Investment Q&A

Q: What would be your favorite Consumer staples/defensive names at this time and are they over valued now, or continue to be a flight to safety, considering the circumstances of the day. Your thoughts on the above or any additional companies for this sector.
Thank you,
Mike

Q: Can i please get your favorite Consumer Staple and Utility stock to buy right now. 1 for each CAD and US. I already own COST.
Thank you

Q: Presuming that the price of steel goes up with tariffs, outside of the steel industry itself, what sectors and specific companies lose out here? Thank-you.

Q: Hello 5i,

Your reply to Mike’s question on affects of DeepSeek was bang on. There is a lot of missing information on GPU’s, heat reduction, capability during high volume, etc, though to their credit the programmers may have found a new way to look at data which may be all that general users require.

BUT, let’s be clear, they could not have progressed without Western ingenuity and the Chinese government encouragement to steal western code and technology over and over again.

Our thoughts: Data centres are coming with the evolution of hardware. The Blackwell GPU may be ahead of its time and that is a risk for NVDA and to some degree VRT. We think NVDA missed an opportunity for extended longevity by announcing Blackwell too early.

Electrical grids require updating to be efficient with changing climate activities and technology regardless of data centres so we will chip away at a few stocks. If you assess the need for electricity from data centres at 50% of what it was projected and infrastructure improvements, what would be your top 5 stocks to purchase today?

Thank you for your advice over all these years

D&J

Q: Hello, I'm working on my current ALLOCATIONS. Please recommend CANADIAN and US : Healthcare, Consumer Defensive and Utilities.
Many thanks, Heidi

PS My sincere compliments for your excellent site and service

Q: Your parents give you $100k CAD and $100k USD to invest on behalf of your family for the next 5 years. They instruct you to invest $20k in five Cdn stocks and $20k in five U.S. stocks to hold over the duration. Considering current valuations, the fact this is your family's money, and the objective of maximizing total return over the period, what are your 10 picks?

Q: If adding to utilities which of the following would you choose today: FTS, BEPC, or NEE?

Thank tou

Q: These companies caught my eye recently due to their broad exposure to infrastructure, energy and engineering. The 1 yr chart for MTZ is pretty good as well. However, some of MTZ's fundamentals I look for seem inconsistent (equity, EPS, free cash flow and operating income). I'm not sure what to make of this one, and see others (eg:PWR, J) in the energy infrastructure/engineering as also looking promising.

I'm not beholden to either of these (and please propose others), but now that I know such companies exist, can you recommend a few options for a "catch all" for exposure to electrical demands (AI, data centers) and upgrades (utility), other energy infrastructure (solar, hyrdo, transmission etc) and even communications (cell towers, etc). Perhaps a wide range here, but curious what comes back from 5i!

I'm particularly interested in your comments on management effectiveness

Q: Hello 5i

Back in 2019 I asked if you could provide a "growthy" USA portfolio.
The above stocks were your recommendations.
Could you provide an updated "growthy" USA portfolio for 2025?
Thank you!
Dave

Q: If as Satya Nadella says we are moving from being chip constrained to power constrained, what are the best stocks to play this theme? Would you look to data center power and cooling innovators or renewable energy and storage companies or something else?

Q: Is it advisable now to invest in REGULATED utilities, given that there will be a need for huge data centers with the growth of AI? If yes, can you list and rank the ones you prefer?
Thank you!

Q: With the ever increasing demand for power to fuel AI and tech, what companies would you suggest investing in going forward?

Q: Hi, just looking at CPX, (unbelievable). I missed out on this one , not my first or last miss, but was wondering if you could provide two or three recommendations that are geared towards the electrification boom that is here or coming. (I already have HPS.A) or is CPX still the one to buy?
Thanks

Q: Given that water is quickly becoming a commodity, do you think that Xylem is well positioned and considered a buy at current prices?

Would you consider Adobe, Palo Alto and Nextera buys at current prices or are there other names you prefer?

Regards
Tim

Q: Hello 5i, Could you give your opinion as to now that Capital Power is totally off of coal and is now considered a green company, would there be interest of a takeover of Capital Power and if so which companies could be considered to be interested in taking over Capital Power. I think Transalta would be a front runner.

Q: In your answer to Shirley on Nov. 22 you wrote, "We think investors can position a portfolio more conservatively by raising the allocation to defensive names that emphasize downside protection with good upside potential." Can you give a list of 5 CAD and 5 US stocks that you think would fall under that statement?
Thank you

Q: I sold my full positions in APPL and NEE plus sold half my position in VERT this morning. I would like 2 good dividend payers with a growth metric, and 2 small/ mid caps for a 2-3 year hold.
Other positions currently held are: MSFT, SYK, AMZN, ISRG, GOOG, ABBV, JPM, PRU, AGX, CRS.
Thanks for all the above over the years. David

Q: Please provide me with a few recommended tickers that would benefit from supporting the data centers in USA with their electric needs.

Q: Good Day,

Edit: I got to the end of this and realize there is a lot to unpack here. My apologies and please forgive the transient nature of my ADD brain. Take however many credits you need.

I really enjoyed Jonathans question and your subsequent answer on Oct 10. Continuing on that thread, I too consider myself primarily a growth investor, and have a fairly high tolerance for risk. However, in contradiction (somewhat) to that, I also Love equities with a DRIP program.

I'm planning on making a significant contribution to my RRSP investment account to hopefully capitalize on some opportunities/ tax loss selling in the end of the year, and enjoying the tax break in April.

1. I think? I have a pretty solid basket of growth names, significantly from 5i recommendations. CALF CLBT CROX MSFT NVDA POWL SMCI TCS TMDX AMZN ASPN HPS LMN TVK VRT. In the growth space, Please provide 6 recommendations (CAD, US) ranked in decreasing order of preference that you would consider beneficial to these. If any of these current positions are in a very attractive place to add, you could suggest that with a why.

2. In the dividend/DRIP space, I have DE CHE.UN ZWT BAM SU PPL. About a month ago, I sold my BEP and BNS and rolled them in to my double up my BAM, which paid off, but am considering a re-buy. Reading the questions lately, you have been big on BNS and TD, but seem to contradict yourselves on it. Often recommending BNS over TD, only to recommend to someone that holds both to cut BNS over TD if only one is to be held. Are they that close in terms of future runway/room to grow/total returns? With my Love of DRIPs, would you give the edge to BNS due to the higher dividend? Could you recommend 3 - 5 options in this space, preferably holdings that would require less than 10K (20K for very high conviction) invested to DRIP a unit. ETFs are OK with low fees and higher Dividend.

3. In Jonathans question you commented on Materials being a great addition to a growth investors portfolio as a semi uncorrelated diversification. I've held LUN and LIF in the past, but with the power demands and resurgence of Nuclear, are there better options out there? Please provide 2-3 dividend paying and up to 5 growth options in this space.

4. Is GOOG a buy here? I fully agree that the impact was way overblown. Is it worth getting into one of the 2x leverage tickers for GOOG if ones conviction is very high? Is there any company you would consider a leveraged holding on? If so, which?

Thanks for everything!!!

James

Q: Hi,
Need to rebalance and am seeking etf and stock ideas.
Looking to:
1)Decrease canadian financials (currently hold BNS, BN, GSY, IFC, MFC, PRL, RY, TD)
2)Increase US consumer discretionary
3)Increase US real estate
4)Increase US utilities

Questions:
1)What order might YOU sell the stocks in #1 above?
2)Please provide 2 stock and 1 ETF pick you believe have decent long-term prospects for each of:
a)US consumer discretionary
b)US real estate
c)US utilities

Thank you.