Stocks - The Best Buys 2

[GGG]

Early on S+P is down more than the TSX ignoring currency.

[calgarygeologist]

Things are not as bad as I expected yet. I did sell off my US Tech ETF because it has been a laggard so far in 2025 and it was the biggest drag on my portfolio this morning. Canadian resource stuff is holding for now and my company is still up this morning. Bitcoin is not great though but I don't know how to really look at that with regards to the tariff fight.

[Shazam]

Dropping CAD$ is helping.

[calgarygeologist]

Seems like a market crash has largely been averted for today which is a silver lining amidst all the chaos.

[moncton golden flames]

What is going on with CNR.TO? One of the most steady and consistent stocks out there and has essentially plateaued since mid 2021. The stock has never seen that type of stagnation. Any insights, perhaps it's a leading indicator for bigger things?

[Winsor_Pilates]

What's everyone's strategies through these wild times?

I usually dollar cost average into my portfolio of ETFs but it feels like things are likely to get ugly.
Hit pause and keep cash on hand?

[GomerPile]

I sold a lot of my volatile stuff, mostly in TFSA’s. Transferred it back into CAD$, withdrew and I am paying off the remaining debt I have. Boring, but the TFSA room will be there next year.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

What's everyone's strategies through these wild times?

I usually dollar cost average into my portfolio of ETFs but it feels like things are likely to get ugly.
Hit pause and keep cash on hand?

I did some buying on Thursday as prices seemed too good to be true but at the same time I was pretty concerned about put more money in.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

What's everyone's strategies through these wild times?

I usually dollar cost average into my portfolio of ETFs but it feels like things are likely to get ugly.
Hit pause and keep cash on hand?

I have been slowly selling stuff and parking money in USD$ HISAs and other short term fixed income investments. But, I am 55+, and apparently should have 50% of my investments in fixed income, anyway. Other personal circumstances also come into play, including the viability of my employer if tariffs come true. I also don't have time during market hours to monitor and actively trade stocks.

EDIT: Almost forgot to add. I have also moved a large portion of my account to IBKR because moving money in and out of HISAs at my existing brokerage had a 2+ day turnaround. (Or paying commissions to buy HISU, CASH etc.). IBKR will pay you interest on your cash balance.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Nancy

I have also moved a large portion of my account to IBKR

This is the way.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

What is going on with CNR.TO? One of the most steady and consistent stocks out there and has essentially plateaued since mid 2021. The stock has never seen that type of stagnation. Any insights, perhaps it's a leading indicator for bigger things?

It’s because I bought some. Sorry.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Nancy

I have also moved a large portion of my account to IBKR

Originally Posted by bizaro86

This is the way.

Just make sure you plan appropriately for estate purposes. Because IKBR is US-domiciled (even if you sign up for a non-US version), if you have over $60K in US-listed securities, there's a very good chance your executor will need to file a US estate tax return and receive a transfer certificate from the IRS (which currently has about a 1-year turnaround and will probably be significantly longer now that they're firing a bunch of employees) before the executor or beneficiaries can gain access to the securities.

At least for now, Canadians aren't actually subject to estate tax if their estate is under $5-10M USD. But the process is pretty annoying and basically freezes US-listed assets held in IBKR for a long period of time after the person dies. Holding in a Canadian domiciled broker eliminates that. Or you can hold non-US listed securities in IBKR, but now that most Canadian brokers offer no-commission trading, their main benefit is their currency exchange rate, so they don't make a lot of sense unless you're holding USD stuff.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Just make sure you plan appropriately for estate purposes. Because IKBR is US-domiciled (even if you sign up for a non-US version), if you have over $60K in US-listed securities, there's a very good chance your executor will need to file a US estate tax return and receive a transfer certificate from the IRS (which currently has about a 1-year turnaround and will probably be significantly longer now that they're firing a bunch of employees) before the executor or beneficiaries can gain access to the securities.

