Investment Q&A

Q: In the last question related to CRH, you indicated that it had a forward PE Ratio of over 40X, and a P/BV ratio of 14X.
That sounds very expensive, even if it is a high growth stock. How is this any different than some of the marijuana stocks you have indicated we should avoid due to extended valuations?

I guess my question is - how do you know when a stock is too expensive? Is there a metric one can use that says x% revenue growth can be priced as high as 'y' P/E or 'z' P/BV?

Q: I was recently reading an article about a somewhat prominent US investor who runs an extremely concentrated portfolio. I was rather startled to see that DSG was one of his choices. For example, FB was one of his other tech holdings. I would appreciate your thoughts about the long term future of DSG and why this stock may have been selected in preference to the numerous other tech possibilities. I believe the existence of a moat is a key criteria for this investor.
Thank you.

Q: Hi, Peter could please provide your view on this co. Long term. Should I buy in rrsp or t f a c acct? I would like to buy 7-8 % for one and 5-6% of the other. Thanks for your help .

Q: Hi could you lease give me your view on FCF and I was wondering why they have not posted any earnings for 4th quarter
Thanks John

Q: How would you assess the prospects of these two companies over the next year or so? I am considering swapping them for Constellation Software. Would this be a good move?

Q: Hi there, I am an investor in my early 30's and follow your Balanced Equity portfolio and understand that it is an excellent mix of growth and stability names. I am curious to know what adjustments you would make if I were looking to substitute the more stable, less risky names with names with higher growth torque - names similar to KXS, NFI, PBH, SIS etc (so maybe not as small and volatile as some names in the Growth portfolio). Thanks for your awesome service!

Q: I have held this stock for close to three years. It has been a good performer so I am sitting on some significant capital gains. It did miss some numbers last quarter and has recently dropped. What is your outlook for this stock and likelihood of returning to better growth.

Q: I purchased DGS-T [Dividend Growth Split Corp. by Brompton Group] because it is a large cap portfolio of Canadian 'blue chip' equities with high dividend yield [15.17% today]. Due to the high yield my intuition is telling me this is a higher risk investment. Can you give a Dummies analysis on this investment and the risk level ?

Q: Hello

What Canadians etf's would you recommend for exposure to Europe in my tfsa?
Thank you
Amy

Q: Hi,

I’m 67 years old and rely on dividend income. I think it may be time to transform my 45 stock portfolio into something more in tune with my age and risk tolerance. It would hopefully reduce the amount of decisions I would have to make since they say the older we get, the more our decision making skills start to slip.

Right now my portfolio follows a 60% 5i Canadian equity market sector balance, and about 20% US equities and 20% cash. My thought is to create a portfolio with the following asset allocation:

30% Gov & Corp Bonds VAB

15% Canadian Equity VCN or Canadian Div CDZ
15% Individual CDN small & Med cap stocks

10% US Equity VUN
20% US Large cap individual stocks already in Portfolio

10% International Equity VDU & VEE

Your comments would be appreciated.
Thank You
Frank

Q: hi, what do you think of HHL at this price? we are retiring next year and looking for income , do you like HHL or is there something you prefer thx Jack.

Q: These four companies are on my watch list. Please list in order of preference for a purchase at this time. Thank you.

Q: Hi,
I have these 4 companies in my portfolio. I try to copy your balanced equity portfolio as much as possible which is why I have ENB, MX and WCP. I added SPB last year on one of your suggestions and I'm up 46% on it.
Do I have too many in this sector and should I sell them, keep them or do you have a better company to replace it with?

Q: I have had Altagas for over 4 years. I would like your opinion, should I sell or look for something better and if so what do you suggest.

In my US portfolio I have four stocks of which 22% are GE, would this be a good time to add more GE

Q: My 15 yr old grandaughter has asked me to invest 1k of her hard earned babysiting money for about a 1 to 2yr hold in growth stock (my future as a grandfather may be at stake) I am leaning towards PBH over KXS what would your agree with my choice or would you have a better recomendation?

Q: Hi 5i, do you still prefer CS over HBM and LUN? Thank you

Q: For the 2 sectors which stocks would you buy, these are the only 2 sectors I am not invested in

As always thanks for your help

Q: I am looking at PJC.A as a take over candidate. My thinking is, as with the purchase of Shoppers by Loblaws, Jean Coutu has a sizeable downtown presence and while Montreal downtown is perhaps not quite as attractive as Toronto downtown, its still a quick way for a retailer to expand their urban presence, and as the Shoppers purchase showed, far cheaper and quicker than trying to do this from the ground up. My question is, is this a reasonable thesis and, perhaps more importantly, is PJC.A good enough and especially safe enough for a longer-term, patient hold, irrespective of the above thesis.

Q: Hello! I have made a 70% return on Goeasy. It is about 5% of my stock portfolio. Should I take my profits? It seems to be ahead of itself.
Thanks,
Chantal

Q: I own both of these ETFs and want to drop one to lessen my CAN exposure. I'm leaning towards dropping VDY because it is in my TFSA (ZDV is in a margin) and my portfolio would benefit from cutting some weight in financials (VDY is heavier than ZDV in this sector).
Can an argument be made for keeping VDY?

Just renewed! Thanks.