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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I own all these as part of my tech sector which has now grown to 26.57% (getting a bit high I think)
CGI-1.5%
SHOP-11.77%
KXS-3.27%
CSU-3.7%
LSPD-2..21%
FB-1.05%
GOOG-1.81%
XLNX-1.25%

SHOP position has grown a bit larger recently, how would you balance this out? If I trim back SHOP a few %, what other names here would you increase right now?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Keith on April 24, 2020
Q: One thing I have noticed and wondering if this is just coincidence?
Stocks in your portolios and research reports such as DSG, REAL, KXS, ENGH are all doing well and near all time highs because they have great balance sheets and no long term debt?
On the other hand, stocks like DOO, GSY, CAE, MTY all are down over 50% because they have a considerable amount of debt?
The only exception on this is LSPD which is down over 50% with no long term debt?
Any reason why LSPD hasn't kept up with the others? Is all this because we do not know how long this virus will last and the market is punishing stocks who have lots of debt since they might have trouble covering them?
Read Answer Asked by Herm on April 23, 2020
Q: I recently sold Shopify at a huge gain, as it had become more than 30% of my portfolio. Thank you for the recommendation. It was in my non-registered account, so I have a substantial capital gain. I have a lot of room in my TFSA, so I am going to move a majority of the proceeds there to avoid future capital gains. I will buy back into Shopify if the price retreats. Can you recommend any stocks, understanding that there is higher risk, that have a similar potential to Shopify? Can be Canadian or US. I have some Lightspeed already. Also, for future reference, did I make a reasonable move or should I have taken a different approach? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Dave on April 21, 2020
Q: Between these 3 stocks which one would you have the most faith in and in what order would you rate them. Volatility is not an issue for me and I'm looking at a 5 plus year time frame.
Read Answer Asked by Cheryl on April 16, 2020
Q: Hi Team,
I hold the following stocks in my TFSA: AYX, FB, LSPD, SQ, TTD. Lightspeed is by far my worst performer so far in this group (-50%). I was thinking of possibly "Doubling down" on lightspeed in order to lower my average price, and also with the thought being since its sold off the most in this group, that it may have the highest potential return in a time frame of say a couple yrs. But.. I hold no cash in this account for the most part, so I would have to trim one or 2 of these holdings in order to raise the cash required to buy more LSPD. I am a bit hesitant to do this as I am a firm believer in the other holdings as well. If you were to trim, which would it be from out of the list of stocks given, in order to buy more LSPD? Or would you consider doing this at all given the prospects of the other stocks in this list? Note that I would not have to trim alot from the other ones as LSPD is currently down so much that it wouldn't take too much to double down on it. I am using my TFSA for high growth, and not overly concerned with weightings as long as the holdings are of quality and high growth potential. Thanks for the advice.

Shane.
Read Answer Asked by Shane on April 14, 2020
Q: Hello 5i Team,
Thank you for all your guidance throughout this type of market. I'm sure all the Canadians are greatly appreciating your impeccable work for us DIY investors.

If you have ~$20k of cash today and your goal is to appreciate this into a much larger amount not too long after coming out of the other side of this market (i.e. after a recession), which 10-15 Canadian equities would you go after with a good sector diversification?

Since I am younger and my nest egg is still small, I'm not too concerned or rely on dividends. I'd much rather have stocks whose valuations may appreciate greatly rather than going for the slow and steady dividend aristocrats and blue-chips.

I have been eyeing the large discounts on Canadian equities such as the following: AC, CAE, SLF, GSY, LSPD, PLC, GIL.
Read Answer Asked by Michael on April 14, 2020
Q: Hello 5i,

Imagine that you already have a diversified portfolio you are happy with and plan to keep intact with no changes over a 10+ year investment horizon.

Now, you've watched the recent few months of meltdown sitting with $50,000 of cash that you're considering putting to work, representing maybe 6-7% of your total overall portfolio value/net worth.

Give absolutely no consideration to sector/position weightings, geography (CDN or US or gloabl), or risk tolerance. The only consideration is a 10+ year time frame. You're investing in things for the long term. No trading.

Imagine this was YOUR $50,000. You show up to the office on Monday, April 13. What do you buy today, if anything?

Thanks for all your advice. Read the questions daily. Your takes on this current meltdown I have found to be quite insightful and of far more value than most financial news out there. For this alone I consider my subscription to be money well spent.

Keep yourselves and your families safe!