At least for now, Canadians aren't actually subject to estate tax if their estate is under $5-10M USD. But the process is pretty annoying and basically freezes US-listed assets held in IBKR for a long period of time after the person dies. Holding in a Canadian domiciled broker eliminates that. Or you can hold non-US listed securities in IBKR, but now that most Canadian brokers offer no-commission trading, their main benefit is their currency exchange rate, so they don't make a lot of sense unless you're holding USD stuff.

I think the biggest benefits are the currency exchange rates and the range of options. I hold mostly foreign securities from outside North America in my IBKR account - the price/convenience difference between them and any other broker for places like Japan, UK, Europe, Mexico, etc. And the margin rates are also excellent.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think the biggest benefits are the currency exchange rates and the range of options. I hold mostly foreign securities from outside North America in my IBKR account - the price/convenience difference between them and any other broker for places like Japan, UK, Europe, Mexico, etc. And the margin rates are also excellent.

Yeah, if you're primarily holding non-US stuff, then the risk is less (though they do generally need to be satisfied that your entire estate holds less than $60K of US-situs assets). But a lot of people have tons of US holdings in IBKR accounts and their executor/heirs will be pretty surprised when they're waiting a year or two to even get access to the account, a process than can be done in a matter of weeks after probate is completed with a Canadian-domiciled brokerage.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Yeah, if you're primarily holding non-US stuff, then the risk is less (though they do generally need to be satisfied that your entire estate holds less than $60K of US-situs assets). But a lot of people have tons of US holdings in IBKR accounts and their executor/heirs will be pretty surprised when they're waiting a year or two to even get access to the account, a process than can be done in a matter of weeks after probate is completed with a Canadian-domiciled brokerage.

Is it accurate that a joint account wouldnt have this issue if one holder died?

[Shazam]

That's why I keep everything in the Cayman Islands.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

What's everyone's strategies through these wild times?

I usually dollar cost average into my portfolio of ETFs but it feels like things are likely to get ugly.
Hit pause and keep cash on hand?

My strategy is that Time in the market > timing the market.

Even if you call the bottom, unless you know exactly when to get back in you're more likely to miss the rally trying to time it.
Whether the market is up or down I just keep ploughing money into my ETFs.

[sa226]

Defensive stocks for me. Things that people need regardless of the economy. Obviously still risks with everything. Dividend aristocrat's. Blue chippers.

Only "Timing" I sort of consider, is that if the sticks meet all of my criteria etc, I'll see if its dropped below its 50 day moving average to try and snag it at a discount. As long as tbe reason it's dropped isn't disqualifying.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Torture

My strategy is that Time in the market > timing the market.

Even if you call the bottom, unless you know exactly when to get back in you're more likely to miss the rally trying to time it.
Whether the market is up or down I just keep ploughing money into my ETFs.

Me too, there’s a handful of stocks I use the timing mentality on. These stocks are large companies which are highly unlikely to go titters and have modestly large % swings over the course of 12 months. The majority of my portfolio I treat like you do, ETF money printer go brrrrrrrr.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Is it accurate that a joint account wouldnt have this issue if one holder died?

I'm actually not 100% sure, but I suspect there could still be issues.

Either way, you would need to file the Form 706-NA (estate tax return for non-resident aliens) if there are over $60K in US situs assets (which includes any cash held in the account). It's not the end of the world, but it's a bit of a pain and can get expensive with more complex estates if you're paying an accountant to file.

In terms of a brokerage account, it may be the case that because it's a joint account with right of survivorship that the surviving holder can do what they want with the contents. However, I believe that US-domiciled brokers have a liability for any tax owed by non-resident aliens, so they tend to be very conservative in these matters. So they may want to be absolutely sure that the deceased's US tax obligations are taken care of before allowing any funds to be moved out of the account by the joint holder. So that means filing the 706-NA and waiting 1+ years to get the transfer certificate.