Investment Q&A

Q: I want to replace GSK with MDT, JNJ or UTX. Yield, weight and sector is not a factor here. Please give me your pick or just add more GSK. Thanks.

Q: Good Afternoon: My question is really currency related rather than Visa specifically. I own a few US stocks including Visa which fortunately for me I purchased when there was not as much difference between the US and Canadian dollar. As a result of stock performance and the difference in currency valuation I have done well. I would like to make a few more US purchases but cant make myself do so with the almost 40% hit. In my opinion some time in the future our dollar will get stronger. Do you have any suggestions or can you recommend Canadian companies or ETF's that I can buy without being so concerned about the currency. Thank You.

Q: RBC has a Top Pick rating on this stock. It continues to implode. Is it year end selling or is there some other underlying cause. I've averaged down based on RBC rating but it's continuing to drop. Thoughts ??

Q: Hi Peter and Team!! What are your thoughts of starting a small position in IBM at its present value? Cheers, Tamara

Q: Hi Team. I recently purchased Costco to add to my U.S. holdings. BMO (Ford Equity research) just downgraded to a SELL saying Cost will underperform the market over the next 6 to 12 months. May I have your take! It is 2.65% of my total PF and dropping into the red. Thank you ahead of time and because of you I have been able to shave some "winners" from my TFSA (which is up over 70% since April 2014) and pay down my Line of Credit. MERRY CHRISTMAS

Q: Could you please comment on WETF on Nasdaq at current price? You had comment on this one last year and in 2013. Have you changed your view?

Thanks

Q: The company can attribute a great deal of its success to its remarkable culture. Are we still in the early innings of this transformative behemoth.

Q: In the past you have suggested a 30% weighting outside of Canada. If using vxc or xaw for said international esposure and the remainder 'canadian' stocks from the balanced and growth portfolios(atd,csu,cxr,bns,cxi,phm,mg,mda,enb,it,bos,sj,wsp) is 30% still appropriate today? Assuming this is a young investor that would work toward 20 names from the 5i portfolios as funds become available. Thanks

Q: I am looking for equity diversification outside of the Canadian market. Small portfolio.
What would you suggest given the current value of the Canadian dollar? How would your response differ if our dollar was higher relative to the U.S.?

Q: From the current questions it appears you prefer US options to CDN ones. Is there a US site similar to m-x.ca? Sites such as those at CBOE don't help with either implied or historical volatility or any other parameter.

Q: Your current view on CGR (ETF- ishares global real estate index).
Your top choice in this sector (ETF), for the next 5 years.
Many Thanks .
P.

Q: I know that you don't cover US stocks, but you answered questions re BX.US a few times before, so I'll give it a shot. Your last comments re Blackstone were quite favorable, but the stock has been falling and now it is down 30% from June high. I hold some (to the total of 3%) in my non-reg account, and I am thinking about averaging down and buying more (to add another 2%) after current sell-off. What's your opinion? Do you see it as a buy, hold, or sell at current prices/situation? You mentioned before that "it a decent alternative investment, but one that needs to be held throughout a cycle". How would it perform in the short-to-mid term with the US rates rising? - Thanks

Q: Your opinion on Gopro as of today. Thanks

Q: The dividend keeps going up and the stock price keeps going down...how would you explain this and would you add to a half position.

Thanks for your service

Q: Cal-Maine has been in a steady downdraft over the past number of weeks. Can you provide any insight as to what is causing this? What is your current view on the company and assessment of their recent results. Where do you see this stock going over the next 12-24 months and why? Thanks.

Q: - There has been a lot of downside with the attempt to buy office Depot and that fallout but are the fundamentals also a mess? What's up?

Q: Good Afternoon,

I have a large amount of US$ cash to invest in US denominated securities.

My objective here is to OUTPERFORM the US indices. So far I have been able to accomplish that by buying the Small Dogs of the Dow and I have been achieving my objective. Up 5% this year excluding dividends. However, that only allows me to buy 5 US stocks and therefore I have much US cash.

Can you guys draw upon your vast experience to inform me of any other strategies that have constantly outperformed the indices, or for that matter any US$ based ETF's that have outperformed? I am not looking for individual stock suggestions.

In Canada I already own ZLU and HXS which have outperformed signicantly but in Cdn$.

This is all about outperformance strategies/ETF's which I have had success on, albeit on a limited basis.

Thanks

Sheldon

Q: What is your outlook for Starbucks. I have it in my RRSP.
Thx

Q: Could you comment on the effects of rising US interest rates on price appreciation and dividend growth of this ETF? Thanks!

Q: I have about $55,000 invested in US stocks that I bought when the dollar was almost at par. I like all the stocks I have and I consider them blue chip long term holds and I prefer not to sell them. My question is do I sell them or keep them? I have CSCO, INTC, JNJ, SBR and DIS. Also if I keep them do I keep collecting the dividends in US and building a US cash portion which is what I am doing now or keep the stocks and convert the dividends to Canadian dollars. I am so torn with this since I am up like almost 30 percent on all these US stocks. Your thoughts please? I debate this everyday with no answer.

Jimmy