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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: A reply to James regarding BMO. I have a margin account with BMO with mix of Canadian and US currencies. Dividends are credited in the currency of the issuer, I can settle sale and purchases in either currency of my choice. Nothing ever converted unless I choose to do it. Complete flexibility online. So I wonder if it is familiarity with the online system that is not getting James to do his choice or maybe it is a different rules for registered accounts.
Read Answer Asked by Saad on August 05, 2021
Q: A reply to James regarding BMO. I use BMO Investorline, but don't have a US account. However, in my RRSP account, I bought a US ETF in CAD, but when I sold it, I selected to settle in US dollars and it allowed me to do this. The exchange rate didn't make sense to me and when I called and asked for an explanation it still wasn't convincing. Not the same as what you're dealing with, but I agree that sometimes they don't appear to be very helpful. I've had both good and bad experiences, it almost seems like it depends on who answers the phone. It doesn't make sense that they can't do what you're asking for.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on August 04, 2021
Q: Good morning 5i team
How much of a strategic threat does 5i feel global Fintech is to the largest Canadian banks? And, what do you the Canadian banks doing to ensure their competitive position?
The July 17th Economist article "The funding frenzy" notes "a funding round in June valued Klarna, a Swedish 'buy now, pay later' start-up at US$46 billion." They quote other similar examples. Smart folks are making these investment decisions in finch start-ups What should the small investor be considering today about their investments in Canadian banks?
Thank you.
Edward
Read Answer Asked by Edward on July 22, 2021
Q: It looks like around Seven AM this morning the Canadian dollar abruptly shot up a more than 1%, thus wiping out any gains I might make for the day. Any idea what the cause was? Any predictions about where the dollar-dollar ratio is headed in the near term? I hold a lot of US stocks in unhedged Canadian ETFs and am now reconsidering the helpfulness of hedged products.
Read Answer Asked by John on July 22, 2021
Q: Hi,

In a previous response you indicated that you would use ETF's to complete the fixed income portion of a portfolio. Could you explain your rationale for this as I have been under the impression that any ETF, even a bond type, carries substantially more risk that purchasing a bond directly. I have a couple of short term bond ETF's but have more money allocated directly to bonds/GIC's in my portfolio.

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Sue on July 20, 2021
Q: POAHY:US is the symbol in NY for Porsche Auto in Germany (it’s an unsponsored ADR and is not in your data base) . This business is held in the EWG (Germany) ETF. In addition to holding a modest amount in EWG, I also have a tiny position in POAHY. I thought of topping up after reading some near-rave reviews in Barrons on July 6, 2021. Barrons also listed it as a PICK in its "Picks and Pans" on 6 July. I would appreciate very much if you would please care to comment on Porsche Auto Company.

POAHY pays a healthy dividend (4.85%). More troubling than the high dividend is that it does appear to be seriously under-valued. Is it a value trap, you think? And do UNSPONSORED ADRs carry more risk? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on July 19, 2021
Q: Is it a red flag when a company has a consistently much higher depreciation and amortization costs on the cash flow statement than it has CapEx spending? I have been researching a small UK company involved in online fraud detection. It is in a good space but this is one thing which worries me, together with rather low cash return on invested capital. Any comments appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on July 12, 2021
Q: I need to increase my material sector weighting. So what Canadian & US growth and value oriented material sector stocks would i5Reseach recommend. Thanks … Cal
Read Answer Asked by cal on June 23, 2021
Q: What are you thoughts on using broad based ETFs as "cash" in a portfolio? It seems like that's how the ARKK funds operate, except they are using stocks (I think GOOG and AMZN). To give you some context, my portfolio is mainly VGRO/VEQT, with some 5i stock suggestions for growth mixed in. I dollar cost average into the ETFs every two weeks but I'm wondering how I should approach adding to some of my stock positions and/or start a new position. Thanks as always.
Marc
Read Answer Asked by Marc on June 11, 2021
Q: I have to laugh about inflation/CPI gaining ground versus same time last year? Really? With lock downs and pent up demand who would expect anything else. I read a great article from the head of the Fisher group in the USA. To summarize: this is transitory for the two reasons I mention and others. Be interested in 5i comments. Oh, the huge debt precludes any significant move up for interest rates. Would be happy to send it to you - very bright guy.
Read Answer Asked by James on June 11, 2021