Investment Q&A

Q: Can you rank these US technology stocks? Perhaps based on risk, and another ranking based on growth.

Q: My 28yr old son is looking to build a diversified ETF portfolio with 100% equity exposure with a bent towards growth given his long investment horizon.  These will be spread across his TFSA, RRSP and Non-Registered accounts.  Since he will be contributing smaller amounts on a regular basis a zero commission platform such as Wealthsimple is appealing.  However, they charge 1.5% fee for all currency conversions making it only practical to hold Canadian traded ETF's.  As a result he is considering the following:

ZSP 40%
XIC 25%
TEC 20%
VIU 10%
VEE 5%

ZSP + XIC + VIU + VEE together create a mix of ETFs that are globally diversified and very similar to the structure of XEQT/VEQT.  Versus XEQT/VEQT This portfolio has a slightly lower weighted-average MER at 0.16% and also has 20% in TEC (in place of something like QQQ) which is more growth oriented. Here are how the sectors would be weighted with this portfolio:

Info 31%
Financial 15%
Cons Disc 11%
Industrial 9%
Healthcare 8%
Communica 7%
Cons Staples 5%
Energy 5%
Materials 4%
Utilities 2%
Real Estate 2%

These would be the top 10 holdings with this portfolio and these top 10 would account for 24% of holdings in this portfolio:

AAPL5.1% MSFT4.9% AMZN3.2% GOOGL1.8% FB1.7% GOOG1.7% TSLA1.5% SHOP1.4% RY1.2% NVDA1.2%

If this was you at 28, can you please comment on
- are the 5 ETFs he has chosen ones you would go with given his objectives, if not, what changes/substitutes would you make along with recommended % allocations?
- is his % allocation across the 5 appropriate or would you make changes? For example I thought there might be too much overlap between ZSP and TEC as they are both highly invested in AAPL, MSFT, AMZ and FB and he is looking at 60% going into these 2 ETF's. That may well be what you want at his age but  I wonder if he is better served by reducing ZSP to 25% -30% and TEC to 15% and add  the remaining 15-20% to CDZ or VGG (or something else?)
- given he will be making contributions to his TFSA, RRSP and Non-registered, which ETF would be best in which account and why? 

Thanks for all your help, 
Scott

Q: Which do you believe will show greater growth next year: LULU or AMZN? Thank you.

Q: How much will Amazon go up on the Rivian IPO? Amazon owning around 10% of Rivian and if the IPO goes as planned than we will get an actual valuation of Amazon's ownership of these shares. My play was Amazon - not Rivian. Or is the Rivian valuation too small to move AMZN stock?

Q: I bought AMZN around the time that the pandemic hit in March 2020 at $2000/share and then rode it up to an all time high of $3770 in the summer of 2021. Since then the stock is down $500-$600 -- which is basically the level its been at throughout most of 2021 -- except for that "blip" in July 2021. The reason for my message is a request to convince me why I should hang on to AMZN -- when what I really want to do is sell. Thanks!

Q: PTON Given the fact that life looks like we will be returning to a pre-covid world hopefully not too far, what are your thoughts on this company for a long-term hold? Do you think it will become something like Lululemon? Is it a good time to initiate a position now?

Q: A general question about shipping/transport that may affect the consumer stocks. I'm increasingly hearing about shortages of truckers and back ups of containers in many major ports around the world. Fuel shortages in England (due to too few transport drivers), weeks of back logs at ports in NY and CA. Costco's recent comments on this topic...

All this has me wondering if there will even be enough goods to sell to meet expectations - and what will happen to high flyers (SHOP, AMZN), when sellers/merchcants simply can get stuff to sell.

Simply put, how significant is the driver/transport shortage and should we expect worse?

C

Q: Which of these two stocks is preferable to buy?
Thanks, Rose

Q: Requesting your thoughts on the company since I didn't find any recent answers on it. Can you please provide your thoughts on recent financials, amazon (or other contract awards) and finally, would you buy it as 1% of the portfolio as a growth stock ?

Q: Hi!

Could you rank these 3 companies as far as valuation, growth going forward and safety? Amazon has been in a range for months, but it’s P/E still seems like it is higher than Googl. All 3 are important players in autonomous vehicles and where technology may be heading in the future.

Thanks,
Jason

Q: Hi 5i,

In regards to AMZN, MSFT and GOOGL.
At a high level why are rising interest less desirable than having low interest rates. It seems the market gets spooked if it believes interest will rise. I hope you can explain the overall thinking.

Q: Peter and team,

I use the US side of my portfolio mainly for growth opposed to CDN for income and some growth. Thinking of a switch from docu to affirm looks like good money to be made in this one. Can you give a comparison between the 2 and do you think affirm is a better investment now?

I've hit the highest ever by far in my portfolio this year akin to your father in law thanks in very large part to your recommendations.

From a very grateful many years standing customer!

Q: Hi Peter and crew. I know that US tech companies are "not in your wheel house" and I also know that you have great insight. so I am interested in your opinions on the following.
I am watching that both Rivian and Global Foundries Inc. are applying to the SEC this fall to go public. Both appear to be in a good space for long term trends/needs. I am interested in long term investing in these companies when they come to market.
Thoughts?
BTW - Peter, Loved the article in the FP about your father-in-law. Maybe the 2 above companies will give him " the action" he is looking for!

Q: Hello Team,
Could you rank these securities in terms of growth going forward, strength of business and safety.
Thank You,
Barry

Q: Hello, do the CDRs from CIBC count toward the $100k limit before we need to fill out a T.1135 at tax filing time? Thanks,

Q: I currently own these companies. I have some US cash to add to my TFSA and would like your recommendation on 5 additional best of breed companies. Or would you increase number of shares in the companies I already own.

Thanks, Donna

Q: If you had to pick only ten stocks or ETF's to hold forever which would they be?
Thanks

Q: I was just checking out the new iPhone 13 and saw that they use Affirm for buy now, pay later. I do own GSY, is there an advantage to also owning affirm? What do you think about buying it after the latest run-up? If buying, is it overinflated and is it better to wait for it to settle down? Thanks!

Q: Roku has been on a downward slide since July. What are the reasons for this , and should I be selling ? Thanks.

Q: With the drop in Chewy today, how would you rank it with the above Consumer Cyclical stocks?