Investment Q&A

Q: Thank you for your excellent service. I wonder if you have any comment or advice regarding the prospects of Bioamber which was recently recommended on Market Call?
Geoff

Q: Les'question today about Alcoa - I think it may be a bit more complex. Alcoa first did a reverse 1 for 3 split and then days later spun off 1 share of a new company for every 3 of the new shares of Alcoa. At the same time they named the new company Alcoa and the old company Arconic. Les' BV for Arconic should be the old Alcoa BV (before the 1 for 3) and his $2,000 BV for the new Alcoa is the BV of the spinoff, so adding the two together he should have GAINED $2,000 in overall BV (probably temporarily). There may be no tax implication for a Canadian holder IF CRA eventually approve the spinoff under S86.1 (they haven't yet, so Les may find the $2,000 reported as a taxable stock dividend in a T5). If and when they do approve Les will have to advise CRA how he wishes to proceed under S86.1 - see an accountant or google several good articles on foreign spinoffs. I intend to file assuming approval and ignoring any stock dividend with an accompanying letter to CRA electing to defer tax and at the same time reducing the Arconic BV by the amount of the new Alcoa BV thus cancelling the temporary increase in BV. Worked for me before on HPQ/HPE and DHR/FTV. Hope this helps.

Q: I haven't been able to find a website that gives me short positions on NYSE listed stocks...could you provide me with a link to a free website offering this information , please and thank you...cheers

Q: If you had a choice between FB and SHOP, which would you choose. The stock will be in a RRSP and a long term hold (likely more than 5 years).

Q: They recently sold their Canadian holdings for around 1 billion. It's come down from 52-week and all time highs due to some anticipating that the Mexico assets would be taxed upon import into the US.

Is this company a good hold for the moment?

Q: OF THE 2 HEALTH STOCK WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER AND WHY ?THANKS.EBRAHIM

Q: I have an allocation of about $66k for non Canada/USA equity Etfs. For maximum diversification (by country) Should I be looking at a few different ETF's in different regions (BRIC/Asia/Japan/AU) - or should I be buying one or two World (ex USA/Canada) ETF's - If so what what are your top 2 or 3. - Also is there a very broad international bod ETF as well?

Q: alcoa split the shares 1 for 3 in Nov 1. My original book value for the shares are $6000. After the split the book value is reduced to $2000 althought I will get additional few new alcoa shares.It sounds to me it is rotten deal.

Q: You've said this stock is expensive. What do you think of the citrus tweet which dropped it so much on Wednesday? If you were going to shift money to a different stock in the sector (aside from AMD which I also own) where would you put it?

Q: Thank you for your wonderful service. I would like to purchase a couple of US dollar ETF that follows the large cap stocks, and is not hedged to Cdn $. Can you recommend one or two?

Q: involved in internet of things top etf s are piling in . your thoughts please

Q: According to my record keeping over the past year, these stocks were spoken of favorable by you in the Q & A section of your site:

COR, JPM, SIMO, SBUX, QCOM, NDAQ, EBIX, AMZN, ITRI, IWO, PI, NVDA, ARLZ (NASDAQ, NYSE)

Looking out to 2017 do you still feel favorably about these stocks?

If not which ones you cull?

Also, are there any US stocks you would add to this list, whose growth prospects you really like over the next year or two?

Thanks in advance.

Sheldon

Q: Hello Team,
For US mid cap exposure, do you prefer IJH or XMC. The Canadian ETF appears to be have a market cap of only 38 Million. Is that a liquidity concern? Any other thoughts you have would be appreciated.
Thank You,
Barry

Q: ZQQ-T (BMO Nasdaq 100 hedged) and XQQ-T (BMO Nasdaq 100 hedged) appears to contain the same tech companies in the same proportion. What difference do you see between the two ? What would be the equivalents on the U.S. market and is it better to buy this type of etf on the Cdian market (hedged) or directly on the U.S. Market ?
Thanks for your good attention,

Jacques

Q: If a fella was overweight tech and underweight financials - I own a 6% position in BNS and a 2.5% in ECN, would a sell of GOOGL and a purchase of JPM make sense?

Thanks for your great service, it is truly an exceptional business you all have created.

Q: Please review MAIN'S financials with AD - they are in the same business, but of course size does matter! However main has nearly a 60+% profit to offset their risk positions. Your comments please. Thank you.

Q: Hello and Merry Christmas. I have been doing some reading in regards to RFID and the multiple uses it has in everyday life. With Amazon looking to change the grocer business would you have any suggestion on companies in this field to look into, that would be listing in Canada or the USA? I have found zbra, gpic, rop listed in the states already. Thank you for your time have a great day

Q: Hi, before I jump into my question, I would like to sincerely thank you for the wonderful and valuable service you've offered for your members. Without your team, I couldn't have done it on my own. Your team's given me a lot of confidence and assurance. Since I joined in 2015, my portfolio has grown considerably. THANK YOU

Since the US Fed raised interest rates in Dec, I am seriously considering to convert a saving of $200,000 to USD. This money is currently lying in an EQ bank high interest account earning 2% interest. My view on Canadian dollar to USD is bearish particular the US Fed proposing to hike interest rate several times in 2017.
Now my questions are: (1) Canadian dollar should be weak against USD. Next year the oil price is going to be stable around $50- 57, but no hope for significantly higher. Weighting the risk and reward on a scale, how risky is my move? (2) After the money has been changed, where can I park this USD? Any suggestions for a safe option to earn some interest? ICICI offers interest at 0.75%. Buying US bond is not my option as interest rate is on the hike.
I have experience using DLR to convert CAD to USD so high exchange expenses are not a big problem.
Once again, thank you for your insights. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Q: With 17% of my portfolio invested in these US ETFs, I'm thinking about adding another 5-10%. However, I'm wary of the Trump implications. All of the above are near 52-week highs. As a long term investor, should I not worry about timing the market, or is it advisable to wait a bit before investing in the US? Is XUS worth buying or am I fine sticking with VUN, if I go ahead and invest in the US?

Q: I do not have much experience in investing in US stocks. I would like to add some US exposure as it does seem that Trump's pro business approach might turn into a reality. Is there an ETF you could suggest that would track the US market?

Thank you, Peter