Investment Q&A

Q: I am having difficulty finding out about fees associated with CDRs. On the one hand I see the answer 'there are no fees'. On the other hand, I see this on CIBC's website: "The notional currency hedge includes a spread earned by CIBC which will on average not exceed 0.60% on an annualized basis." Is this 0.6% paid for by owners of the specific CDR? If so, is there a similar expense at every bank or brokerage through which one might buy a CDR? This would severely hurt the value of buying CDRs would it not? You are still taking all the equity specific risk, you would still be charged the withholding tax, and unlike an ETF, you are not gaining any diversification for your fees. Thank-you.

Q: My son has a small portfolio consisting of two ETF’s and seven stocks (CN, AAXN, NVDA, CRWD, DDOG, DIS, TTWO). We have picked stocks that have good potential, but that are also fun for him to follow. He is using the ETF’s to give his portfolio some diversification with 20% in ZSP and 15% in XIT. He is investing for the long term. He now has some extra cash to buy another stock or two. Would you have some suggestions? We are also thinking of selling XIT and splitting the proceeds between CSU and maybe one other stock. Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

Q: Hi 5i team,
I am holding AEM and SSL , and thinking to add one more gold stock.

What is your opinion about Victoria Gold, would you be comfortable buying this stock ?

Thank you for your advice as always.

Q: With the purchase of Westinghouse nuclear reactor maintenance operations and the re-opening of the McArthur River Mine which should double production, do you have an improved outlook for the Cameco? How would you rate this equity versus other uranium producers? Would you recommend purchasing and if so, what purchase price would you recommend?

Q: Hamilton ETFs have a new ETF trading called HMAX to begin trading January 23, 2023. In order to generate such a high yield, they will need to write call options "at-the-money" instead of "out-of-the-money" which will result in a higher call premium. Would I simply be expecting just a high yield with a stagnant or declining share price? What is your opinion of this new ETF, and do you think this strategy will work?

Q: Peter,

A while ago I asked about a non market weighted ETF that follows the S&P 500. You mentioned RSP. Is there one that follows the S&P 500 , but in Canadian dollars?

Thank you

Paul

Q: I hopped on this one a few months ago. The fundamentals lookeed really good at the time but it has since declined. Do you see any upside or should I sell and take my lumps.

Q: Hi

Thank you for your reply below.

We will not be selling our BRK,B.

We can not afford to buy a worthwhile position in CSU without selling BRK.B.

Another factor is that BRK.B is in our RRSP accounts, and the capital gains becomes an issue if we go to our cash accounts.

Would it make sense to add to XIT as CSU is its largest holding.

Its a situation of having champagne taste on a beer pocket book.

Thanks again

Mike





Question:
Hello I am low in Tech and high in Financials. Thinking of selling my BRK.B and buying CSU. Your comments or your suggestions are most welcome. Thank you Mike

Answer:
We would consider both of these to be very high quality stocks, and would be fine with this switch if it matches one's sector goals. Because BRK.B is so solid, though, we might consider swapping something else if there are other financial stocks to choose from.

Q: Have held RNW for about 6 years, and seen it go up, then down, then way up and way down. At the moment I am up a couple percent on the stock price (not including dividends). I know they had some issues with their off-shore turbines, and recently I have read some comments about them probably reducing the dividend in the near future. Could you comment on RNW in general, and the dividend issue in particular. Do you think it might be better to take a small gain and move on, or just sit tight?
Thank-you, Grant

Q: Prize targets, Analysts issue price targets were there is a financial benefit, potential or real, to a company. What value do you give to those targets? Has there been any research on the accuracy of targets? Clayton

Q: I haven't seen any recent comments on FXI. I would appreciate your thoughts on its current trend. Also, I didn't see the MER on this fund in the profile so could you please tell me what it is. Finally, are there any issues I should be aware of of holding this in an unregistered account? Thanks!

Q: I would appreciate an updated opinion on StorageVault, particularly in light of their recent successful $100M convertible debenture issuance at a relatively low 5% interest rate.
Thanks!

Q: Looking for an up to date opinion on ANRG. Do you think they can put it together and become profitable? If they can meet guidance, is this a good entry point ?

Q: I am interested in your comments about PKT. In late 2020 they seemed to wake up and start what appeared to be a pretty aggressive growth strategy, The market responded and the stock price went from $.10 to $1.77 in a 4 month stretch. It has since lost steam and has been hovering around $1.00 for a long time. In the past 12 months it looks like insiders have executed 70 BUYS and 0 SELLS buying over 8m shares or 3.55% of the float (if I am reading your data correctly). My questions are:

- how would you rate their financial stability?
- how would you rate management?
- how would you rate their recent acquisitions?
- management seem to be fully committed and must see the stock as a screaming buy but as they load up on stock is there a danger that they could take the company private at a huge discount while the market is ignoring the stock.......I am interested in how do you read this.

Love your comments and insights

Scott

Q: I follow most of your balanced portfolio. Other names in my portfolio are ones you recommend highly.
I have 15% of portfolio in VGG, 2% google, 2% NIVDA
The rest is in Canadian equities and I am looking for advice for percentages in each sector..
4% Materials
7% Consumer Staples
6% consumer Disc
18.5% Financials
19.5 % Industrials
22.5% Tech
6% Utility
7% Energy
If you look at my percentages of Canadian equities please indicate areas I am too high in and areas I need to increase my exposure in.
I realize this question may take a little time. Please take as many question credits that are needed. Thanks for your excellent service over the years.
T Steve

Q: your thoughts on harvest group of funds for income

Q: I am looking to add to the consumer defensive part of my portfolio, I already own Loblaws (L:CA) and Costco (COST:US). What other stocks do you recommend based on low debt/strong balance Sheet, secure and growing dividend, and some growth.
Many Thanks

Q: Peter; Could you updates your thoughts on BLUE ? Thanks
Rod

Q: I am looking to build a corporate portfolio (i.e. ~40% tax on dividends and distributions), and will be adding a position monthly, then topping those holdings up on a monthly basis ongoing. My timescale is 30 years, and really the only important thing is amount of money at the end. What holdings would be reasonable for such an account? Any preference as to order I add them?

I grew up with Money Saver magazine, so my gut feeling is just to buy a set of big, well run companies that pay dividends. However, the current popular zeitgeist seems to be to just buy an all-in-one fund, like VGRO, and not overthink it.

Please take as many credits as needed to answer this question as completely as possible. Thank you!

Q: Been a while since you provided feedback on CES (ticker CEU). I am a long suffering holder of ESN and considering a swap if ESN results don't improve after the next report. What are your latest thoughts on ESN? Thoughts on this swap (ESN for CEU) or do you have another preference if I swap out ESN ... if so, why?