Investment Q&A

Q: Greetings Peter and team,

Again, thank you for your logical answers to my previous questions.

In the 60s, a self-made, wealthy graduate of the Benjamin Graham, Columbia University program which warren Buffett praises, recommended that investors keep half of their portfolio in cash. When the market drops 10%, he recommended that they use a third of that cash to buy stock bargains. Today, that would be a US market index ETF. If the market drops another 10%, he recommended that they use all their cash to buy bargains, again, say a US market index ET. And if the market drops another 10%, he recommended the investors margin their portfolio fully.

I would appreciate your views on this seemingly risky approach to investing money not needed for near-term use.

Thank you,

Milan

Q: I'm 45 years old and want to buy some canadian growth stocks. Will you please suggest (in order of preference) 5 or 6 growth stocks with some sort of dividend yield. Also, will you indicate the best place to hold these stocks (rrsp, tfsa, cdn). Thank you.

Q: With the latest trend to electric vehicles it would seem that cobalt producers would be an attractive investment. However, my effort in finding an ETF or even a major producer specializing in cobalt hasn't gone well.

Do you have any suggestions on any potential candidates?

Q: Hello
Need some advice please. 62 and recently retired. RRSP's are almost maxed out but only a few k in TFSA account.
As my income is now at its lowest point (CPP),I'm
thinking I should start moving some RRSP funds to my TFSA?
I'm considering a mix of ETF's such as VAB,VCN,XAW or perhaps some of your Income stocks and funds such as CPD,XHY,BCE and BNS.
Note that I do hold most stocks in the balanced portfolio.
Thanks for your great service.
Gary

Q: I recently saw a feature on BNN that indicated a study by CITI that said the most reliable metric to use is free cash flow per share when evaluating a stocks performance and future growth potential. Is this something that you can use when you screen and include in a company report

Q: Just a comment, I’ve been a member since you launched your site. I read a load of investment things daily, and your offering is unparalleled. While I don’t ask many questions, I truly benefit from the Q&A every day, and of course the insight gleamed from your portfolios.

Since your company has grown a lot, obviously the demands - the sheer volume of questions alone - has clearly grown with it, because over the last while I’ve noticed a very big difference in your answers. They’ve lost the choppiness: the quick, short, get-to-the-point way in which they were always written. Now, they’re very smooth, all corners are rounded, very well-written quite frankly, so I assume that answers are now being dictated, and a ‘writer’ is putting them together for publication. Very nice, easy to read in a mellifluous kind of way. But I have to say, I miss the choppiness!

Had to comment on it, it’s just that marked a difference. Thank you for the excellent service, I look forward to staying with you until you hang up your hat!

Q: The recent hand wringing (and rightly) over CRH (haven't owned for years) has made me question what rationale retail investors use to buy and sell. I understand why advisors suggest a buy and hold strategy. But can't understand why retail investors need to be tied to that philosophy. I'm making a leap and will assume most members of this site use a discount brokerage. Given the almost insignificant cost to buy and sell (assuming buys and sells of more than $10,000), isn't a more active approach to trading a reasonable proposition? I use technicals to take the emotion out of the equation and would love to know what buy and sell discipline you would suggest. Having personal buy/sell rules might help investors feel better about making these decisions.
Thanks for all your support and advice over the years.

Q: Just watching BNN and an analysis by CITi reports that a consistent metric to use is free cash flow per share .....FCF/S.
When you eveluate a company and do a report,do you screen and report this metric?
Thanks

Q: I would like to hear your opinion on holding a cash position inside a stock portfolio (not counting any sort of life emergency fund). I read lots of company (Berkshire, Apple, etc) are building up big cash position to better pull the trigger when a market downturn occurs. If it can temporarily be good for a company, is it the same for an individual investor ?

If we take my current situation, I am 27, no debt with a decent job income which I put steadily towards stock investing. I currently hold a 5% cash position as a buffer between my income and my investing. Do you believe it’s enough ? Is my strategy of buying over time with my income without building a larger cash position my best option ? Would you consider building a larger cash position 8 years into a bull run as market timing ?

Thank you !

Q: Hello 5i,
I just wanted to say "thanks" to Claude for sending the Morgan Stanley article and to 5i for putting in the Q&A - I really enjoyed that and got more than one chuckle out of it! Quirky, but not without value - thanks!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: Peter
From Morgan Stanley, i think, a well written little dose of common sense...
print or keep for you

NEW YORK – The S&P 500 closed at a new high on Wednesday in what analysts hailed as the accumulated result of several hundred million people waking up every morning hoping to solve problems and improve their lives.

