John DeGoeyVanguard MSCI U.S. Broad Mkt ETF Cdn HedgeVUS.TOPAST TOP PICKDec 06, 2012

Total stock market index. 70% made up of large caps, remaining 30% made up of 1000's of mid- to small-caps. The whole package. iShares has some offerings as well. Many ways to play.

On the US market, a lot of metrics are pointing to the market going to extremes. He would really hesitate to add this. You would get more diversification with a global market, which would be a good thing. If you own, you should consider trimming, and taking a little off the table.

This ETF has thousands of holdings, so when the tax cuts trickle through, that's going to be very beneficial for those stocks.

He likes this. It is Cdn$ hedged which is good. It holds about 3500 different positions.

(A Top Pick June 2/16. Up 17.2%.)

Canadian $ hedged. Broad markets. Smaller accounts should not do the smaller sector ETFs. There is nothing wrong with this in these situations, however. He prefers to look at the sectors individually otherwise. It is not a core holding for him. He likes Vanguard.

CAD-Hedged. This is a good way to play the total market. As the US economy gets stronger it lifts all the others.

He likes the US market, and you are getting the broadest exposure with this instrument. Vanguard is noted for having some of the lowest MERs. Their hedging is very reasonable. Unfortunately that hedging didn’t help you last year.

Vanguard S&P 500-CAD Hedged (VSP-T) or Vanguard MSCI US Broad Market (VUS-T)? The difference between these 2 is that one is hedged and the other is not, although this one holds about 6000 stocks.

Continues to look at the US market in a bullish sense. We have low energy costs and low interest rates. What is not to like out there. He is Bullish on the US and sees that there will be wage demands and a little bit of inflation. That recovery is going to continue throughout the economy. This also drills down into mid-caps and small-caps, so it is a much more broad coverage.

This gives you the whole market, large cap, small-cap, etc, and it is cheap. It is basically the S&P 500. A good way of getting a lot of diversification, and getting into the small and mid-cap areas in the US.

Would Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO-N) or Vanguard’s US Total Market ETF (VUS-T) be an appropriate starter to have some US investments in my portfolio? Either one would be fine.

Likes this. It is hedged against a decline in the US$. He has been buying it, but in US dollars, but also has a large position that is hedged with iShares S&P 500 Cdn Hedged (XSP-T).

(A Top Pick July 12/12. Up 26.74%.) Very broad and has hundreds of stocks.

(Top Pick May 1/12, Up 10.20%) This is the way to play the US market. Broader than S&P 500. Smaller companies generally lead.