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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: I am wondering how to assess SHOP going forward based on its recent runup. If the increase is due, in large part due to perceived success during COVID, the next quarterly earnings report will only partly reflect their success/failure for this period. Are you then looking for the guidance they give, the quarterly results they post or will you be continuing to value the company based more on what you know about them from having followed them for some time? I guess my question is valid for all companies during the next 6 months but this one has run up so much, I am wondering if I am being unduly cautious as to how much I continue to hold.

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 27, 2020
Q: Further to Mark's question regarding the spin-off of Dow and Corteva, there is definitely a way to set this aside for this taxation year, and ultimately have it as a capital loss/gain. The CRA calls it Election 86.1, and I've included the link here to CRA's website, where they show that they have approved an 86.1 election for both companies mentioned.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/eligible-spin-offs.html
if you do your own taxes, google "86.1 procedures" or something similar to that, and you'll find all the necessary instructions. i've done it myself for the HP spin-off, and essentially, you include a letter with your taxes (or re-file if you've already submitted your taxes) and state that you are exercising this election, and thus will not be including that specific T5 with your tax return this year. And then keep that letter, in case when you eventually sell, if you ever have an issue.

But to this point, when a US stock gets close to a spin-off (in a non-registered account) I always sell, to avoid this hassle. And it is a hassle.

Hope this helps...
Read Answer Asked by Warren on April 27, 2020
Q: I have held BIP in a RRSP for a number of years, and now also have a small holding of BIPC, which I am considering rolling back into BIP for simplicity sake to reduce total holdings. Is the distribution per share going to be exactly the same for BIP and BIPC? Are there any issues (withholding, etc) that would affect the distribution received from one stock and not the other, keeping in mind this is all in a registered account?
Some days the price differential is such that I could sell BIPC and buy BIP and the differential would more than cover the commissions (yeah, I would actually still lose). I would appreciate any comments about the pros and cons of this move.
Thank-you
Read Answer Asked by grant on April 27, 2020
Q: Over my investment time frame I have seen a lot of corporate wrongs, from outright fraud, frequent misrepresentation and accounting tricks. These are seldom given proper attention in the investment world. My question is: " Do you know of any reporting service or website that focuses on corporate wrongdoings?
I appreciated Peter's honest answer to the question on analyst. Thank you.Cheers
Read Answer Asked by Hans on April 27, 2020
Q: Clayton's question and Peter's honest answer prompts me to ask this question: Do you know of anyone or reporting service that focuses on the bad behaviour of corporate management or directors?
As a long time investor I have seen a lot of outright fraud, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation on the part of corporate management. There is not a lot of legal action against these crimes or civil wrongs and class action law suits take a long time to wind up and usually with insignificant payout to a small investor. Analysts seem silent and most of the guests on market call do not usually highlight it. Vermillion comes to mind. Repeatedly we were told the dividend would not be cut and shortly after this representation, the dividend was cut. Surely management at that time would have known that the dividend would be cut. Full marks to Eric Nuttal on this when he pointed out the huge salary increase taken by a member of management just before the dividend cut. Tricks with the financial reports are also not rare. Thanks for any suggestion you may have. Hans
Read Answer Asked by Hans on April 27, 2020
Q: Hello, I would like to know your opinion on AECON GROUP INC (ARE). Please comment on their latest financial results published yesterday (Q1). The backlog of orders seems to be well filled. Governments are expected to announce some impressive infrastructure projects in the near future to provide much-needed stimulus to the economy. You can also recommend other construction and engineering firms. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Stéphane on April 27, 2020
Q: Before I buy and sell I usually review 5i’s opinion and review StockCharts candlesticks and P&F chart for technical guidance . Investors are presented with presets such as moving averages , MACD, RSI etc . You can add options : OBV, Full stochastics , Channels, Bollinger Bands , Channels, Pivot Points etc etc etc . ( actually too many choices ) . Which options do you find most useful in technical decision making ? Thank you for all of your help .
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on April 27, 2020
Q: What are your top 5 Fixed Income ETFs (Cdn or US / International exposure) to hold long term in a RRIF or RSP in the current environment?
Thank you in advance.
Read Answer Asked by EDWARD on April 27, 2020
Q: Good Day Team,
Looking for a good solid opportunity to invest in and thought about HBF and possibly HGR. Would you advise me to go this route or are the better routes to take.
I am retired and 70 years of age.
Thank you,
John G.
Read Answer Asked by John on April 27, 2020
Q: Risk of small business bankruptcys, loan losses - would this be a Material Risk for BNS given the countries they do business in, or would the risk be smaller because of the countries they do business in - or perhaps the loans to small business is a minor part of their over all portfolio (meaning their loans are to larger business with stronger balance sheets).
Read Answer Asked by Phil on April 27, 2020
Q: I currently have no investments in precious metals. What would your order of ranking from 1 to 4 would the following KL:CA, AEM:CA, FNV:CA and PHYS:CA be for a hold of 5 years or more. Also are there any other precious metal stocks, ETF's or other investments that would worth considering? This would be for a non registered account.
Read Answer Asked by James on April 27, 2020
Q: Hi, IVQ has suspended their dividend, stock price has fallen significantly, I am down 70%, is this stock worth holding long term? No further information has been given, Salaries cut, some COVID cases in their rental holdings, sounds like the company is in trouble or facing potential lawsuits?
Read Answer Asked by Kim on April 27, 2020
Q: Thank you again for this great service.
I am down about 25% on BNS (and I have no losses for tax purposes and will have more offsetting gains from other holdings). Thinking of selling BNS and buying POW which in my view has more upside. I would appreciate your advice on what to do with proceeds from BNS sale i.e., other suggestions please (I am very well diversified).
Read Answer Asked by Danny-boy on April 27, 2020