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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: Peter
From Morgan Stanley, i think, a well written little dose of common sense...
print or keep for you

NEW YORK – The S&P 500 closed at a new high on Wednesday in what analysts hailed as the accumulated result of several hundred million people waking up every morning hoping to solve problems and improve their lives.

The index finished up 4 points. Goldman Sachs strategist Bill Blake said the move was the result of unidentified marginal buyers being a little bit more motivated than unidentified marginal sellers. “We’ve now had 241 years of people in daily competitive pursuits to do things a little better, and those benefits add up over time. Mix that with some good luck and where we happen to be in the business cycle, and here we are,” he said. “My job is to sound smart, but you can explain this stuff to a five year old,” he laughed.

Corporations earned $5.89 billion in after-tax profits. Financial advisors and middlemen took in $710 million in fees. The difference, Blake said, would accrue to investors over time.

Analysts warned of several metric tons of dopamine and cortisol careening through the global economy, which they said created a near certainty of poor financial decisions. At some point, Blake said, these bad decisions create social proof and feed on each other, leading to recessions. “When is the next recession?” he asked. “I don’t know. Whenever the second mortgage you took out to buy a boat to appease your insecurity convinces your brother in-law to do the same, and his boat gives the boat salesman enough misguided confidence to become a day trader, and then all three of you crack under a collective bout of geopolitical bad luck or something. But we’ll move on.”

About 9,000 new businesses formed on Wednesday. Another 8,200 dissolved. Analysts expect the trend to continue, calling it an “unmistakable example of basic capitalism.”

Fifty-five million American children went to school Wednesday morning, leveraging the compounded knowledge of all previous generations. Analysts expect this to lead to a new generation of doctors, engineers, and problem solvers more advanced than any other in history. “This just keeps happening over and over again,” one analyst said. “Progress for one group becomes a new baseline for the next, and it grows from there.”

Three dozen political pundits yelled at each other on TV in front of an audience of 75 million. Meanwhile, a couple hundred million people were reasonable and productive in front of an audience of zero.

Just over 1,700 patents were filed at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, with a few expected to change the world over the coming decades. “Pretty damn cool” said Sarah Donald, a PTO spokeswoman. “I wish more people paid attention to this kind of stuff.”

Facebook stock fell $0.23 to close at $169.16. Four-hundred seventy one news outlets covered the move. No one knows why.

Analysts expect more of the same tomorrow, with the trend continuing into next week.

* Nothing, and yet everything, about this post is accura
Read Answer Asked by claude on August 05, 2017
Q: I have just read a new article with a doomsday comment about another financial crisis being on its way. "The same problems that caused the financial crisis are back". I understand that no one can really predict things but given the strong upward trends that we have seen one could expect some sort of correction. To take a conservation approach how should one adjust their investment distribution. What sectors are less affected? and would ETF's or mutual funds be safer that stocks? What about bonds? This is probably worth a couple of credits. Thank you, Doug
Read Answer Asked by Douglas on August 04, 2017
Q: I am a retired, conservative dividend-income investor. I own the above stocks plus ZLB, XIT, RBC Cdn Equity Inc, Sentry Cdn Inc, Sentry REIT, Fisgard Capital, Insured Annuities and receive a company pension and CPP. Assume a well diversified portfolio.

Question # 1 = do you see any stocks-ETFs-MFs of concern in the above list?

Question # 2 = I'd like to add one of the following: KBL, NFI, NWC, ZCL. I am looking for a safe, growing dividend, some capital appreciation and liquidity. Can you please provide your ranking and why.

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on August 04, 2017
Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

I'd like to deploy the funds from the recent sale of TNC. (Thank you!) I'm presently underweight in these sectors: Financial, Industrial, Information Technology, and Utilities. At this point in the economic cycle, what would be the most compelling sector? What would your top picks in this sector be if you were a buyer today? Thanks as always.
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on August 02, 2017
Q: Hello
Could you please tell me averaged over time what has returned more to an investor dividends or share price (broad market). Or worded another way how much money is paid out in dividends and how much is from share price increase. More of an economics of the stock market question. Is there a value? Example on average $2Billion is paid in dividends and $2Billion is share price increases. This question pertains to the TSX but are all stock markets similar in their returns. Thank You
Jeremy
Read Answer Asked by Jeremy on August 01, 2017
Q: I am attempting to cut down on the number of stocks that I hold. In each sector I am spread thinly between numerous stocks. I am looking for growth stocks and small amount of dividends. My holding is for the medium /long term and assuming that I am fine with asset allocation. In the utility sector how many of these should I keep and which ones?

AQN, ALA, ENB, ENF, IPL, PKI, PPL TRP, HWO.

Thanks for the great service.
Read Answer Asked by Saad on August 01, 2017