Investment Q&A

Q: My question has to do with the timing of portfolio rebalancing. I tend to rebalance at least semi-annually (summer, year-end) but don't have a hard and fast date at which I do so. I also do not tend to keep any cash in the portfolio and I tend to trim winners fairly quickly once they exceed 5% of my portfolio.

When we go through periods of sudden volatility, like the past week or two or when an official correction/recession hits, though, is the best time to re-balance? There are some stocks I consider to be good buys currently - KXS for example, that I do own already but, of course, my percentage weighting is now lower than it was a week or so ago. I fully expect it to go back up, at which time it would once again hold its "proper" weighting. But other stocks, PKI for example, has increased to the point where I might want to trim it. So do I sell some PKI to buy some KXS now, should I wait until I do my next official rebalancing around December, or rebalance now to take advantage of what I think are some good buys?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Hi team,
I really like the indepth company profiles. Well done! Would you consider creating a special report showing 3-year and 5-year dividend growth rates for all companies? Perhaps alongside other growth rates (earnings)? Growth (or lack of) rates often tell a better picture than "todays" rates. Which can cause blindness! Or do you know where I can find this information with few clicks on another site?
Thanks

Q: Good Morning,

Could you please give me your opinion on LOGITECH?? (logi)
Tank you.

Albert

Q: please advise of investing in cannibis. particularily Aurara.
L have invested in Horizon. Or others

Q: Good Morning
Technicals on XBM would indicate that we are entering a growth period for base metals, however, "Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) on Monday said concerns over Donald Trump's trade war with China is likely to dominate the outlook for commodities in the fourth quarter, predicting the issue could be a drag on markets until the 2020 U.S. election. The bank said that while a new North American trade agreement may decrease uncertainty, the U.S. trade war with China is likely to cut commodity prices for most metals."
What is your stance on base metals for the upcoming period?

Carl

Q: hi foks:

what am I missing?

seems like it 'should' be at 'least' holding its own in this market

thanks for any insights as to recent share performance

thanks

Q: A lot of bleeding. Should I keep or sell ? Thanks

Q: As a follow up to your reply "AD has had some earnings struggles recently. We prefer to look at forward (estimated) earnings, and on that basis, the P/E is just 11.8X."

Can we derive the forward PE of a company with the Company profiles available on your site? If so, how would I calculate it?

Thanks.

Q: I have held ALA for a long time - so long that I actually have a modest unrealized gain. The current yield of over 10% is obviously signalling something - either an expected dividend cut or a strong discount implying the market is not buying the picture presented by managment that shows strong growth and no problem sustaining and growing the divi. In my view then - the current stock price reflects all of the bad news that might happen - so there is very little downside at the current price. If a divi cut happens - there might be a short term decline from the current price but the stock should recover to a level with associated yield that is peer competitive. If on the other hand - the market buys the growth story - we should see substantial price appreciation from current levels - no divi cut and a repricing which also results in a peer competitive divi. So at the current price - very limited downside and signficant upside. Do you agree?

Q: I noticed 5i has dropped Reliq a growth stock from your portfolio. Would STC, QST, ITC & CWL be good growth stock replacements given their current value?

Q: How would rank the stocks on straight growth prospects over the next 6 months ( High risk to Low risk ) thank You Claude

Q: Afternoon guys:
I own this name and wondering if it’s s a name to continue to hold or buy more. could this name be a takeover candidate.
Thanks
Mark

Q: Hi All at 5i! A quick question on taxation of CBO.... are the monthly distributions taxed as dividends or interest ? Thank you

Q: Does this ETF have a CAD hedged cousin? or an ETF that does hedge CAD for another US index ?
Ernie

Q: Before proceed with a purchase would you confirm for me that a US stock or ETF may be purchased in a Canadian RRSP without having to file annual tax information or remittances to the USA. I know that a US stock or ETF purchased in a cash or TFSA is subject to annual filings. As a long time subscriber, thank you for your service.

Q: As a new DIY investor following the Q&A on RHT about to adopt a position, today's news is intriguing. An experienced investor friend tells me that penny stocks on the Vancouver exchange should be avoided due to increased likelihood of fraud and "pump & dump" schemes. It seems the CEO and one of her execs have a history of starting tech companies with government subsidies, taking them public, then bailing. How can we avoid these "games"? I'm assuming your own research process aims to identify frauds in the making. Thanks

Q: I held CXR when it was over $100.00 and added to it on the way down. Eventually at $25.00, myself and 5i members were waiting for the quarter and after the report, it dropped to $12.00 and 5i said they were getting out of it. So did I. The same thing happened with RHT. I am concerned that COV a $9.00 plus stock now in the $6 plus range, seems to be repeating the pattern of the two above-mentioned stocks. My question is do you see the same thing happening again with this stock? Thanks Dennis

Q: I wanted to chime in on Johns question about bond etf’s. I completely agree with Johns concerns and feel that generally speaking the possibility of capital losses on a bond etf is under appreciated, under reported and glossed over by too many people. I have held VSB and VSC for well over 3 years and my yield to date isn’t even remotely close to covering the capital losses. I see absolutely no reversal in site. That they are more liquid and diversified to me is pointless. I would have been significantly better off in cash, GICs or an individual ST bond that matured and gave me my capital back.

Q: Is Sun Life tied in with the recent hurricane in Florida/Alabama? Most stocks improved today, SLF did not.

thanks, Paul

Q: here is my personal mea-culpa

over 35 years i have lost an embarrassing amount of money in the market

i am an aggressive investor and have lost money in every single way imaginable - you name it, i have done it

mercifully i am getting 'better' and lose less, less often; yet being in the market means you will have losses

my biggest mistakes show up in these 2 areas:

1) impatience
2) buying hope

so regarding today's massacre of RHT I offer this:

peter's team provides an excellent framework on how to allocate assets; how to keep portfolio positions small (5% max) and 'second to none' fundamental analysis (P/E's, cashflow, balance sheet info etc)

most importantly - this information simply tells you WHAT to buy

to know WHEN to buy you must have a brief look at the chart (technical analysis)

for example; he can tell you all day that 'fundementally' BNS is a good solid company and should be owned; yet looking at the chart, a three year old with a crayon can tell you that it has not finished going down yet

why is it going down? who knows, and really who cares?

so i learned long ago to be patient.....and buy only when the stock has stopped going down --- therefore i no longer try to catch the knife; call the bottom etc etc - and therefore I lose less

and this brings on #2

as you have all heard before - hope is not a strategy

as humans, we are hardwired to believe we 'know' better and nowhere is this more dangerous than investing

when our stock (of a 'good' company) starts going down we buy more because "it's a daily mis-pricing"; then it goes down more and we 'double up' because "it's a great business and i can't believe how stupid some people are".......and then the poor news comes out and we sell (because we never did actually understand the company and we bought on hope (or greed) based on someone's recommendation...........or buy we more to "trade ourselves back on side"

a look at the RHT chart shows it has been going down in a perfect line since february - why was that? who knew? more importantly who cares? the chart has been telling you 'something ain't right"

to summarize

always look at the chart and most importantly....

IF YOU ARE IN A HOLE, STOP DIGGING!!!

i have made every stupid investing mistake; most of them many, many times....

i am probably not finished making stupid mistakes

but i hope I am.......

bob