Ryan
Read Answer Asked by Ryan on April 13, 2020
Q: Have been dithering on having a greater tech exposure for my portfolio due to my ignorance of the space. Nonetheless, have narrowed down to two choices, Descartes or Taiwan Semiconductor. Given their low correlation (.25) would you favor, one, the other or both? (anticipated total exposure < 5%) Currently have a small, speculative position in PHO:CA (<2%) Other solid, possibly dividend paying suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by David on April 13, 2020
Q: My Tech holdings are represented by csu; kxs; otex; shop; lspd. All held in TFSA. Have had good results with all except lspd which is a relatively new purchase and am willing to ride out my position in this company and wait for recovery.
You frequently mention DSG as a top pick in the tech sector and am considering selling otex and adding dsg. I do not want to increase my overall Tech position.
Your opinion?
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on April 09, 2020
Q: Hi, Our ACB for LSPD in non Regd account is $32. We have large Capital gains due to BYD conversion. Does it make sense to book capital loss by selling LSPD today and buying back after 30 days. Based on present market conditions and news around COVID-19, do you think it makes sense or there is risk of stock going back higher in 30 days time. Or, i
nstead, doing same exercise with BYD is a better approach. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by rajeev on April 07, 2020
Q: I starting purchasing LSPD last August and I have continued up until late last week. My average price is close to $32.

The question that I have to myself is: Do I double down or hold - I am not interested in selling. I had a full position 30 days ago but it has been reduced by more than 50% this past 30 days.

After rereading your answers, looking at LSPD website and news feeds. I gathered and summarized the information below.

Money in bank - lots - greater than $300 million - NO Debt!
15 years of cash at current spending rate.
Large institutions bought at $37.30.
IPO $16.00

Last quarter financial information.
Revenue was a slight beat at $32.8 million.
Met ebdita projections with a loss of $5.25 million.
Book valve is $2.35.
Growth was above 60% yoy to plus $32 million.
Recurring revenue was growing at 58%.

Institutional investors have 49% of the float, with Caisse owning 37%.
They have business in more than 100 countries.
There will be less restaurants in future, maybe 20% less.
The restaurants that are remaining will be financially stronger and have less competition. They will seek out SaaS that can reduce operating expenses while increasing revenues.
Lightspeed has good management.
It is a long term hold for me - 2 to 5 years - maybe forever.
Lightspeed has less than 0.1% of market, I like growth companies.
Lightspeed retailers grew over six times faster than industry average.
Products by Lightspeed: Retail, eCommerce, OnSite, Restaurant, Delivery and Loyalty. Also Lightspeed Payments. Rolled out #lightspeedlocal

They recently bought: Gastofix (Germany), Kounta (Asia Pacific), IKentoo (Swiss) and Chronogolf (Montreal),

A few competitors through a google search, of which I don’t know whom will survive due to many reason ( like lack of money): Shopkeep, Revels, Toast POS, Touch Bistro, Sapaad, Cake, Springboard, Square, Vend, Upserve, Lavu, Clover, AccuPOS, Harbourtouch, POSguys, Touchsuite, ) these are some of the top 20.

Strengths: the bank account; they don’t have to worry about paying operating expenses for many years due to its financial strength; significantly more room to grow; Quebec pension company support and Quebec government support; their source of revenue is across the world; good management; the good management will quickly use its financial strength for growth; growth into other areas that have weak or low market share systems.

Weaknesses: their competitors may have deeper pockets and will grow more quickly dwarfing LSPD and the other competitors; no sales people; how much of their current POS businesses will not be in business in 90 days; others?

That being stated I plan on doubling down in the next 4 weeks by buying when stock in under $13.

Am I missing anything?

Clayton
Read Answer Asked by Clayton on April 06, 2020
Q: The current volatility and fear in the market has lead me to believe there will be some companies that will unnecessarily be punished/caught in the crossfire and therefore offer a great risk/return
could you please list out companies in your mind that have decreased significantly unfairly and/or offer a compelling risk/return in the US or Canadian Markets
thank you
Read Answer Asked by cary on April 06, 2020
Q: Hi 5iR Team, I know that LSPD is a software development company, that has developed an ecommerce platform so clients can manage inventory, sales, customer needs, etc.. My question is: who exactly are their customers, in particular their largest customers? My concern is if restaurants form a significant part of their customer base then perhaps I should be avoiding LSPD, no matter how much money they are sitting on??
Thanks Team. Cheers, Chris
Read Answer Asked by Chris on April 03, 2020
Q: You mentioned in your report that clients are mostly retailers and restaurants. Is it mainly for very small businesses? If so, is it not much harder to scale since growth and $ per client is somewhat limited.

Is their product for online stores as well or only retail locations?

How do you like management? Since it has voting control I was hoping to see a bigger stake in the company.

I understand it s higher risk. Do you see the stock as a good/great pick for TFSA long term (5 years +)?

Thank you for your comments. I am just tying to add some tech exposure with stong growth to my portfolio.
Read Answer Asked by Pierre on April 03, 2020
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