Investment Q&A

Q: Dear 5i,
If I were interested in starting a position in Alphabet (assuming it fit with my sector allocation) would it make sense that I should go for the C class rather than the A class of shares? I would get a moderate discount and still share in the (potential) company's fortunes. The only draw back is that I would have no voting power.
Is my thinking correct? May I have your thoughts?
Thank you for your time.

Q: Dear 5i Research,
I enjoy reading your watchlist questions. I am 67 years old, semi retired and enjoy doing my own investing through a discount brokerage over many years. I do have a high risk tolerance. My retirement income is CPP, OAS and my stock portfolio in 7 figures divided amongst 6 stocks. I am a very “concentrated” investor having gone from 30 plus stocks and ETF’s to only 6 stocks – Constellation Software (CSU), Alphabet (GOOG), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B), Amazon (AMZN), Alibaba (BABA), and Tencent (TCEHY). I follow them all closely. Should I be concerned about my high tech component and rather concentrated portfolio? What type of diversification if any would you recommend?

Q: Could I please have your top 4 or 5 USA picks to add to a well balanced portfolio with a focus on growth?

Thanks for the great advice, Lyle

Q: I don't have any FAANG stocks. I want to buy can you please give me in order which one I should buy first. I was also looking at FTEC ETF. Do you recommend this ETF or would you recommend another one?

Thanks for your great service.
Hector

Q: I have been a die-hard on IBM, holding through the long decline, thinking that the promised turn-around would come. Meanwhile other companies seem to have superseded them in cloud computing. I thought that I could not go too far wrong, since ibm had such a good dividend.. But, I have noticed that the dividend payout has become quite high (0.98) i think. And some have raised the question of the sustainability of the dividend. Especially since their buybacks seem to have occured when the stock price was high and not recently when low. I am thinking finally, because of this, of throwing in the towel on ibm and buy something like Nvidia in it's place. I was wondering whether you thought there was any hope for IBM and also your opinion on the sustainability of the dividend. Thanks as always for the exceptional service.

Q: Hello 5i!
Which do you show having better growth over the next 3-5 years Nvidia or Google??
Thank you
Dave

Q: I am currently overweight in tech (now pushing 23%). I have just retired (with a generous defined benefit pension) and am trying to adopt a more conservative approach to investing. Given this new focus:
a) What would you suggest would be an appropriate weighting for tech?
b) Could you list the above-noted holdings in order of least to most risk?
c) Could you offer your thoughts with respect to which stock - or stocks - on this list represents the best balance of value and growth?
Thank you.

Q: Hi !

I invest mostly in growth stocks but with 28% of my portfolio in tech, I may be overloaded in this sector. My present holdings are: CSU (2.7%) PHO (2.5%) KXS (3.2%) SHOP (3.5%) ADBE (3.1%) FB (2.7%) GOOG (2.6%) MU (1.8%) NVDA (2.2%) SQ (3.%). If I were to reduce the number of holdings as well as my tech %, on which stocks would you suggest to concentrate, identifying those with most growth potential and those more risky ? Are there any other stocks better suited to my goal ? Or should I stay the course here ?
Thank you for your good attention,
JD

Q: Please deduct number of credits that you deem appropriate. I essentially follow and hold your balanced equity portfolio. It is supplemented with the following US stocks. JPM, STZ, SPOT, NVDA, GOOG, TEAM, UTX, HXL, BIIB and WYNN.

I originally bought WYNN for a trade on the recent dip caused by the Steve Wynn situation. Should I keep it as a long term position or take my profits and look elsewhere.

I have funds for one more position. Do you have any suggestions or should I add to some of the stocks I have.

Are there any of these stocks that you would sell and if so what would you suggest for a replacement.

Thank you for your service! I am sure someone else will ask but please let us know about your thoughts on SIS earnings release. It looked like a miss.

Q: I would like to purchase either Microsoft or Google. I am looking at a five year or more time period. Which of the two would you recommend purchasing and your reasons and comments would be appreciated. Thanks

Q: Can you provide a few names that would benefit from the rise of autonomous vehicles? I'm a bit leery of TSLA because Elon Musk seems to have gone off the deep-end lately. I also think companies like ACQ could be in trouble because fewer cars will purchased in the long-term.

Q: If you were to start a growth and balanced portfolio in the USA tomorrow, what would be your top 5-8 picks for both portfolios. Also, based on your experience, what management teams do you regard as top allocators of capital, USA firms. Thanks for your great service.

Q: Your thoughts on swapping goog out for msft OR 1/2 a position of goog to msft.

Thanks

Q: Which do you think are the best companies in both Canada and the US to invest in for artificial intelligence and robotics.

Q: Which FAANG stock(s) would be most attractive today for long-term growth? I plan to hold longer than Trump will be President.

Q: To what extent do you see Alphabet being caught upon the same issues surrounding Facebook at the present and in the near future? Would you recommend lightening a 4.6% GOOGL position for the near term, similar to your FB comments to Brian on March 19?

Q: Hi 5i: I'm still on my quest to reduce the number of stocks in my RIF in the most defensive way possible. In my IT sector I hold:
AIF (or is that in Real Estate?); GIB.A; KXS;
FB; GOOG; RYT (ETF).
Could you suggest the best way to reduce this to 3, say? Any suggestions on how to proceed given the current sell-off? Thanks Roland

Q: I want to add one of these two names to my portfolio for a five year time frame. Which of these two securities would you recommend and why? Thank You

Q: I have virtually no direct exposure to the US market at the moment and wish to rectify that. My risk tolerance is moderate with a minimum hold of 5+ years.
I am considering adding IWO and MTUM to my RRSP plus 2 or 3 other stocks for diversified exposure. What are your thoughts with this strategy and can you provide a couple stock suggestions, your reasoning behind them, and perhaps how best to allocate the funds?
Thanks for the great service.

Q: Here it is again same old question in case something came up. I have room for 4 US stocks in either disc or tech tilted towards growth.
What would you favor ?
Thanks and health, prosperity and happiness to the team and families for the new year!