Investment Q&A

Q: Given the antics of DOGE and the stated desire of Trump's administration to drop the Defense budget by 8% per year, do you think either of CDP or DEA are viable investments for income? Are there similar Canadian firms?

Q: WE have ISRG, VRT, GOOG, NBIS, NVDA, and AXON in our US trading account. My wife and I are interested in adding CDRs in our TFSAs to gain US exposure. Our first CDR purchase was ISRG. Being TFSAs, longterm growth is our primary concern and risk tolerance is high. In addition to GOOG, mentioned today as your top conviction CDR, could you please list 4 others you’d buy today for a longterm hold, with a brief reason as to why you’d choose each. Also, we plan to purchase soon but given recent turmoil would you wait until after Trump’s tariff deadline for Canada and Mexico.

Q: Hi team,
I'm a happy shareholder of this company, whose Q4 results yesterday showed much potential and a solid balance sheet.However with talks about the 35 trillion or so U.S. debt ,and Trump wanting a "audit" of Fort Knox gold holdings(not done since 1974),what could be the implications for the price of gold and would the U.S. dollar be "devalued".Seems like the entire fiat money system is at risk.With all this uncertainty I,ve added to my holdings of AGI.
Many thanks for a great service.
Jean

Q: Thank you for your recent counsel on Trump tariff vulnerable stocks in my portfolio { Sold TFII for $186.50 before the earnings disaster . Bought it for $43 } Woo Hoo ! 5i rocks ! ....

I'd like a little clarification if possible .... In a question this morning on WSP and tariffs, 5i's response was " could be vulnerable to buy American " . When I asked the same question the response was " should be okay " .... Could you clarify ? As I really believe Trump is going to do what he said ..... If it's vulnerable it will be sold ....... Thanks for your terrific service ......

Q: Hi 5i Team,

May I please have your comments on this company given the negative news relating to it that occurred a few months ago. Would it be a hold, buy or sell now? If it is a "sell", please recommend a company or companies to take its place.

Cheers,
H

Q: Hi team,
The rumors about Intel being broken up and sold to Broadcom and TSMC (may be) seems to be on again! Will it stick this time? Internet rumors are flying high! I saw one figure of upto 47$! (Reddit) Though mostly around 30$.
Some say this is not going to fly. No foreign ownership of US chips!! Trump is the President BTW:)

If I were to write covered call, how high would you suggest that I go?

Any thoughts or opinions?

Q: Propel stock had, lately been doing well, hitting a high of $42, late January, after an analyst upgrade. Today, a month later, it has done full circle, back to $34.50, where, it was trading since October, 2024.

Is this just profit taking or a shadow of the big brother GSY ( just reported ), in your view, or something has changed ( Trump jitters ) ?

Do you still continue to expect excellent growth ( UK acquisition etc ) and would be comfortable adding after this pullback ?

Thank You

Q: Kraken seems like a very interesting company but I am worried about it's vulnerability to intensified 'buy American' policies, and Trump tariffs. Does it have a moat that could help it deal with these? What is your assessment of overall risk?

Q: Good Morning 5i Team,

Retired income investor. Current funds generated keep my wife and I comfortable.
Will be inheriting a large sum in very near future. With ongoing Trump issues should I hold monies in reserve; dollar cost average or go all in.. Are we going to see a major downturn which would provide buying opportunities Your thoughts and insights on how to proceed would be most appreciated.

Q: If Mark Carney becomes the next PM of Canada, would you expect a bump in share price for BN or BAM (similar to how TSLA rose after Trump's election win)?

Q: We never owned any Gold companies, but, looks like, some exposure is warranted, given a so much uncertainty, as a result of constantly changing rhetoric of Mr Trump and Trade/Tariffs tensions.

Do you agree ?

Is Agnico Eagle a decent name for the sector and would you be comfortable starting a new position in Agnico Eagle, after Today's drop ?

Thank You

Q: In a recent response, you mentioned that under the Trump administration the industrial sector is likely to suffer. Can you please explain why. Thank you!

Q: Hi, my respected 5i team
What is your perspective about bitcoin with it's possiblity to become the US federal reserve under Trump admisnistration? How much likely it will become US federal reserve?
How many % of Bitcoin to allocate in a portfolio you suggest?
How to invest in Bitcoin in Canada? Are there any ETF's that I can purchase? Any risks with them?

Q: For now, investors seem to have decided to fade the chaos of Trumpenomics. However, one has to wonder how long the massive contradictions will be ignored.
Scott Bessent (Treasury), the man who wrote the report that identified the contradictions in the UK economy that made George Soros $billions, certainly must see the dangers, and yet, he is the source of one of the major contradictions, when he says the Fed shouldn’t lower rates while Trump demands the opposite.

Is Fed independence under attack and how will investors read this?

Are tariffs, as claimed, for revenue or to reduce imports? They can’t be both.
But if the tax cuts are to be permanent, $3 trillion in revenue has to be found somewhere.

Will Trump let a gnat like the Parliamentarian, or the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, stand in his way?

If, at some point, investors focus on the issues around tariffs-as-revenue, or threats to Fed independence they may begin to worry, and decide to sell equities.

The cost to hedge against such an event would be prohibitively expense given one wouldn’t know whether or when it would occur.

I’m sure 5i is considering these issues, but here is what I am pondering. How does an investor with a large equity portfolio manage this kind of risk? Would growth stocks be hardest hit? Are etfs better than individual stocks? What defensive stocks are likely least affected? Are there equities that would do well in such a scenario? How would bonds perform?

Q: In your response to a recent question you included a remark to the effect that there’s a lot of concern about Canadian banks right now. Would you please expand on this comment in regard to the nature and source of the concern you mentioned.

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

I’m a very pleased user of Portfolio Analytics, as well as 5i of course.

Till now, I never changed my allocations using “Custom Allocations”. Previously, I used one of the suggested allocations.

In this era of tariffs, I fear they will throw a monkey wrench into our economy as well as in the US. For example, even though tariffs on steel and aluminum aren’t yet in place, some Canadian firms have already lost orders. “The threat of tariffs is, in itself, a tariff”.

As an example, you recently responded to a member’s question and suggested that the Industrial sector could/would be vulnerable to tariffs.

Please suggest “Trump-proof” sector weightings that takes into account the uncertainty that is rampant with Trump 2.0.

Thanks as always for you assistance in helping us to make informed decisions.

Q: HOOD

A great Quarter , A lot of new clients, Looks good. Should continue to Grow,

Will they move outside of USA EU or China/

Blacks in USA are moving into Stock Market Young Americans are becoming Investors in droves Future of Bitcoin looks good and Trump likes Bitcoin, Everything looks Good

Q What could go wrong ? RAK

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Our Industrial holdings are too high, considering their vulnerability to the “Trump tariffs”, as you suggested in a question today from Shirley.

In what order would you reduce or sell any of these stocks? This is a daunting task, as I like them all, and they are among the “cream of the crop” in this sector.

I’m planning to use the proceeds to buy some US small and mid-cap ETFs and would appreciate any Canadian domiciled ETFs that you could suggest.

Thanks for your insight.

Q: Any suggestions on how to "Trump-proof" one's portfolio?

Q: Hi 5i, I was listening to a steel analyst stating that "value added steel manufacturers" like Russel metals would be exempt from steel tarrifs. I realize the companies that actually make steel and the steel outputs for downstream manufacturing will be taxed. If this is true then aren't companies like the one mentioned or DRX or HPS also exempt? Now if anything manufactured in Canada is taxed then all bets are off.

Thx