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

The market is going sideways. Little up days and then some backpedaling. He looks for special situations in this market: mergers, deals. He has faith that we will stagnate 'nicely'. Dividends will stay loved. They are up to half of total returns over long terms. Stay invested in quality situations with dividends.

REITs. Since this is the only area that will not be affected by the legislative changes on trusts, money has been flowing into this area and should continue to do so.

REITs. Real estate has typically been a good long-term investment. As trusts go away in January, there will be more desire for investors to find yield. This will be one space that investors naturally look to.

Natural gas. He would be inclined to go Long rather than Short on natural gas. A very out of favour commodity right now and there is a huge concern about shale gas supply but longer term, it is a very clean fuel.

You have a strong, steep yield curve, which is strongly simulative, Federal banks are fairly accommodative and earnings are growing. But we have had this big move off the bottom and then we have this pause, which is the market adjusting to lower rate of growth. Markets will not necessarily go sideways for an extended period. Emerging economies will lead us up. Is thinking of putting money back to work.

Uranium stocks in general: Not the most liquid market so once buyers decide to step in, they certainly drive the price up fairly quickly. Short term they are a little over bought. We are at a 14-month high. Long term they will do ok.

Lifecos? Manulife (MFC-T), Great West (GWO-T) or Sun (SLF-T)? Insurance sector has been disappointing. Has underperformed financial services as a whole. You need a long-term view for life insurance. If you want a more stable, consistent company then Great West, with a yield of about 5% but if you have a longer term view, she would select Manulife. (She owns Manulife.)

Oil is in the range of $70-$85 and the 2 year outlook is positive.

Silver. If you are positive on gold, then silver will also appreciate.

Some people are totally tied up with the idea of economic disaster. Corporations have fantastic balance sheets with lots of money. Governments are the ones in trouble. Feels safer in buying dividend-paying stocks than European debt. People are saying that all stocks should be thrown in the waste paper basket. The US has problems and it will impinge on our growth in the future. Doesn’t believe in the double dip, even in the US.

Government of Canada 4% bond maturing June 1/41. Feels that interest rates at the government level will fall further because of a deflationary environment.

(A Top Pick Oct 30/09. Up 7.6%.) US treasury 3.625% maturing August 2015. With no inflation threat, he thought the yields were too high compared to where inflation was going.

US or Canadian corporate bonds? Canadian yields are higher because the Canadian economy is stronger and inflation is a little bit higher. You're better off staying in the Canadian because of currency risks.

Little bump up in interest rates – maybe one or two more little increases for the year and then we take cues from the States. Believes rates will stay low for 2 to 3 years, especially in the US. You can get dividend yields quite above interest rates. Dividend stocks look attractive. Investors are paying too much attention to all the noise out there. People need to relax and enjoy their summer.

CHIP Mortgage Trust 4.49% bond maturing Aug 4/15. AAA rated. Essentially they take reverse mortgages and the collateral is the equity. Fairly low risk. Diversified across major centres across Canada.