Investment Q&A

Q: Hello 5i,

I am a 20 year old university student. Through my CO-OP position I have built up just over 2000 dollars in savings that I am able to invest right now with an additional 500$ a month until September. Due to the fact that it is such a low amount of money I have been strongly considering putting all of it into one or two ETFs in order to avoid hefty fees. I am looking to grow my money as much as possible over a 3 – 5 year time period. I am new at this and therefore was wondering if you guys had any recommendation as to what I should do and which type of ETF I should put my money into.

Thank you so much for your help and have a great day.

Q: May I please have your comments on Manulife's earnings. Thank you

Q: Hello 5i

My wife and I will retire in 6 years. We plan to take 15/yr out of our RRSP's at full retirement.

After pulling most of our investments from mutual funds we have the following:
- 250k RRSP to invest into non-CDN (most likely ZWE, VUN, EXC, and a few stocks or XAW)
- 100k RRSP Mutual funds in bonds (transfer to ETF's or stocks over time to reduce fees)
- 100k RRSP for CDN investment (VCN or portfolio stocks?)
- 25k for TFSA now + 20k/yr to add to TFSA

We are not sure if purchasing 100k of VCN is the right choice.
Would you recommend 100k into the balanced and/or income portfolio instead, or a combination of VCN and balanced portfolio?

If RRSP funds are allocated to portfolios, which stocks are best suited for an RRSP? We can purchase the remaining stocks through our TFSA (higher growth stocks).

Please take the appropriate number of credits for the question.

Thank you for your great service.

Jerry & Debbie

Q: I own 100 shares of MDA, purchased at 80.95. Down by 15K now. I am supportive of the stock and appreciate the dividend they pay. My shares are in an RSP. My question is this: I am trying to decide if I should buy more. Everyone says "buy on dips" and at the same time everyone says "don't double down on a losing stock". How do I figure out if this is a good stock that I would be buying on a dip, or if I should avoid buying more and maybe even sell it? I have looked at the fundamentals but am stuck. Thanks very much again, Marilyn

Q: I have sold 40% of my shopify position to take some profit and am now sitting with 6% cash in my non registered investment account. What options might be available to me to park the cash until I see some exceptional buying opportunities. Second question is that I am seeing several investment articles recommend a larger cash position as there may be a correction given very high valuations that appear to have too much "hype or anticipation" factored in. What percentage would you recommend I maintain in my investment account. I am sitting at approximately 6% in my non registered account and 10 % in my RRSP. Thank you for the great service.
Deborah

Q: Dear 5i
My current financial adviser has me in a large position of a global bond etf. I can`t continue with this etf when i switch toQuestrade as it is not tradeable there .
The question is should i continue to remain in global bonds and if so what would you suggest in terms of an etf or should i just stick with North American bond etf`s?
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: Thinking of buying both MTN and SQ in my rrif a/c.
You have positive remarks about SQ, but nothing about
MTN. Please give your opinion.

Thank you for your great service.

Q: Dear 5i
I am two years away from retiring and currently positioning my portfolio to be 60% fixed income and 40% equity.
Of the $600,000 fixed portion what bond ETF`s would you recommend and what dollar amount would you put into each ? Obviously lower MER`s and higher yields are preferable .
Thanks
Bill

Q: I would like a small positon in gold for my TFSA that pays a dividen for longterm hold. What would be your best choice? thanks.

Q: Hi Team, Sorry about just copying this info, but RBC is doing a better job than I could:
12:23 PM EDT, 05/03/2017 (MT Newswires) -- RBC Capital is initiating coverage on TSO3 with an Outperform, Speculative Risk rating and C$4.25 target. TSO3 has recently commercialized a proprietary and highly differentiated device for the sterilization of medical devices, particularly endoscopes, in healthcare settings, the brokerage reports, adding that the company is therefore uniquely positioned with its marketing partner, Getinge (a world leader in infection control sales). "We expect greater than ~40% returns over the next 12-months."
Price: 3.17, Change: +0.08, Percent Change: +2.6
Would you agree or disagree with RBC on TSO3?
Thanks, Chris

Q: i know this is a dumb question but i am going to ask it anyways. what are your top 3 picks from balanced equity portfolio and top 3 picks from growth portfolio from now until year end. i prefer growthier names. dave

Q: Thanks for putting the Sector for each stock in the model portfolios.

Q: Greetings, Peter & CO.
With the major drop in earnings I anticipate a major hit to AGT's share price. At what price would you see AGT as a strong buy for a long term investor? Would you recommend waiting a couple of days before making a purchase?
With appreciation,
Ed

Q: I don't have much experience with investing, but from what I've seen, the share prices of companies in the days after an IPO are almost always higher than the initial IPO price. Is it a no brainer then to try and get into as many IPOs as possible, particularly if they're of the "high profile" variety?

Q: I tried to search the site in the blog section for information on the 5% suggestion for individual stocks. No actual search feature for individual articles. so could I get a reason for the purpose of the suggestion. How it should work ie if you have 7% do go back to 5 or let it ride and wait what would the top percentage when to trim. I have TD up 0ver 200% at 12% of portfolio but it is a good dividen payer and stable stock??

Q: Jerome Hass was Market Call, his comments, left me with the impression, that insiders were planning to privatizing this company. Is there no indication on who is looking at the company to buy?? Also, you stated to Ruby that the div. @ 81/2 % is risky, is that because the cash flow or the company could use the money to buy back shares. If they cancelled or greatly reduced the div. then possibly the stock would drop in value and make it cheaper for a buy out??? This seems to me, if any of this was true, would be very unethical, & would there not be some safe guards to prevent this Earl

Q: Hi.

Im borrowing funds for investing purposes.Since this is my first time doing this, I want to ask your advice if I use in non registered acct or my TFSA.I know I can get a tax credit for interest payment of the loan but with TFsa everything is tax free except theres no tax credit for my loan.Jist dont exactly known the calculafion.Im in 40% marginal tax bracket.

Appreciate your help. Thanks.

Q: Hallo I5, is there a tax advantage between dfn, df and zwu, would you please rate or rank them from safety point of view. Perhaps suggesting a couple better ones. I do not have any India holding. Would you consider either of the above safe with reasonable MER, perhaps a suggesting a couple better ones. Many thanks, J.A.P. Burlington

Q: Further to my question on May 4,Mnw tanked the last 2 days.Is there any reason(s)?It may have dropped after the conference call on May 4 morning.If possible do not deduct a credit.Thanks for your usual great services & views

Q: I would like to move to a portfolio with at least 30% exposure to the US. I already own VFV and VUN which comprise 10% of my portfolio. Rather than attempt to buy individual US stocks, it makes sense to me to continue to buy these very low cost ETFs, both of which provide significant diversification into the US. With VFV there is the added diversification bonus that almost 50% of the companies listed have business outside the US. I would appreciate your opinion of this strategy.