-term investment and should be sold by all members.

In your opinion (not worrying about sector diversification), IS SGY A SELL FOR ALL CONSERVATIVE, INCOME ORIENTED MEMBERS?

Is there a quick way you can advise all members about the change in your opinion on any stock you give advice on?

Thanks
John

Q: Thanks for the new portfolio, Going into a stock buy, I normally consider a 3 to 5 year hold period. I am reviewing the growth stocks and want to know what time frame you expect these stocks should be held for.
Thanks
Jim

Q: I only have enough money to buy two of your companies in the growth portfolio. These are for very long term holds and higher risk. I want "buy and forget" two companies in my RRSP for 5 to 10 years plus, and I wonder if you favour any of them for a 5 bagger or more in that time frame. I would have leaned towards the smaller companies in the portfolio, but then I look at the rest of my portfolio and I note things like CSU have gone up for me more than five times and they weren't exactly tiny when I bought them! Thanks again.

Q: Hi Peter & Team,

I would like to add Wi-Lan but I would need to sell a company in the same sector in order to make room for it. I'm trying to keep the sector at around 15%. I was thinking of selling Descartes Systems (DSG) in order to make room for Wi-Lan. Please let me know what you think of this switch. Which company do you prefer? Thanks, Mario.

Q: Hello Peter and Team
With the recent success in the Software sector, my RRSP portfolio is very heavily overweight in this sector. I would like your advice on trimming and rebalancing to sectors other than financial or energy that are also overweight.
I currently have now 40% in CSU, DSG, ESL, MDA (with large gains) and SYZ and AVO with significant losses over last year or so.
Would you suggest trimming all back to much smaller positions or eliminating 2 or 3 companies altogether?
With the funds, what 2 or 3 new positions from the new growth portfolio should I consider?
A second question will follow on my Financials!

Thanks for all the help
Peter

Q: I AM IN THE PROCESS OF REVIEWING YOUR NEW GROWTH PORTFOLIO AND HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS
A)BECAUSE I HAVE A NUMBER OF THESE COMPANIES IN MY CURRENT PORTFOLIO I WOULD BE FORCED TO BUY AND SELL SOME IN ORDER TO MATCH YOUR % ALLOCATION. I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR METHODOLOGY ON HOW YOU ARRIVED AT YOUR % ALLOCATION IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF I NEED TO ADJUST MY CURRENT HOLDINGS.
B)YOU HAVE OFTEN COMMENTED UPON AMAYA GROUP BUT YOU CHOSE INTERTAIN GROUP FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO. COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHY PLEASE.
THANKS YOU FOR ALL THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE.I LOVE READING THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS EVERY DAY. THANKS AGAIN