Investment Q&A

Q: Why doesn't Amazon split their stock given its share price?

Q: Hi,
You have been rightly complemented many times for
or your wise counsel recently. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the group for their many varied questions. Both the questions and answers have helped me a lot.
For various reasons I have not visited the Asset Allocator section for some time and find that I am not as well 'balanced' as I should be. I am over invested in financials (BAM.A, TD, BNS, RY and SLF) and grossly underinvested in Consumer cyclicals. I am also overinvested in Canada. Could you please suggest 2-3 US and Canadian Consumer cyclical stocks?
Many Thanks,
Bryn

Q: Would like your opinion om this fund for my US account, its performance is excellent five star morningstar rating. MER at 2% is high. Is there a similar ETF with similar performance? Or should I just be contented paying this fee considering its return? Do you see this sector continuing to outperform?
Thanks

Q: Hello folks, break up the big techs, the theme has been for a long time, and once awhile come back on center stage.
my q is: does the " Break Up " increase shareholder value or vice versa?
thx

Q: I am thinking of putting a substantial portion of my portfolio in the MAGA stocks Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Apple + Facebook. I understand that this will not be diversified as probably most would like to be but these stocks have performed incredibly over the past 10-20 years and I don't see much changing in the future. Any thoughts on this strategy other than lack of diversification.

Q: Kim Bolton on Market Call had 2 charts one for Cloud Consumer and Cloud Producer.
Cloud Consumer Stocks
TWTR, SPOT, SNAP, SHOP, NFLX, JD, Googl, FB, EA, DIS, BABA, AMZN, AAPL, ZS, ATVI.
Cloud Producer Stocks
ZM, WORK, WIX, WDAY, SPLK, RNG, ORCL, NOW, MSFT, INTU, DOCU, DDOG, DBX, CSCO, CRM, ADBE.

Can you please suggest 5 top picks from Consumer and producer in order which one would you suggest has Little or No DEBT and good management.

Thanks for the great 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: These are the US holdings in my RSP. All have done well except for SYK down about 8% with a limited outlook for the rest of 2020 based on the Covid pandemic. Regardless of sector weighting, what are your favorite 2 or 3 US equities for growth over the next 5 years? I'm okay with a moderate risk.
Thanks in advance,
Greg.

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.

Q: Good morning 5i, I am piggy backing off a recent question by James, but if you can disregard sector diversification and risk is also not an issue and main goal of course is capital appreciation.

"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?"

Q: Can you give me names of 10 companies - CDN and U.S - that you feel have:
* strong balance sheets,
* a strong likelihood to survive or thrive in the current environment
* appear to be of good current value with an eye on a potentially strong rebound given a bit of time.
Your opinion is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Q: Hi 5i.
Thanks in advance love you guys! Recommend you to everyone I know. :) For RRSP if youcould buy one US stock which would it be?
I am well diversified, just have cash to dispence.
THansk P

Q: I want to buy two stocks from above selection. What would be your prefrence.
andrew.

Q: Morning 5i,
I'm looking to get my US allocation in my portfolio up to ~40% in the Healthcare, Industrials, and Tech sectors. I have a VERY long time frame, but I'm interested in businesses that have aggressive/high growth in the IMMEDIATE to 2 year timeframe.

Could you please rank the names below in terms of highest short-term growth potential coming out of a COVID world (reopening, new normal).

And if possible, are there any US names that trump these selections instead? Please take as many question credits as required:

Healthcare: VEEV, AMGN, REGN
Tech: TEAM, TWLO, MSFT, NVDA, AYX, AMZN, GOOG, QCOM, PYPL
Industrials: ROP, RTX

Q: Hi group I believe that Tech + health + gold will be the leaders when we come out of recession. Can you give me a list of 2 ETFs for each sector along with 2 individual stocks you like for Canada + USA. Am also interested you take on my sectors that will lead the recovery and should I start picking away or wait ??? (I believe the market are vastly overbought and does not factor in the economic reality that the virus is going to do to the market. Please deduct credits at your discretion.

Q: I don't hold ,SHOP,CSU,AMZN,GOOG,FB,NVDIA, and perhaps missed the boat.Which one you believe if any still make sense buying now?.

Q: If a new investor had a $100, 000 to invest in Canadian & US Equities what would be the TOP 10 Stocks to invest today for the next 3 to 5 years.

Thanks Valter

Q: I am about to triple the size of my investment in the portfolio above and give equal weighting to all. Virtually all of this new money will be in non-registered accounts. In total, this self-directed portfolio will represent 20% of my holdings; I also have 40% in a growth-focused pension fund, and 40% in a mix of ETFs through a robo-advisor.
Do you have any suggested changes to the list of names? I am primarily focused on growth, with a 3-5 year horizon.
Do you recommend a different weighting e.g. heavier on some, lighter on others?
What are your thoughts regarding timing? I am tempted to put all of the new money in now, betting on the sustainability of the recent recovery. But I understand that a phased approach will reduce risk.
Thanks for your help.

Q: I have these equities in my US Margin Account. I would like to raise some additional cash ... just in case. Which of above would you trim first. Are there any which should be sold for a tax loss if possible such as CRM and ISRG, where I am slightly negativ.
Thanks for your answer
Albert