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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: You have recommended buying into the market slowly over several months, perhaps small cumulative positions in individual favorites, or a diversified etf. I'm wondering how many earnings shocks we will see that may offer an opportunity to 'jump in' to an individual position. Are you expecting such opportunities to arise or do you think recent lows have already baked in those expectations. An example might be Goose, which has been hammered and looks attractive, but could it get worse when it reports.
Thank you for guiding us through the storm and helping quell the emotional turbulence of an individual investor.
Peter.
Read Answer Asked by Peter on April 07, 2020
Q: Hi 5i Team - From my reading of answers to previous questions it seems that Parex Resources is pretty much the best company to own if you want exposure to oil and gas, since it has a very strong balance sheet. My question regards insider ownership and recent selling. According to INK there has been net selling of $70 million with the ownership by directors having fallen off sharply, although the holdings of the CEO, CFO and other officers has remained quite steady. Issuer holdings have recently dropped from 20 million shares to 0. First of all could you comment on the accuracy of these figures since you may have a different source than I do and certainly a better understanding of what the figures mean. Secondly is there anything to be read into all of this. Also could you explain the drop of 20 million issuer shares - and is the company buying back shares. Any guidance you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and all the best to all of you.
Read Answer Asked by Rob on April 06, 2020
Q: Good morning,
This past week, I've been reviewing each holding in my Non Registered account to identify suitable tax loss harvesting candidates. Before selling any of these tax loss harvesting candidates, I must identify the best proxy replacement.
One my tax loss harvest candidates is XDV which I've held for many years now but like so may other stocks and ETFs these days, is now quite underwater. Although I still like XDV as a core holding and it pains me to sell it, I'm looking at selling XDV and purchasing CDZ as a proxy. Your thoughts on this tentative plan would be appreciated along with any other proxy that you would consider more appropriate. Thank you.
Francesco
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on April 06, 2020
Q: Hi team
I have the RBC monthly income fund, ranked as 4 star by morning star
how does it compare to XTR in a non-registered account for some income and
growth is secondary thanks

I also have a P H & N monthly income fund and could not find the symbol
if you can compared the 3 to hold for income and some secondary growth
it would be appreciated
thanks
Michael
Read Answer Asked by Michael on April 06, 2020
Q: I am beginning to swing trade ETFs. Which do feel more closely mirrors the SPY since one cannot buy the SPX? Feel free to mention others I may have excluded but should be considered.
Putting aside any tax implications or type of account (ie: registered vs non-registered)
Considering the state of the C$ and the price of oil, it would seem more logical to go unhedged , what are your thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by Larry on April 06, 2020
Q: Not a question - a clarification as I don't think the distribution/dividend level has been fully explained. Before the split I was in contact with BIP.UN IR to clarify the distribution level and was informed that the distribution level would be identical for both BIP.UN and BIPC but will be at 90% of the BIP.UN distribution rate prior to the split. This ensures that the total distribution for the 2 holdings are equivalent to the pre-split amount. Here is the wording from the prospectus.

"Further, immediately following completion of the special distribution, the
distribution level on the units will be reduced to nine-tenths (9/10ths) of the pre-closing distribution level as a result of the one (1) for nine (9) special distribution, and the dividend level on the class A shares will be identical to the post-closing unit distribution level, with the result that the aggregate distribution received by a holder on its units and class A shares will be the same as it would have received if the special distribution had not been made."

Hope this is useful for everyone out there who now holds BIP.UN and BIPC.
Read Answer Asked by Gary on April 06, 2020
Q: POW has now fallen to a price giving a similar yield to ENB, around 8%. For a senior living on dividend income, which of the two has the safer dividend for a long term hold? You have tended to favour SLF in the insurance/financial space, so would you still recommend SLF over POW for dividend safety and growth, despite its lower yield? If you don't like any of these three stocks, what's your top Canadian pick for a senior looking for a decent safe yield, with some potential for long term growth?
Read Answer Asked by David on April 06, 2020
Q: I’m so thankful to be able to call on your expertise, perhaps you can give me some guidance. Your service lead me to purchase several thousand shares of Boyd at a price in the teens for which I am great full. With the deemed sale at $202, and sizeable taxable cap gains. Would it be to my advantage to sell shares now at around $137 a share, take the loss, raise some cash for my war chest and repurchase Boyd when I feel comfortable with the economy? You may tell this is a question for my accountant but I would be interested in you take.
Read Answer Asked by David on April 06, 2020
Q: Hi group if you were to buy 3 stocks in Canada + 3 in the US today (or would you wait?) regardless of sectors . What stock would you buy /why. Of course it goes without saying that they would be minimally effected by the Covid -19 virus
Read Answer Asked by Terence on April 06, 2020
Q: Hello,

I'm hoping you can assist me with my perceptions of the relative value one might receive if they were to invest in one or more of the Brookfield group of companies. First off I'd like to note that the statistics I am quoting for each of the firms comes from the TMX website. I note that because I'm personally never entirely confident that their statistical data is entirely accurate.

BAM.A P/E: 25.60, P/B: 1.441 Yield: 1.543%
BBU.UN P/E: 40.10 P/B: 0.918 Yield: 0.973%
BEP.UN P/E: N/A P/B: 1.335 Yield: 4.895%
BGI.UN P/E: 6.10 P/B: 0.787 Yield: 11.132%
BIP.UN P/E: 550.90 P/B: 1.744 Yield: 5.486%
BPY.UN P/E: 4.30 P/B: 0.253 Yield: 16.392%

Assuming the above values may be close to correct, doesn't that mean that someone investing a dollar in BPY.UN is purchasing units at about one quarter of their underlying value and that if the same individual were to instead buy units in BIP.UN that they would be paying $1.74 for each dollar of actual "value" they were buying?

I would appreciate it if you would please speak to my perception of what the price to book ratio implies about an investment and if you would also please rank the above noted Brookfield properties, in your order of preference, from best to worst. My target holding period is basically forever, with a desire to be able to harvest 6% or more from each of my investments, each year, going forward. Have any of the Brookfield properties ever cut their dividends in the past and if they did were there particular circumstances under which the cuts became a necessary evil?

Lastly, if there may be a website you might be able to recommend where I might be able to obtain statistical data for companies I may be considering investing in, with a high degree of confidence, that would be appreciated.

Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Richard on April 06, 2020
Q: Greetings,

A trader(yes - not an investor) recommended a couple of option selling strategy CEFs funds that can do well in this market. i am not comfortable selling call options myself but understand how they work and wanted to get your opinion of a little bit riskier trade to supplement an otherwise med conservative investor. Looking for dividends in this low interest environment. I expect that companies will start cutting dividends here so need a replacement way to generate income in the short term only.
thanks
Read Answer Asked by kelly on April 06, 2020
Q: Can you recommend a good ETF probably US based, which has companies in the forefront of corona vaccine development/demonstration, as well as corona related testing and diagnosis.
Read Answer Asked by Vinod on April 06, 2020