A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert (A Commentary)

Markets. He expects more the same in 2013 for REITs. Half of returns are from cash flows and the other half from yields. 10-14% range. If you see higher cash flows from REITs then they would be closer to the 14% end of the range otherwise closer to the 10% range. The low interest rates and low growth environment will cause increased demand for real estate. Fundamentals for Real Estate have never been better, and occupancy is the highest it has ever been.

Markets. Has been very strong for some months. Thinks the market is digesting some of the macro issues and it needs some confidence, a psychological lift, to move to a more normalized levels. Feels the market still has a couple of multiple points that it could pick up, which would equate to about 15% before it was fairly valued. Feels stocks are under owned and undervalued right now. Both institutions and individuals have an allocation and asset mix which isn’t normal, (skewed towards the fixed income side) because that is where they perceive safety.

Markets. Constructive on US economy this year. Looking at all the numbers, everything is looking great on the US side. Employment is coming on stream, house prices are moving higher and house sales on the rise. Looking at Canada, you have to look at China and Europe. Europe is China’s biggest exporter and how Europe goes, so goes China. How goes China, so goes Canada. China’s numbers seem to be getting better.

Markets. Last year was in awful year and he thinks for the first half of 2013 it will be much similar to 2012. Energy sector remains the most out of favour sector, especially for Canadian oil and gas because of the ongoing differential issues for oil and the continuing weakness of gas prices. This weakness in the energy sector presents opportunities.

Markets. Believes we are in a secular bull market. Risk taking will be rewarded. Despite all the volatility that we’ve had since 2008-2009, you have been rewarded handsomely for taking risks. Feels we are in a continuation. Expects 10 year bonds will go to 3% so there will be a reversing of slightly easier money. As a result, safety trades, high dividend payers and low growth stocks with high dividends will get hurt. You want to be towards companies that reinvest their capital from retained earnings.

Markets. Thinks we are going to have a good, quiet year. Feels the markets will do better than the 4% they did last year. Looking for a 10%-50% market return without a lot of volatility. Thinks a lot of the negatives around the world will quietly play out and get wrestled to the ground. At the end of the year, investors will be happy with what their portfolios have done. Looking for global growth to go up .05%-1% over last year. Expects North America to be slightly better than last year, emerging Asia being on a bit of an uptick and Europe not getting any worse.

Markets. More Bullish on the NHL than on the economy. Chain weighted inflation artificially keeps inflation lower – people buy a different brand because it is on sale that week. Fiscal Cliff: In the US they will fumble the ball. We will focus on earnings until February and then get back to the Fiscal Cliff (debt Ceiling). He wants to talk, though, on opportunities for 2013. Make sure you have enough cash that you can take advantage of opportunities.

Educational Segment. Investor Advocacy. In the end it is the client with the money that doesn’t get a fair end of the shake by the industry. There is not good disclosure about fees charged. Investors need to understand changes taking place. Advisors don’t have a fiduciary responsibility to the client to show performance.

Markets. Not doing anything different this year. US had a 4.5% rally over the last couple of weeks. Would not be surprised at a pullback as they are just kicking the can down the road on the fiscal cliff. The Canadian Market (7.2%) really lagged the US (16%) last year. China appears to be stabilizing and improving and the US is not getting any worse. Expects gains this year in the 8%-10% range. Equities still look attractive to her.

Markets. For the last 18 months, we have gone through a push-pull relationship between some bigger macro risks that people have had concerns about, which has caused several bouts of weakness in the market. Counter balanced against this there have been some very aggressive, unconventional monetary policies that central bankers have been using to try and prop asset prices and bring some confidence to markets. Some of the policy moves have done a pretty good job of taking some of the fear out. The longer that can go on, slowly the healing will take place. You have to pick your spots on the risk curve as to how far out you want to go.

Dividends. Feels that the most obvious long-term theme in this market is dividend growth. There will be short periods of time when that theme may be underperforming the higher beta sectors, but with a lot less risk. This should be the core of most portfolios and then you pick your spots in some of the core leadership themes that might be away from the yield theme.

Natural gas. One of the secular themes is that we have low natural gas pricing, and likely to for some time because of all the gas that is being found. While that is tough on producers, and maybe on service companies, it’s a win for certain manufacturing companies that have big input costs that are centered around the cost of energy. (See Top Picks.)

Emerging markets. Shanghai has started to perform a lot better. Hong Kong had a good lift through the fall. Countries like Thailand and Indonesia had good moves. Seeing some strength in emerging markets. (See Top Picks.)

Markets. Runs seasonal rotational ETF. Today is the end of the Santa Clause rally. It was greater than average. Beyond this period you get to this stagnant period and investors are a bit cautious. There is a lot of good news baked into the market including the fiscal package. We could see a lull in the markets. The TSX is approaching the upper end of a trading range. It will likely respect, hold and then consolidate these levels. From late Feb. until May is usually pretty solid. 3 of the most profitable sectors in the first quarter are three of the top sectors in the TSX.

Silver. Entering the period of strength of seasonal strength. It is holding near a support level and should rebound over the short term. He prefers copper. In general you get metals tied to industrials doing better. Silver, Copper and Platinum do well through until May. Technicals look better for Copper right now.