Investment Q&A

Q: How do you feel about the prospects for the banking sector over the next 12-18 months? What stock would you buy in this sector at this point?

Q: Hi Peter and Ryan,
The US banks were approved for their share purchase plan. Do you think it is a good time to buy some US banks? Which one(s) do you think it is more stable and dividend safer than others? Which one has more growth potential? Can you please recommend one or two?

Thank you,
Yiwen

Q: Peter please: I have owned a full position in JP Morgan since the lows of 2009 and have had a tremendous gain in this stock. I also purchased wells Fargo and Citigroup and some other top us financials around the same time and have held all this time. Recalling how US financial stocks plumetted in 2009 has lately given me pause. After ten years of building this wonderful gain, is it now time to sell (tax is a consideration here obviously) or hang in for the very long term in keeping with my usual long term strategy and risk my gains evaporating a la 2009. I gravitate to quality companies however I realize how poorly financial stocks can behave in a serious downturn and don't want to see my hard earned gains erode in jpm. Do you consider jpm a trade or a very long term hold. Side note I'm liking Facebook these days and considering ways to fund a FB purchase.

Q: Hi 5i and team
Thanks for your sound advice during this last market correction. It made me finally understand why it's important to concentrate on limiting losses rather than going strictly for gains. I need to eliminate two Financials from portfolio. It is in a RRSP account. I do prefer a combination of income and Growth. Thanks for your help.
Gilles

Q: I am finding your 'Portfolio Analytics' to be an outstanding service. The imbalances within my portfolios are abundantly clear.
I am overweight financials with
TD - 3.55%
JPM - 5.19%
BAC - 6.77%
GSY - 1.29%
CXI - 0.71%
All stocks show a decent profit except for CXI which is down 23%.
I have fairly high risk tolerance and I look for reasonable growth. I would appreciate your recommendations on how to reduce my financials by approximately 3%

Q: I have owned JPM, TD and BNS for a few years. The thinking was it would enable me to spread my investments outside of Canada. Given the lacklustre performance of JPM and the fact that TD has significant US assets and BNS is international, I am thinking of swapping JPM for VISA (or MC if you think that is better) to get financial assets that may act just a bit differently than the banks. Does this thesis make sense?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Hi 5i, please comment on my international div. group for global income or your own top 5 picks, thanks.

Q: I have 3% of JPM, am down 400 USD, given the dim view of further FED increases, sh i leave banking , park the money in VGSH or go to divi with PFE or VZ as you earlier recommended. Last 3 mo JPM/PFE/VZ have similar charts but the potential of banking?? compared to VZ+PFE???
Art

Q: Hi Peter and team, I'm just starting to look into setting up my RRIF and wanted to ask if 5i could recommend any good reading materials, with respect to what sort of assumptions I should make? Currently my portfolios are producing income which would equate to about the minimum I would consider withdrawing on an annual basis. This will be my only income other than CPP and OAS. Is there any benefit to equalizing my US/CAD exposures when I'm not really planning much travel to US? For example, I could replace my Telus with VZ or my RY with JPM. Thanks again for your great service.

Q: My target allocation to Financials is 15%. Within that group, I would like your advice on the following selection and allocation: TD-25%; CME - 8%; SIVB - 8%; MFC - 8%; BAM - 16%; BX - 16%; FSZ - 12%; XLF - 6% [or another bank].
This grouping is intended to provide both overall yield and growth; accepting some volatility. What would, in your view, be a reasonable target return for such a grouping? Please advise on target percent allocation to the sector. Which ones would you recommend and what alternatives would you prefer?.

Q: I am trying to consolidate my U.S. TFSA into ETF's. On the tech side I own AMZN( nice profit) NVDA ( down 38%) and SPOT (down 4%) I am thinking of selling them and buying QQQ ETF instead.
On the financial side I own JPM (down 2.7%) V (down 1%) and SQ (down 6%) Thinking of selling these and buying DGRO ETF.
Your thoughts on this? Also if there are other ETF's that you think would be better for tech and financials, please let me know. Please deduct two credits if you deem it necessary.
Thanks for your great advice,
Jen

Q: I believe JPM is your preferred US bank based on a prior question. I'm wondering if you can compare and contrast it to Wells Fargo and make the case for one over the other? I'm curious as P/E difference seems insignificant between the two. The Buffet backing of Wells Fargo is interesting as well. Can you comment on why he prefers it? Take 2-3 credits as needed! Thanks

Q: May I please have your thoughts on US financials at this time and Visa, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan in particular? Thank you,

Jason

Q: Can I have your comments on BNS's earnings and announcements this morning? At first glance it doesn't seem likely to be well received. Would this be a time to switch into a better performing bank or add to the one that is underperforming? Could you suggest which US bank and which Canadian bank you would switch to? (no problem if this is a multi credit question).

Q: Hi,

Does JPM, BLK offer better value as compared to BNS, TD. Do we need to diversify in to US Banks or Canadian banks and insurance companies are a good diversification for the Financials sector allocation.

Thanks
Ninad

Q: Hello 5i,
I am up $3000 to $4000 on JPM, MMM, PEP and others. I am down $3000 on KWH, RME, TCL.A. and others. I do not need money and can stay invested in all. I am retired, 72, with good pensions. I am inclined to just stay put and collect dividends. Should I sell and apply the losses to the gains or just stay put as I am inclined to do?
Thanx,
Stanley

Q: Lads the above are my US dollar income tilt portfolio holdings. My goal is to add some US cash to stable dividend payers (some of these and perhaps some others you can suggest). Two questions I have - first, could you possibly rank these 9 from most stable to least so I can consider which ones are the most stable to add to my current holding and second, can you recommend some other US equities providing a minimum 3% dividend that you view as stable holdings. Thanks as always for your guidance.

Q: I don't have any financial exposure, what would you recommend ? US or Canada?
Is now the right time to buy?

Q: Looking to add some US companies to my non-registered portfolio. Can you suggest 5 US companies that you consider to have some Growth and Value. No Tech companies.
Thanks

Q: Hi Peter, based on current valuation and strong management, which ones are best suited for future share price growth. can you please rank these in order of preference - BOA, JPM, MS, GS - GOLDMAN SACH. This is in RRSP