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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: Hi,
I'm wondering about this IPO, primarily for it's focus on industries / sectors I feel will provide future growth. However, I have concerns over some of the wording in the prospectus and feel this may just be a 'flyer', as opposed to a trust unit opportunity. It is slated to begin trading under the ticker BL.UN and think it may be worth waiting to see how the IPO goes, before trying to assess its potential. I am wondering if you could offer any thoughts on it, as I have come to value your insight very much and certainly have benefited with your recommendation of NVDA as a stock focused on the future of AI. If your view is that there is a better approach through a selection of stocks or ETFs (such as ROBO or ARKW), then feel free to redirect my attention.

As always, I look forward to your thoughts.

Thanks,
Dawn
Read Answer Asked by Dawn on January 24, 2018
Q: Thank you for your answer on my question/comment on ETF.
I had missed to mention why I am uncomfortable with this passive investing trend. The markets over many years has been acustomed to this type of "investment du jour" but there is something special to ETF that I forgot to say and why I think it is important.
ETF are among many other qualities supposed to be providing valuable diversity . You did not provided a comment on my question about what I call the tail wagging the dog. If I am right and I do not know if I am (hence my question), then there is NO diversity about buying an ETF as it will behave like a stock and they will force down or up the undervalued securities.
Te ETF's that I buy have an extremly narrow scope and are more induced to react to the underlying ebb and flow value of the underlying asset they are suppose tyo represent than the other way around.
Your comment on this question (very important for me as one of my major belief is into diversification) will be appreciated and if it is too long or irrelevant, please simply keep it private
Read Answer Asked by claude on January 23, 2018
Q: Hello 5i. Just wondered if you had seen the article on this topic in the Globe & Mail over the weekend. What it suggests is that dividends from US-listed ETFs held in an RRSP account are not subject to US taxes. However, the article states that this is not the case for dividends paid by Canadian-listed ETFs that invest in US stocks. In this case, dividends ARE subject to US withholding taxes, even if the ETF is held in an RRSP account. The article goes on to say that these taxes cannot be recovered. (Same situation would apply to mutual funds.)

Assuming the article got this, I'm not sure that all ETF investors are aware of this nuance.
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on January 23, 2018
Q: Hi Peter,
I have been researching answers from 5i on TFSA's. I am looking for a little help to define criteria for growth stocks in a TFSA.
Using TFSA for growth only
Using RRSP and Non-Reg accounts to balance portfolios (including consideration for TFSA)
In a growth model TFSA, is the TFSA to contain a "mix" of sectors or just the best growth stocks available (in recent history this would be almost all tech stocks)?
If you were to select 10 growth stocks from Canada and the USA, what would those 10 stocks be (ranking if possible) at this time?
Is a US stock without dividends the same as a Canadian stock in an TFSA.. i.e. not subject to any taxes or capital gains yearly or when cashing in the stock?
Our assumption is that we are missing out on growth potential if we do not have high growth US stocks in our TFSA. Should we be adding US tech stocks now?

Please take the number of points that are appropriate to answer our question.
Thank you for your great service.

Jerry and Debbie


Read Answer Asked by Jerry on January 22, 2018
Q: Hi. Peter and 5I.
I have also, as Carl, noticed the significant increase of questions on ETF's. This is one of the numerous red flags that are started to pop up all over the market universe in my opinion.
I have taken action against what I consider a risk reward more and more tilted to the downside and am way more concern today about terminal losses (unrecoverable losses) than I am about simple losses on further potential gains(opportunities costs)
I consider ETF's to be purchased only where I cannot buy company stock in certain asset classes or I need to buy in a foreign market that reflects a potential opportunity.
I have a general question about ETF and how they work. If ''everybody'' is buying ETF's now, does that means that the underlying stocks will also grow no matter their intrinsic value. In other words, would it be possible that the ETF's buyer may have now a predominant impact on the market than ''all'' the direct buyers of the underlying stocks. Tail wagging the dog kind of...
A comment on the extract from A wealth of common sense that you mentioned.
If the 16000 mutual fund are buying ETF does that not add to the overextended existing situation?
Passive investing is not just the domain of retail investors.
Thank you
CDJ
Read Answer Asked by claude on January 22, 2018
Q: In regards to the reply to Terry's post, I'm a prime example of that. With all the uncertainties of Trump, US Gov't debt, NAFTA, Canadian housing & credit card debt, Brexit, etc. I've been expecting a correction/pull back for well over a year now. In the meantime I've held off buying ETFs for the US and Europe markets while watching them run up to record levels.
So here's the worse part. Psychologically I have a real problem buying those ETFs at today’s prices when I know I could have bought them much cheaper even though it looks like the run still has a way to go.

I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat, so if there is any advice as to how to avoid getting into a trap like this, it would be greatly appreciated. Do you think in times of uncertainty, it is better to add monthly into an ETF rather than one lump sum?

Thanks for any help!

Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on January 22, 2018
Q: Good day...I am in the process of moving money to the u.s as currency seems to be at the proper spot and also I have all of the balanced and income portfolio now, so my question is would I be better using etfs - MXI - SOXX - XLV and IYF or using ICHR - NVDA - ISRG - HD - JPM - V - HD AND DIS...my thoughts are this will give me diversification that I cannot achieve with 5i stocks...your direction has made a huge difference to my portfolio but I feel I need some geographic diversification ....I look forward to your answer and thanks...gene
Read Answer Asked by gene on January 21, 2018
Q: Hi,

5i talks alot about "momentum" behind stocks. Increasing volume + increasing price = good situation.

Are there one or two indicators you recommend to monitor momentum? I'm thinking of things like the True Strength Index, On Balance Volume, Williams Accumulation/Distribution, etc. I might be way of, but am hoping to use one or two that I can review to assess where an equity might be going.

Thanks,

Cam.
Read Answer Asked by Cameron on January 19, 2018