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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: Hello Folks:
We are interested in purchasing Mercedes Benz (New York Stock Exchange): perhaps a 5 %% weighting.
Merc stock appears having decent upside in addition to a 7% dividend.
We are considering selling perhaps some Visa, REMX, Johnson Controls, Manual Life, or reducing some energy companies etc. to raise funds for this purpose. We could also thin down big Tech however feel these Tech stocks will have some wind in their sales.
How would you compare outlook for Mercedes Benz with industrials such as John Deere, Cat, Cummins etc. We are Merc fans, however don't wish being over enthusiastic.
Thanks again for all you contribute!!!
brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on April 25, 2023
Q: In Portfolio Tracking and Analysis you suggest a portfolio allocation of 35% in international stocks.
I currently hold ZDI for 5% and need an additional 13% according to your recommendation.
At 18% (if I stick with ZDI) this seems like much for just one etf. Should I split between 2 or 3 etfs? Which ones do you recommend?
Please take credits as needed.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Roger on April 25, 2023
Q: I hold the following companies in my consumer cyclical and defensive part of portfolio.

Cyclical:

AirBnb
Aritzia
DOO
MED
SBUX

Defensive:
COST


I’m thinking of selling MED and adding to the balance of my cyclical positions. What are your thoughts on this portfolio of companies and which ones look most attractive today to add to?

For defensive, I only hold Costco. What companies would you suggest I look to diversify my defensive portfolio?

Thanks
Greg
Read Answer Asked by Gregory on April 25, 2023
Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I hold the Evolve ETF called LIFE. It is my proxy for the Health Care sector and have 7% of my equity portfolio in LIFE.

I just read the April 21/23 question by Michael regarding the Cease Trade Order on 11 Evolve ETFs.

The article did not specifically mention LIFE, but I wanted to check with you that there was 0% chance of a spillover impacting LIFE. In other words, I wouldn't need to flush my LIFE holding and buy a similar product, like HHL.

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on April 25, 2023
Q: hi, like so many of the small caps recommended, this one, CTS, continues it's downward price trajectory. can you provide a brief synopsis on where CTS is today financially ( ie how long until it runs out of money?). is CTS a screaming buy, a hold, or a sell? and can you provide an educated guess as to what other Canadian small caps in your universe are going to zero/near zero in this market? cheers, chris
Read Answer Asked by chris on April 25, 2023
Q: Hi I after reading Jason Heath's article in the March/April issue of Canadian Money Saver I became very confused about US withholding Taxes on US companies held in my RRSP.

Mr Heath stated:
"That said, in some cases, U.S. and foreign dividends can be subject to tax annually in an RRSP.
U.S. dividends paid to a Canadian resident’s RRSP can be tax-free if there is an up-to-date Form W8-BEN Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting on file with the brokerage. However, this tax exemption only applies to U.S. stocks owned directly or U.S.-listed ETFs that own U.S. stocks."

For many years I have held a lot of US dividend paying stocks in my self directed RRSP in US dollars. I was always under the impression that there is no US withholding tax on these dividends in a self directed RRSP and that the W8-BEN form was not required .

I know these are Mr Heath's comments and not your own, but can you please clarify.
Read Answer Asked by MANFRED on April 25, 2023
Q: I am considering adding this stock to my portfolio in a size that would be about 3% of the total. I have not held and real estate for a while and this would be a first step back into that segment. Your views on Granite please and what are 3 other real estate alternatives and how do you rank them vs Granite. Take as many question credits as appropriate.
Read Answer Asked by JAMES on April 25, 2023
Q: If the unthinkable happens and the US doesn't raise the debt ceiling leading to the US government defaulting, how would this affect holdings in each of HSAV, HSUV.U and ZMMK? Secondly if an investor held both such an opinion and such holdings, would it then be prudent to sell the holdings before the limit is reached? Please define the risks to these holdings if any actually exist.
Read Answer Asked by Ken on April 25, 2023
Q: One commentator said the recent spread of PPI to CPI is in negative zone. It might indicate the stock market can go down a lot . Negative spread happened in tech dot com bubble and sub prime crisis. Please elaborate. Thanks a million.
Read Answer Asked by Lai Kuen on April 25, 2023
Q: I see Parkland's share price since 2003 was rising steadily and quite well until February 2020 when Covid hit but after the initial Covid crash and rebound has been slowly drifting lower, now down about 35% from it's $48 high to the present $31 range and will have to rise over 50% to regain it's all time high. Why is is drifting lower now...what happened?.

It will take 12 years' worth of dividends to get back to the previous high unless the company can grow and prosper and profits rise considerably. I have studied your recent report [thank you] on the company and it looks good and the B+ rating in encouraging but you don't really identify much strong growth as such. Selling the refinery could be a negative as it seems to be steadily profitable.

Comparing the 20 year price and dividend growth histories of companies like FTS, EMA, RY, and T for example it is hard to see PKI as being a superior investment.

So does the current price and anticipated growth merit investing in PKI at this time for a 10 year hold? Do you have that much confidence in management?

Thank you......... Paul W. K.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 25, 2023
Q: Can you please provide a link for me to an article to describe how readers should use/interpret your sentiment survey.

I usually look at sentiment as a contrary indicator I would like to read your POV.

Thanks


Sheldon
Read Answer Asked by Sheldon on April 25, 2023