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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: A former financial advisor friend of mine tells me to be cautious regarding ETFs in a downturn because they have not been tested yet. He informed me that the sale protocol is different between selling a mutual fund vs an ETF and that the ETF could be more volatile. So far I have found both to be less volatile than simply holding stocks which to me can move up and down much more rapidly. For example: PKI moves significantly from time to time while FAI which holds PKI among other stocks moves up and down marginally due to the variety of stocks held. That being said, if there is a strong correction would a mutual fund be a better hold than an ETF of similar holdings?
Read Answer Asked by John on May 30, 2017
Q: My portfolo (INV , Rif AND TFSA ) is unwieldly in size and scope TO get this in some shape Based on your advice i would like to consider selling some add the proceeds to few existing ones prferably on pullback.

Sell EFN , ECN,CSCO GE GILD TEVA, DIV , TOG.

Addd to CCL CSH ZZZ SIS TOY, GUD CCOG
What i think are fair to good

ATD BYD CGI ENB SJ SBUX BRKB BAC BAM BIP BEP ECI FTS HWO HR.UN TD HOT CWL CARGOJET.PBH
MY BIGGEST HOLDING IS BROOK FIELD FAMILY. Should i take one out if so which one? Other relative big position is SJ and BAC prune it ?
If this is 2 Q so be it
Read Answer Asked by thambirajah on May 29, 2017
Q: For portfolio weighting purposes do I include preferred shares in fixed income or equity? Is it also necessary to further break out pref shares as to the industry they are in or is credit worthiness the primary concern? In other words, if 10% of my total portfolio is in financial pref shares, and I also have 15% of my equities in financials, should I then consider myself to hold 25% financials and thus be overweight?

Thanks for your help.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 29, 2017
Q: Responding to Ernie’s question about stock quote software.

I use a program called MSMoney quotes which downloads stock quotes (and currency exchange rates) from most major indexes. The quotes are directly uploaded into MS Money which microsoft has made available for free since they no longer are developing it. I use MS Money to track performance, dividends, and other transactions for stocks spread across 9 different investment accounts. And MS Money allows me to export my stock data into an excel sheet I wrote which performs sector, currency and risk analysis on my entire portfolio.

Hope this helps.
Read Answer Asked by John on May 26, 2017
Q: It seems like the places to be near and mid term are US and Europe for growth and not Canada for the time being. I have exposure in Canada already with Utility and Financial dividend payers which I will continue to hold, could you recommend your favorite ETFs for some exposure to US, Europe and possible Emerging markets if you like the EM.
Also, could you comment on the "Hedged to CAD" ETFs---It seems to me we trade ETFs like stocks through our brokerage accounts in CAD, so why worry what the ETF managers are doing as far as currency is concerned?
Read Answer Asked by Randy on May 26, 2017
Q: With regards to: May 25, 2017 - Asked by Ernie
Q: Do you know of any software available that can track stock quotes...?

I've built my own using Google sheets, but I did try free evaluation of https://www.sharesight.com/ca/ (Australia, NZ, UK and now in Canada) which looks like a great application, although importing transactions from a Canadian broker could be an issue...
Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 25, 2017
Q: Do you know of any software available that can track stock quotes other than Quicken pro. I have used Quicken Pro for many years but now they will discontinue the stock downloads u9nless one purchases their 2017 program. Cost is about 84.00 per year. It works pretty good except it does not correct stock prices for different exchanges. (such as US dollars). Thanks. Ernie
Read Answer Asked by Ernie on May 25, 2017
Q: My portfolio has been sitting unchanged for some time (2 yrs), many winners are 5i recommendations, some not so much. With that said, my portfolio is well underperforming the model equity portfolio. Below are my current holdings. If I am to sell off those not included, and change the weight to match those in the model portfolio, how would you go about executing this? Big bang? Are there names you would wait to get into today, or those that you are considering a change in the near future? The value is about 500K, so the trades(from my perspective) will be significant. % are approximate on the add side. Your advise would be really appreciated.

AYA-6.3 (%) - Sell
AVO - 3.7 - Sell
BAD - 3.5 - Increase to 5%
BNS - 6.3 - trim to 5%
BDI - .6 - Sell
CGX - 4.8 - Sell
CSU - 5.6 - No Change
DSG - 4.0 - Sell
DHX - 3.7 - Sell
ENB - 3.5 - Maintain
ENGH - 4.2 - Maintain
XTC - 1.05 - Sell
HCG - 1.1 (ugh) - Sell and burn transaction receipt
MUX - 4.6 - Sell
PKI - 6.4 - Trim to 5%
PLI - 2 - Sell
SSL - 3.8 - Sell
TOY - 6.7 - Trim to 5%
STN - 3.8 - Sell
SJ - 4.1 - Maintain
SLF - 5.2 - Maintain
SYZ - 4.1 - Trim to 3%
TOU - 3.5 - Sell
WCP - .7 - Increase to 3%
Add: AEM 3%, AIF 3%, ATD 4%, CCL 5%, CLS 3%, CXI 3%, GUD 3%, MG 5%, MX 3%, KXS 5%, NFI 3%, PBH 5%, SIS 5%, T 3%, WSP 4%

Also - (I have asked about as many questions of late as I have traded) - for RESP for 4 yr old, roughly 12K in there now, where would you park this given building a portfolio of names is a challenge with the limited funds.

Thanks,

Eric

Read Answer Asked by Erichsen on May 25, 2017
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