Investment Q&A

Q: I am considering buying HXS.U and HXQ.U in my non registered account for tax purposes. When looking at the 5 year charts of these 2 etfs I noticed a very large drop in both of them on the same day. For example HXS.U went from $85.38 on June 28 2021 to $43.03 on July 5 2021. These drops did not occur in the BMO etf ZSP.U or ZNQ.U. These drops did not occur in HXS or HXQ on that day either.
What happened then? Is there a risk that it could happen again. To lose half of their value is quite a scare.
Thanks
Victoria

Q: I would like to hold a NASDAQ 100 ETF long term in a non registered account.

1. is there a tax / bookkeeping advantage for holding one of the above over the other? (some websites imply that you have to keep records closely for American dollar ETFs, I believe they are referencing adjusted cost base at time of future sell.)

2. Is there an alternative to HXQ.CA that you would recommend? Or do. you think this is the best one at the present time?

3. Do any of your answers change if held in a TFSA?
4.Do any of your answers change if held in a RRSP?

Thanks
Ernie

Q: Do you have a preference between HXS.CA vs HXS.U and HXQ.CA vs HXQ.U and could you comment on HXX - would it be the same as the others with the exception of the focus on Europe?
Thanks for your service

Q: Looking to add more exposure to companies in technology that will help drive growth of the economy not only in the near term but long term. Things like Software, AI, 5G, IOT, Self Driving Cars, etc. With HXQ ETF the pick is more the Nasdaq 100 which will contain a number of these companies. With ARKW and IGV looking at some speciality to help in the overall growth of my technology allocation. What are the thoughts on the 3 selected or do you have others you would recommend. Looking at ETF to get some broad exposure and reduce risk of picking individual stocks. Thanks as always.

Q: Hello. If I were someone who:

1. Wanted to take my time researching and selecting stocks to purchase (perhaps weeks or months between each purchase), and
2. Doesn't yet know how much I'll be investing in Canadian stocks and how much I'll be investing US stocks, and
3. Will be exclusively investing in registered accounts (TFSA and RRSP).

Is it a sound strategy to simply buy one or two dual-listed, broad-market ETFs (like HXS and HXQ) in order to just be in the market while I take my time selecting stocks? This gives me the flexibility of selling the shares in either currency when it comes time to make another purchase, avoiding hefty currency exchange fees.

Or should the increased expense ratio of these dual-listed ETFs versus the cheaper alternatives like IVV and QQQ be a concern? Are there any other flaws with this strategy and/or is there a better strategy suited to this scenario?

Thank you!