Investment Q&A

Q: Good morning. Have similar small positions in both Apple and Veev. I like a concentrated portfolio. Should I condense to one and if so, which one? Or just leave well enough alone. Also own Kinaxis and XBC in my TFSA. Dividend stocks are in my self-directed account. I'm a 75 year old senior woman who loves managing my own portfolio, with your wonderful recommendations of course. Thanks. Lorraine

Q: Hi Peter/Ryan, I would like to buy AAPL for my TFSA, first of all can an American company be put into a TFSA and would the same rules apply to capital gains or losses, or what is different about an American company in a TFSA. Secondly, they are about to split is it better to buy before or after a split. Thanks

Q: WHEN DOES APPLE SPLIT FOUR FOR ONE. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN WILL THE ADDITIONAL SHARES BE IN THE PORTFOLIO?

Q: Hi Peter, what is your opinion on the 5 for 1 stock split for Tesla and 4 for 1 for Apple? Are past stock splits in your experiences generally sound investments (for profitable companies that is) for special situations? Thanks!

Q: Hi,
Both of these companies have recently announced stock splits. AAPL for the umpteenth time, TSLA I think for the first time. While I understand the logic behind a stock split, I am curious as to the usual market reaction. With our current electronic trading, does a split still have weight in attracting new buyers because the price point has decreased? I you were to initiate a new position on either of these companies would you do so in advance of the split, or wait until after? Is there a 'usual' response that occurs - such as just before a split prices rise, or they fall just after a split, etc. Any thoughts on this would be most welcome! If you were to start a new position how would you rank these two companies against adding to a current position in MSFT? Thanks, as always, for your hard work and insight.
Dawn

Q: Good Morning! I have a new great granddaughter and I am in the process of setting up an RESP for her. Obviously, a long time horizon! Could you recommend 2-3 stocks/ETFs with growth in mind?
Thanks for your help, Michael

Q: 2 questions - what's you outlook for gold / silver moving fwd after the blood bath today ? will the price recover or are we headed back down below $2000 or?- what's the general feeling amongst the gold bugs
- What is your top 3 stocks both in Canada + USA regardless of sector (I am a moderate risk investor. Deduct credits as you see fit

Thanks for your help its appreciated

Q: Hello,
For a TFSA with a long term horizon (5+ years) would you please rank these companies, keeping in mind their current valuation?
Also, are there any that you would shy away from/not consider?
Thanks for your help

Q: Back on June 3, this question was asked. Would you make any changes now?
"If you were starting a new account with 100k with a portfolio of 10 US equities, with a 10 year time frame, which 10 would you currently choose?"
5I RESEARCH ANSWER:
TEAM, DOCU, ROKU, AMZN, GOOG, APPL, CRWD, QCOM, GH, FLIR

Q: Hi 5i,

I am Canadian and I have purchased BRK.B around few months ago around US$180. However, it doesn't move up much and seem like underperform.
Do you think BRK.B is undervalued stock and it will catch up better performance in 2020 since APPL just released an outstanding report. The reason I asked because I am thinking to sell some of them to buy APPL. However, I don't want to change back to Canadian dollar, the Canadian dollar was lowest ever during the time I purchased BRK.B. Now I am facing the currency risk and slow moving up price for BRK.B. In your opinion, should I keep it and wait for long time until it offset the currency risk, or any suggestion. Would you please kindly advise.

Q: Could you please comment on Apple splitting their shares. What would you think of starting a position in todays market?

Q: If you could only buy one today for a long term hold which one would you choose and why? Microsoft or Apple
Thank you

Q: With the stock split, would this be an opportune time to enter this stock?
Thank you. Peter

Q: Hello Peter,
After these companies reported this evening, which one would you buy first? I would appreciate if you could give your buy ranking starting with the best first.
Thanks a lot.

Q: I have only one US Tech stock QCOM and have done well with it. However, I would like to reduce or replace it with a couple of other US Tech stocks. What do you suggest? I already have CSU and KXS in my CDN portfolio.

Q: I currently hold MSFT and AAPL in all of my portfolios - I am thinking about adding GOOG to each as well - would you suggest I top up MSFT and AAPL or add a new position with GOOG - your opinion is greatly appreciated.

thanks

Q: I have these 7 stocks, they comprise about 30% of the equities I own, in part because the their stellar performance in recent months. Two parts to my question: first, though they are all categorized as "tech" ( well, maybe not Goog), I am trying to get a sense of how different they might be from each other so that 30% is better diversified than the label they fall under might suggest? Can you briefly describe the underlying businesses of the 3 Cdn ones and indicate if you see all 7 as diversified. Second, if the stock market should hit another significant pull back (like March or otherwise), would these 7 be resilient enough to avoid major losses, and are some better than others in this regard? Thank you for your excellent service.

Q: Good morning,
I own a small house in Ottawa that is free and clear with a current market value of approximately $350,000.
A recent discussion with my trusted mortgage broker confirmed that a 5 year term (Closed & Fixed) term mortgage can be obtained at a rate of 2.29%. This mortgage is said to be:
a. insured through CMHC,
b. portable, and
c. transferable.
At that rate of 2.29% and given that the interest paid would be tax deductible if I use the funds for investment purposes, I'm seriously considering borrowing around $200,000 and investing this amount for an initial 5 year period with an expected net rate of return on investment of 4.5% .
Q1. With $200,000, what are your thoughts of splitting this amount in 5 different chunks of $40K in the following instruments:
a. Mawer Tax Effective Balanced Fund,
b. Mawer Global Balanced ETF Fund,
c. Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio,
d. IShares Core Balanced ETF Portfolio, and
e. BMO Balanced ETF

Q2. As an alternative to the above and given the 5 year time frame, would your preference be to invest the $200,000 in a selection of best in class individual stocks split between different sectors and if so, would you be so kind as to provide me with ya listing of your best ideas at this time.

I thank you and look forward to hearing your thoughts on both of these investment strategies.
Francesco

Q: I would appreciate 10 US and/or Canadian small cap growth stocks to invest in for the next two to five years.
Clayton

Q: Harry asked an interesting question about investing in US Tech stocks and wanted an ETF. I did a 52-week comparison of the performance of the 4 mentioned Tech stocks with the ZQQ ETF. If my rough calculations are correct, one would have almost doubled their money with these 4 stocks compared to the putting the same money in ZQQ over the last 52 weeks. Past performance is no indication of the future, but I would like your thoughts on buying these 4 now versus the ETF. In my situation I would put 5% of my investments in these four and currently well diversified and a good chuck of fixed income (>30%). For me maybe okay (your thoughts please) but in general would this also apply to most investors. Please respond to my situation and the general situation if you can please. Thanks so much. Dan C.