The index finished up 4 points. Goldman Sachs strategist Bill Blake said the move was the result of unidentified marginal buyers being a little bit more motivated than unidentified marginal sellers. “We’ve now had 241 years of people in daily competitive pursuits to do things a little better, and those benefits add up over time. Mix that with some good luck and where we happen to be in the business cycle, and here we are,” he said. “My job is to sound smart, but you can explain this stuff to a five year old,” he laughed.

Corporations earned $5.89 billion in after-tax profits. Financial advisors and middlemen took in $710 million in fees. The difference, Blake said, would accrue to investors over time.

Analysts warned of several metric tons of dopamine and cortisol careening through the global economy, which they said created a near certainty of poor financial decisions. At some point, Blake said, these bad decisions create social proof and feed on each other, leading to recessions. “When is the next recession?” he asked. “I don’t know. Whenever the second mortgage you took out to buy a boat to appease your insecurity convinces your brother in-law to do the same, and his boat gives the boat salesman enough misguided confidence to become a day trader, and then all three of you crack under a collective bout of geopolitical bad luck or something. But we’ll move on.”

About 9,000 new businesses formed on Wednesday. Another 8,200 dissolved. Analysts expect the trend to continue, calling it an “unmistakable example of basic capitalism.”

Fifty-five million American children went to school Wednesday morning, leveraging the compounded knowledge of all previous generations. Analysts expect this to lead to a new generation of doctors, engineers, and problem solvers more advanced than any other in history. “This just keeps happening over and over again,” one analyst said. “Progress for one group becomes a new baseline for the next, and it grows from there.”

Three dozen political pundits yelled at each other on TV in front of an audience of 75 million. Meanwhile, a couple hundred million people were reasonable and productive in front of an audience of zero.

Just over 1,700 patents were filed at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, with a few expected to change the world over the coming decades. “Pretty damn cool” said Sarah Donald, a PTO spokeswoman. “I wish more people paid attention to this kind of stuff.”

Facebook stock fell $0.23 to close at $169.16. Four-hundred seventy one news outlets covered the move. No one knows why.

Analysts expect more of the same tomorrow, with the trend continuing into next week.

* Nothing, and yet everything, about this post is accura

Q: I have just read a new article with a doomsday comment about another financial crisis being on its way. "The same problems that caused the financial crisis are back". I understand that no one can really predict things but given the strong upward trends that we have seen one could expect some sort of correction. To take a conservation approach how should one adjust their investment distribution. What sectors are less affected? and would ETF's or mutual funds be safer that stocks? What about bonds? This is probably worth a couple of credits. Thank you, Doug

Q: I am a retired, conservative dividend-income investor. I own the above stocks plus ZLB, XIT, RBC Cdn Equity Inc, Sentry Cdn Inc, Sentry REIT, Fisgard Capital, Insured Annuities and receive a company pension and CPP. Assume a well diversified portfolio.

Question # 1 = do you see any stocks-ETFs-MFs of concern in the above list?

Question # 2 = I'd like to add one of the following: KBL, NFI, NWC, ZCL. I am looking for a safe, growing dividend, some capital appreciation and liquidity. Can you please provide your ranking and why.

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: On aug 1st my question requires further clarification my wife is 68yrs of age and retired would your choices for investments remain the same or would your choices now be different Plse feel free to deduct a question

Q: Marylin question.
I use this web site for dividende growth http://www.dividendgrowthinvestingandretirement.com/canadian-dividend-all-star-list/
Publish as you which

Q: can you refer to a few hedge funds or managers that generally produce excellent results year over year?
i like dkam but they are closed for new investments.

Q: Hi Team, Thanks for answering our non-stock related questions. Here's a link to share on T1135 form for those holding US
stocks.
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=614998&email_access=on&chk=2148090&q=1533092

Q: Hello: I am trying to find the list of those companies (Canadian, US, global) who have increased dividends year over year +for ever+. I know I have seen it but am not able to find it right now. Can you please point me to this, I am going to try to use it more in my portfolio planning. Many thanks to you, Marilyn

Q: In response to John on Aug 1st, here is a link to the Bank of Canada CAD index against a basket of 6 currencies: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/ceri/

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

I'd like to deploy the funds from the recent sale of TNC. (Thank you!) I'm presently underweight in these sectors: Financial, Industrial, Information Technology, and Utilities. At this point in the economic cycle, what would be the most compelling sector? What would your top picks in this sector be if you were a buyer today? Thanks as always.