Investment Q&A

Q: Interest rate anxiety seems to be sweeping the markets again. Refresh my memory about what sectors are likely to be hurt worst in this silliness. I would have thought reits, utilities and telcom but it was consumer staples that got hammered today while the telcos did fine.

Q: Can you provide recommendations for exposure to the Consumer Staples, Energy,Basic Materials and Healthcare
sectors ( Canadian, US or International stocks). My aim is to create a balanced portfolio with a timeframe of 5-7 years.

Thank you.

Q: What public companies/stocks are/will be a play onBlockchain?

Q: I do not rely on technical indicators in a large way, but I use them to solidify my opinion of a company and to a degree timing a purchase. This would pertain for me mostly to a value or momentum indication within a stock. Is there an article or book that you are aware of that might give me a breakdown of how often an indicator proves to be correct and to what increase or decrease of price deviation might occur after the technical is noted? An example after a stock passes its upward 200 day moving average there is a 60% chance it will continue upwards by 10% within 30 days of that occurrence (Not factual). I do not mind doing the math myself but I respect and consider others opinions and formulas and also they may give me different insight. Any technical that you yourself like or consider?
Thanks
J

Q: Hello, I was busy doing some research on some of my holdings, this weekend. It was interesting to find that a number of companies, which have shown huge growth, over a period of, let's say, past 2-5 years, are on the top of the recommended list, today with 5ireasearch and analyst community. If only these stocks could be identified at early stage, when they were undervalued and under the radar, investment returns would have multiplied several times, in today's terms and in future. A number of private equity groups and investment funds ( Mawer, Timbercreek, Pembroke, Pender, Fidelity, CI funds etc)(5iresearch included)initiated positions in some of these companies at the nascent stage and have reaped large returns over time. Some of these stocks which come to my minds are CSU,KXS,SYZ,PBH,NFI,CCL,SJ, BYD.un etc. In your view, are there any such "hidden gems" today which are under followed and appear cheap today but have huge growth potential, over next several years? Of course, there will a degree of risk associated with these names. Thanks for your valued insight.

Q: A recent article by Thane Stenner in ROB suggests private equity as a natural hedge to swings in public equity and that the "smart money" which he implies is High Net Worth individuals are shifting more assets to private from public. For someone who is presently an aspiring member to the HNW club what would you suggest to participate in this area? I am currently holding both OCX and BAM, and looked at CVG (too illiquid), all of which have some fingers in this pie. Thanks, J.

link to article:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/high-net-worth-investors-taking-cautious-approach/article29775556/

Q: Hi,
I have an investment horizon of 10-12 years and I am wanting to use mostly ETF's for the next 5-7 years for sure. - Can you recommend a website or book that I can find ETF's in all of the Asset classes you have identified in your model portfolios. I own CDZ now but I am hoping to hold about 7-10 more ETF's.

Q: Looking to place additional $100K into the US. Already own a split between XLK & IGM which covers the largest players in the Teck sector. Would appreciate your pics for 3 - 4 solid Cos. in health, consumer discretionary, industrial or other. Thank you.

Q: I had the experience of buying US stocks with Canadian funds.As the settlement date was three days later and during this time the Canadian dollar weakened my base cost was rising while waiting for the settlement date;the actual cost of the shares in US dollars remained the same.I was advised by the rep to convert first the required Canadian funds and then buy the US stock I was looking for in US dollars;ie I could convert at my own preference.

Q: Regarding Cheryl's question concerning U.S.$ registered accounts with ScotiaiTrade, I am not sure if this is what she is looking for but for RRSP accounts (maybe TFSA?) one can make the account US$ friendly so the 2% premium on Forex is not charged for sales, purchases and dividends. You make your account "US Friendly" and they charge $30 per quarter per account that is converted to that service. There is a way to do it online but one can also call them. I hope that helps.

Q: With reference to Cheryl's question: I too have an iTrade account and I think they convert the US dividends, paid by TSX listed companies, without a (substantial) fee.

I have 20 shares of Constellation Software (CSU) and on April 5, I had $25.96 in Canadian funds deposited in my account (in case you want to do the math and figure out if whatever fee is involved is worth your while or not).

Good luck.

John

I hope this helps

Q: Hi Team,
I received notice from Economical Insurance, as a policy holder, that it plans to go public (demutualization). Apparently if I choose to participate, I can receive shares (or cash in lieu of shares). I have been informed I am an "eligible non-mutual policyholder." This affects 630,000 policy holders.

I am completely unfamiliar with this process. Do you have any information you can share about what this means and do you have an opinion on the value this may offer?

Many thanks. Michael

Q: I am trying to search for text RESP but this feature is not working for me very well with the new software. It worked fine with the old interface.
Also, could you consider adding time hr:min to the question time stamp?
Appreciate your service very much.

Q: I'm afraid I'm a bit like a dog with a bone, I don't let go until I have the correct answer. so I phoned back to Scotia and talked to a very informative person who states that because they don't have $US accounts for registered accounts they have to convert them back to $CA at there FOREX rate with a 2% premium. I am now comfortable with this information and hope it helps others as well. Thank you again!

Q: Further to my question re Canadian stocks paying $us dividends in a Canadian account I phoned Scotia itrade to ask about the fees for the conversion. They stated that no fee is charged to convert the dividend. In disbelief I asked well is there a premium charged on the conversion rate. They again said no fee is charged, I double checked. If this is true I don't need to do anything. But somehow I have a hard time believing this...your thoughts and if anyone else has any experience with scotia itrade to confirm this it would be greatly appreciated. thank you

Q: Could you suggest 5 companies with a dividend and with some growth projected in the next years. The objectives is to start using the dividend in around 4-5 years as an income source. I would appreciate if you could focus on companies that are 'cheap' right now or at a discount to their usual price ratio.
I already own AW.un, DIV, KBL, NFI, PBH, ECI, GSY and WSP that sort of fit in the kind of companies i'm looking for. Note that the portfolio is more diverse than that with around 30 names. I'm looking to slowly move from pure growth to dividend with some growth. So i will select names from your list and rebalance the portfolio accordingly.

Q: Further to Cheryls question about canadian companies that pay us dividends. If you move those shares to a us acount, will withholding tax of 15 percent be applied? Or not, as they are canadian companies.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Wes

Q: Hi,
Thanks for the tip of TMXMONEY to identify the sectors. It turns out I had miss-classified 3 of my stocks (SJ, IPL and ECI). I'm now questioning my weightings. I currently have the following:

Cons. Cyclical 11.9%
Cons. Defensive 0.0%
Financials 17.1%
Healthcare 3.6%
Energy 14.7%
Precious Metals 13.9%
Real Estate 0.0%
Industrials 9.2%
Utilities 0.0%
Technology 24.5%
Materials 4.6%
Communication 0.0%

I'm ok with some risk, which is probably evident from above. My precious metals may be a little high due to the recent bounce in this sector.

Based on the current market environment, do you see these weighting as appropriate? Are there any particular red flags that you see?

Thanks, Ian

Q: Pertaining to stock charts, I use the free Globe Investor Stock Charts which are user friendly but periodically they act up. I tried freestockcharts.com and I found them not user friendly and seemed to be for professionals only. What I am looking for are other free stock charts that are user friendly like Globe Investor. Any help appreciated. Thank you Dennis

Q: Great show on BNN's Market Call Tonight on Friday. A quick question about growth: When one says a company is growing by x%, does that typically mean growth in revenues, earnings, or share price?