Investment Q&A

Q: How is my TFSA doing? Has anyone prepared an analysis like this: assume one started a TFSA when they were first introduced, and added the maximum allowable contribution each year in Jan., and they received an average annualized return of X (pick some decent average)...therefore the total value of TFSA portfolio should be Y.

Q: I have an opportunity to invest in a private enterprise that has developed new technology in the music industry. The technology is both significant and international in scope but the company is still in the early stages. Capital investment seems to me to be high risk, but if the company is successful, there could also be high rewards. With 5i's experience in venture capital over the years, I would appreciate your words of wisdom.

Q: We are quite elderly, have a small pension and, to augment it, invest with BMO in a portfolio of 22 stocks that pays close to $35,000 annually in dividends. I'm looking for relatively stable income with safety and a modest chance of growth. Could I have your comments please, and any suggestions.
It is composed as follows:
Cash - 3%
ALA - 4.36%
AX.UN - 4.23
BCE - 5.10
BIP.UN - 4.58
BMO - 4.79
CM - 4.88
CPX - 3.91
DRG.UN - 4.91
ECI - 3.95
EMA - 4.58
GEI - 4.12
NFI - 4.27
NPI - 4.51
PKI - 5.01
PPI - 4.3
REI.UN - 3.77
RNW - 3.63
RY - 4.84
SJR.UN- 4.11
T - 4.27
TD - 4.44
TRP - 4.26

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Cheers, Edward

Q: Good Morning Peter, Ryan, and Team,
Tax loss selling season is coming to a close for 2017.
In your opinion which company(s), within the Balanced Equity Portfolio, appear to be sold down unnecessarily as a result of tax loss selling ???
To me GUD, WCP, CLS, and GC appear to be candidates. A company outside of the BE Portfolio that has really been thrashed is PEY although the gas market in Canada is brutal right now.
Thank you very much for your sage insights. DL

Q: Canadian companies that pay dividends in U.S. dollars: In your Nov. 29 answer to Patrick, you listed some companies; MG, MX, BEP.UN, AQN, TRI, OTEX, CSU, AGU
Are there any more beyond this list? By the way, it may be good to identify this somewhere on your web site. Thank you.

Q: Today Norman Rothery has a column about Canadian microcap investing where he took microcaps and ranked them by low P/E and then ranked this group by recent momentum. Where can I get a Canadian service that will allow me to do this? Search databases of stocks and then rank them for criteria? Thanks.

Q: I want to boost my income in my RRSP from MLP's would it be better to use an ETF such as AMZA or CEF such as FMO or KYN for 5 year hold or longer. Is theer any holding tax on any of the three?
Thank You
Cec.

Q: Do you know of a software program which will give you a visible pie chart to display your portfolio in terms of asset allocation amongst the various sectors in your portfolio? Thanks!

Q: Hi Peter: A few months ago Yahoo Finance changed its website resulting in a site that is much less useful and now Google Finance has followed suit. Before Yahoo and Google changed their websites these websites were very useful for giving access to financial statements of Canadian and US companies. Are there any other good financial websites that an individual investor can access that would have quarterly and yearly financial statements?

Q: Please relate briefly to:

1. is it time to reduce stocks in a heavily weighted dividend portfolio
2. assuming it is how would you treat the below L- leave R- reduce I- increase S-sell
3. buy other div. stocks that may fair better in a increasing interest rates economy,

ACR.UN (2%
HOT(0.8%
BEP.UN (4.8%
DRG.UN (5.2
DIR.UN (1.3%
HR (0.8%
NWH.UN (6%
AD (1.5%
AQN (1.9%
ZWE 1.4%
BK (6%
CHE.UN (1.0%
CHR.UN (4%
DR(1.2
PVD(4.8%
SOX (4.9%
STB (1%
MBK(1%
ENB (1.5%
RCI ( 1.2%
PPL (1%
IPL (1.5%
ALA (1.2%
PGI.UN (3%

THANKS
PS

YOU CAN CHARGE AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU LIKE.

