Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,

I purchased these utility and telecoms largely because of their low beta. In the recent downturn, they fell as much or more than hi growth stocks like SHOP, FB, AMZN or NVDA. AQN was down over 40%?? How do you account for that? Seems to me I'm better off ignoring 'safety' and going for growth?

Q: If we have yet to reach the worst of the virus threat and if the current question mark regarding the direction the price of oil will take in the future poses a problem, I think we have yet to see the lowest prices for these companies. The question is how much further down their prices can go. If my theory is correct, at what price would you take an initial position in these companies?

Q: Hi gang, looking in buying between H or aqn? Are both dividends safe? Any thoughts? Thanks
Alnoor.

Q: Would you consider buying AQN at this level for a long term buy and hold?

Q: I am a buy and hold investor with 5 to 10 years of time horizon.
Have the following 7 stocks in Canadian Utilities in the order of their weights in our portfolio. Utilities makeup roughly 8.5% of the total portfolio including cash positions and like their dividend. FTS, TRP,EMA, AQN, ENB, BEP-UN, BIP-UN. I like to reduce exposure to utilities and also like to reduce number of different shares. Two questions:
1. Is 8.5% a reasonable weight considering the current situation?
2. Which one of these I should sell to reduce utilities weight and to reduce the number of shares in utilities?

Q: Hello,
Can someone confirm that INSIDER sales of AQN have recently been around 245,000 shares. Sounds like a lot.

Regardless, would AQN still a favoured utility choice?

Cheers

Q: Good afternoon.

I’m interested in which you prefer (1 and 2) in each category below.

ATD.B, PBH, MRU, L

SLF, TD, BAM.A, TRI

WSP, SIS, CAE

CSU, SHOP, ENGH, KXS

BEP.UN, FTS, AQN

Thank you.

Q: Hello,

When I look at Canadian stocks traded on the US exchanges, why is there a yield and p/e discrepancy? Even after factoring the exchange, the Canadian stocks on US exchanges look much cheaper. Why is this? And should we be choosing the US exchange due to higher yield and lower pe?

Q: Hi, if I was going to buy one or two utility companies and one or two REITs for reasonable income, growth and safety, which ones would you recommend? Thanks.

Q: Between BEP.UN and AQN which would you pick right now and why? Can you please rate them in terms of which one (best guess) should bounce back quicker. Which one is safest in capital preservation and dividend.
Is there another similar name that you would prefer?
Thanks. Your service is great. Especially in times like these.

Q: Hello Gentlemen,
What is your opinion for this 2 companies.
Thank you

Q: What would you replace MX with or would you stay away from this sector for now? What would you replace AD with?
Thanks for your service?

Q: Hi, I'm a retired, dividend-income investor. I took some profits and losses (to wipe out potential capital gains) over the last 5 weeks and am now planning on reinvesting the cash to top up some of my existing equities, up to my desired asset allocation. I want to leg in, in probably 3 waves over the next couple (?) of months, to top up ZWC, AD, AQN, AW, BNS, BCE, LNF, NWC, RY, TRP, WSP.

Can you please indicate which of the above equities you would allocate into which wave (in other words, does it look like the equity is "ready" for an investment OR should I continue to wait for a while)...or not at all (not worth any further investment).

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: I have a very small position in the above 3 utility companies and want to add more. Can you please rank the companies for estimated best total return over the next 3 years?
Thank you.

Q: I'm holding the following since I thought they would be considered safe stocks, however they are going down with all the rest.

1) I made the big mistake that gold miners would actually do well in the current situation, however I know see my mistake that I should have purchased gold directly. Would you, given the situation today, sell the miners and buy gold directly - what has the past crises shown about gold versus gold miners?
2) Do you think the utilities above will stabalize near current levels, or do you see that there will be a reset in all P/E and P/C levels down to lower levels?

Q: Any idea why ppl which currently yields 5.27% was down last week while the above other defensive stocks were up?

Q: It looks as though utilities, and renewable utilities in particular, have taken off, while Canadian pipelines, which are also traditionally stable investments, are either flat or dropping.
Do you have any comments on whether:
1. this is a short term disparity or a fundamental shift,
2. whether one group is better than the others at current prices, and
3. If the recent drop now otherwise creates a good point of entry for any or all?

Q: Retired, conservative dividend-income investor with a "buy-and-hold & trim-add around a core position" strategy. At times like these, I take a fresh look at my holdings and ask two key questions. #1 = are there any of my equity holdings that have alarm bells going off? #2 = how safe are the dividends (knowing that no dividend is 100% secure)? The portfolio capital may rise or fall, but it is the continuation of the dividend that is more important.

For asset allocation purposes related to individual stocks (as opposed to sector allocations), I use the following:
5% targets = AQN, BCE, BNS, PBH, RY, TRP, WSP
4% targets = AD, AW, CSH, NWC
2% targets = LNF, MG, NTR
ETF targets = roughly 3-7%

Q#1 = are there any of these equities that you hear alarm bells?
Q#2 = are there any of these equities where you foresee dividend risk?
Q#3 = any thoughts on how I have my asset allocations set up (knowing it is a very personal decision?

Take a bunch of credits. Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Which stocks (US or Cdn) in your opinion may serve as something of a hedge during the virus scare. Kinaxis, for example, doesn't seem to be getting beaten up (yet). I'm thinking of online shopping support stocks, streaming networks, or other businesses that won't be affected, and may even see a boost, if people choose to stay in.

Q: Top 5 picks for a Smith Maneuver portfolio of dividend paying stocks for someone in their late 30's?