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

Oil. Energy stocks currently are having a pause. Will probably come alive towards the end of the year.

Bond yields are telling us that the economy is quite weak and is going to stay weak for a while. Long-term bond yields are continuing to come down. Doesn’t see signs of a ‘bond bubble’. Gold’s all time nominal closing high today is telling you that there is uncertainty in the financial system on going and potentially going to get worse. Feels it will continue to go higher.

Copper Prices: Is miss defined. The bond market is saying the outlook for economies are not promising, then you have the rails doing well. It may be China stock piling. He doesn’t think it is a good play.

Bank of Nova Scotia’s BMG Bullion Mutual Fund. The fund holds 1/3 gold, 1/3 silver and 1/3 platinum. Has been making good steady progress in its value.

Gold. Has been in a 10 year bull market and has outperformed just about all other assets. The demand for gold is indicating a lot of uncertainty about global currencies, certainly the US$ because of the money being printed and their debt. This should be an insurance portion of your portfolio. He has 10%-15% in his portfolios.

Mrk Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX-N) Versus BMO Junior Gold Index ETF (ZJG-T)? Junior Gold is fine as it gives a little more diversification. He would like to have a look at the holdings on the GDX-N as he thinks they will be the same as in the iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold (XGD-T) and you wouldn't have to worry about currency.

(A Top Pick Nov 10/09. Up 9.5%.) Canada Real Return Bond Dec 2021. This was his inflation hedge but has done so well because bond yields have dropped. Will probably trim his position.

Canadian telcos. Generating oodles of free cash flow. Smart phone growth is picking up at a tremendous rate giving them extra revenues and extra profits to their bottom lines. Smart phone penetration is still only 20% in North America and expects it to double in the next couple of years.

Market. He is looking for a 5% correction in the market.

Natural gas. Currently we are reaching a peak in terms of pessimism. An opportunity to get invested in high-quality natural gas stocks. Might not be at the bottom but it is certainly coming. Forward future strip has been coming down and you have to go out to about 2015 to find prices above $6. In a seasonal trough where we are maximizing storage.

Oil. Some technicians are calling for oil to weaken to $60 or maybe even $55 this fall. He'll wait to see if this plays out. When he sees oil getting up to $85, he lightens up but when it gets down to high $60's or low $70's, he starts to chip away at names he likes.

Natural Gas: Would all trucks end up running on Natural Gas? Would be at least 10 year to establish the infrastructure and regulatory system.

The world is very concerned about the numbers out of the US and out of China. There’s a lot of concern about growth globally. This is the opportunity to pick away at the better quality names. The talk of double dip is overblown. You need negative data to get into double dip territory. The FED can print money.

(A Top Pick Aug 25/09. Up 16.68%.) Province of Ontario (Australia$) bond maturing 2016 with about a 6.75% yield to maturity. Made money on both currency and the bond itself.

Japan? Strong currency in an exporting nation is not good. Not fairly attractive from a demographic standpoint. Has debt issues and a stagnant economy.