YOU HAVE NOT ADJUSTED THE EXPIRY DATE AFTER MY LAST RENEWAL

Q: Hi Guys
If NAFTA does collapse are there Canadian market sectors that would
benefit?
Many thanks
Wayne

Q: Marijuana and blockchain stocks seem to be soaking up most of the small cap/microcap dollars. As a result, a number of quite cheap stocks not in those sectors are being ignored. Do you think there is anything to this thesis?

Q: I am managing my children's RESP account. Both of them are in university. Every year I am liquidating assets to put in a high daily savings account that is not earning anymore than 1%. It is used to pay for their schooling for the year. I expect my children will still be going to university for another 5 years. I thought an alternative to this strategy is to buy a basket of rate reset preferred share with guaranteed rates? Could you give me a list of 5 rate reset preferred shares with guaranteed minimum rates? Also what do you think of this strategy?

Q: Just a comment on Earle’s post on Friday on the 30 day waiting period on capital losses and being able at least to adjust your cost base. I am an “active” investor, which is a polite way of saying I trade a lot. I am not recommending that for all but here is my approach to taxes. I really don’t pay much attention to the 30 day rule during the year. If I sell a loser and change my view in a week or so due to new information, I will buy it back right away so as not to lose potential upside on that stock. At year end, I get my detailed trading statement. When I am calculating my capital gains/losses for the year, I check each losing security to see if I bought it back within the 30 day window. If I did, I just don’t claim the loss. For me, missing a taxable capital loss feels a lot better than missing the opportunity to get back onboard a stock on day 10 or 15 if my view has changed rather than waiting for day 30 to pass. I agree with Earl that taxation should always be secondary in your investment decisions.
I assume my approach is fine with CRA as I do not try and claim my capital losses if they are not past the 30 day window. Your views are appreciated.
Thanks again,
dave

Q: Hi, I work for one of the big 5 Canadian banks. I have the majority of my portfolio in shares of the bank I work for. Simply through unvested and vested shares. Some are paid via performance and others are through an employee share plan. I want to manage risk so should I sell the shares as they become vested and put elsewhere or leave them be. Seeing I work in banking I understand the business moreso than other sectors so there is a comfort factor here. Has Peter experienced such a dilemma at any of the previous companies he worked for and how was it managed? thank you

Q: Good day. Any particularly interesting stocks that have been getting hit hard through what would appear to be tax loss selling? Thanks!

Q: Hi 5i team,
If I buy shares in a dividend paying stock the day before the dividend pay date, would I still get paid the dividend, or is there a minimum amount of time you need to own shares before you get paid the dividend?
Thumbs up on the new website!

Q: With regard to several questions asked about tax loss selling and the 30 day rule. The usual advice is that you will lose the capital loss if you rebuy the stock within 30 days after the sale. This is not accurate. While you cannot use or claim the capital loss, if you repurchase within the 30 day period the capital loss is added to your adjusted cost base and can be claimed when you eventually sell the stock the 2nd time. The bottom line is you are best making your decisions for investment purposes and not solely for tax reasons. I hope this helps those who are anxiously waiting for their 30 day period to end while watching the stock go up. Best of the season to everyone.

Q: A few new issues have passed my screen lately . I seem to recall that your strategy is to give it some time to settle ... It appears that IPO issue "Software Platform Partners Corp. " is not selling as well as the recent Emera , Ag Growth, Fiera issues ... Do you have any feelings about this stock and what it does . Does one wait or does this look good to you . Thanks , Tom

Q: Further to the questions on the cease trading orders being attached to accounts, I have one company - Nortel - in a registered account that I can "gift" to TD. While I don't think this company is coming back from the grave, how can one be sure there is no possibility of further activity? I would like to get rid of it as I don't need a daily reminder of this transaction!

Great job on the improvements. Continue to appreciate your insights.

Paul F.