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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`d appreciate your opinion on Talisman (TLM)
Carl Ichan has become a large shareholder. Would that influence your opinion?
Read Answer Asked by Hersh on November 03, 2013
Q: Hi
What is your opinion on the Muddy Waters claim that the chinese company nq is a fraud?
He said he has gathered his evidence in a two month period.
Isn`t that rather a short period of time to delve so deeply into a company and call it a fraud?
Thanks
Hersh

Read Answer Asked by Hersh on November 03, 2013
Q: re: CRR.UN
Hi Peter: last time someone asked about Crombie, it was in July before the REITS head down South due to pending rise in interest rates, would this be a reasonable entry to look for a yield of about 5% with at least a 3 year hold ?
I already have Riocan and H&R as long term hold for yield which I am above water, would you recommend Crombie ? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Michael on November 02, 2013
Q: I'm sure many people like me are interested in finding a multi-bagger. Do you think DragonWave (TSX: DWI) has a chance of being such a stock in the intermediate term?
Read Answer Asked by Eugene on November 02, 2013
Q: Cross Trades: - - could you please explain to me why a specific house cross trades LARGE amounts of shares to itself? Why is it done and what are the consequences? Are they covering a short position or another scenario? Thanks in advance.
Read Answer Asked by orion on November 02, 2013
Q: This is a response to Lotar's question. The fund would be prohibited from charging duplicative management fees. However, while a 2.3% MER might be in line for a Canadian equity fund, it is excessive for a Canadian bond fund, which is where the mutual fund on top has most of its funds - given the current interest rate situation, it may be almost impossible to make any money on the bond portion of the portfolio with that high an MER. Generally the higher the MER, the more that gets kicked back to the adviser, possibly the biggest conflict in the investment industry, one that has been banned in some countries and the Canadian regulators are considering banning as well on the basis that disclosure has been ineffective. With a 2.3% MER, probably 1% per year gets kicked back to the adviser (that would be disclosed in the mutual fund prospectus). For the adviser to put the money into a "balanced fund" like that rather than allocate the money between an equity fund and a bond fund most likely indicates incompetence or lack of integrity on the part of the adviser.
Read Answer Asked by Ralph on November 02, 2013
Q: In Amaya's last financing, I notice the following: The Common Shares issued under the Private Placement are subject to a statutory resale restriction until November 12, 2013.
Is that date likely to bring increased selling? In other words, should we expect a price drop on Nov 12? I believe the share price for the financing was $6.25 ? I realize you can't predict what those who participated in the financing will do, but I'm wondering if there is a general rule of thumb. Just want to brace myself or trim some before. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on November 02, 2013
Q: What would you recommend as a first time investment for a young teanager that has about $1,000 of savings to invest?

I want my kids, who are in their early teens, to have some direct experience with investing; note that they are interested in this idea.

My goal is have them learn of the benefits, and risks, through some direct experience.

Also, what investment learning resources you would recommend?

Regards, Craig.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on November 02, 2013
Q: ETF Short List question asked by Orion on Nov 1/13:

Horizons Funds has a seasonal ETF fund HAC.TO which came out about 3 years ago at $10 and it is now $13.59. The managers use seasonal and technical analysis to enter/exit positions. The managers (Brooke Thackery, Don Vialoux, and Jon Vialoux) appear regularly on BNN.CA video interviews. Thackery authors an annual manual on seasonal investing and has a free monthly letter and mid-month videos promoting the funds activities. Don Vialoux publishes a daily free letter at www.timingthemarket.ca where other ETF/seasonal articles exist. Also check out the structural differences between ETF's and ETN's. Yahoo finance has a components link to assess an ETF's components and weights. Trading volume of an ETF might also assist in determining 'best in class'.
Read Answer Asked by Russ on November 02, 2013
Q: I read Hedley Dimock's article in the October Money Saver and didn't understand his reference to Bank of NS cap sp and Allbanc split cap.sh. What do cap sp and split cap sp mean? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Mary Jean on November 02, 2013
Q: Hi, I recently looked at relative growth and valuation of different economies and it seems that Norway stands out. Do you agree? If so, what would you think about NORW ETF right now?
Read Answer Asked by Kel on November 02, 2013
Q: I have a mutual fund question, about a specific fund but more from an investment understanding perspective than picking on that fund. I know you're not fans of them, and the more I learn, the more I understand why (which is why I'm in the process of weaning myself away from our "advisor").

Our advisor has about 75% of my wife's $90k RRSP in a specific mutual fund, let's just call it Fund A from Company XYZ. This fund's investment objective & strategy is to "generate income and long-term capital growth by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of Canadian dollar denominated fixed income securities". The funds top 30 holdings -- in fact, its top TWO holdings!, are 62% Company XYZ's (i.e. the fund company's) Bond Fund, and 37% Company XYZ's Cdn Dividend Fund, leaving 1% for everything else (unspecified).

Does this mean I'm paying the MER twice, once at the level of the fund itself, and again at the level of the constituent funds?

Would this situation, in isolation, be enough to get me out of this fund?

The funds MER is 2.3%, and its total return since the advisor bought it in July 2012 is 1.1%.

That certainly sounds like a good reason to get out of this fund especially and in particular.

Thanks again for all your investment advice, we beginning investors really appreciate it!
Read Answer Asked by Lotar on November 02, 2013
Q: Hi Peter and 5iResearch Team,
Can you tell me if you like Vanguard Dev. ex NA Index. I know it is small, but its Vanguard, not hedged? Do you think it is time to increase exposure to Europe?
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Linda on November 01, 2013
Q: Peter;
It was a pleasure meeting with you at the Money Show in Toronto.
As discussed, I was looking for a useful Software Trading platform to be used in conjunction with the on-line Gold Circle program provided by RBC. The two I found interesting & am now trying out are Worden Brothers, Durham NC USA "TC2000" & Inovestor Inc "EVA" from Montreal. Will give you my assessment of both next month.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on November 01, 2013
Q: Hi,

I see you like IEP from previous questions. One of Carl's investments is CVI (CVR Energy). It owns portions in refining and fertilizer business. Historically it has paid big dividends. They just reported bad Q3 earnings due to 53 days of unexpected downtime causing high margins and less revenue. This was exasperated by the tightened spreads in August on inputs which seem to be widening again. The stock is down on these recent developments. Carl likes this company and may have plans for the future - company has cash on hand. Is this a good value opportunity given these one time events or do you still see too much risk in the refining space? Appreciate your comments.
Read Answer Asked by Dathan on November 01, 2013
Q: Hi Peter and 5iResearch Team, I would like to add a lumber company to my portfolio. I am looking at West Fraser WFT, Canfor CFP, and Western Forest WEF. Based on location with respect to beetle problems, products and markets, which of these companies would be best to buy. Also, should I wait for a pullback in the sector?
Thanks so much.
Linda
Read Answer Asked by Linda on November 01, 2013