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

Crude oil. Last $5 increase was driven by the weak US$. As the economy recovers there will be increased demand. Expect it to stay in the $70-$90 range for the next couple of years. At that level, companies have good cash flows.

We have not escaped a market correction. In either direction they overshoot. It is overshooting here. The economy is not coming out in a ‘V’ shape. The market is coming out as if we ARE in a ‘V’ shape. These things always go farther and deeper than you think. The stock and bond markets are saying two different things. The bond market is smarter than the stock market. You might want to take some profits here. He is not buying corporate bonds any more, but into provincial bonds.

Gold: Gold is tied to US dollar and economy. TO look long term – no one knows what is happening there. Gold could do well for a month or 6 months. To play it, guy large cap stocks.

Preferreds vs. Bonds: Preferreds are more attractive outside of an RRSP or RIFF from a tax perspective. Extra risk in that preferreds rank below bonds.

Why not Day Trade: Day trading is not investing but gambling. It’s not the business that he is in.

Hopefully people re-balanced when the prices were low. Now that things have gone up, they need to re-balance again. They may be over weight in equities. People are living a lot older than they used to (90). Ask yourself what you want to do during retirement. Review your portfolio twice per year.

US Stocks: Do it with a US currency hedge. Prefers US oil over US gold. Loonie is going to go higher.

US Stocks: Do it with a US currency hedge. Prefers US oil over US gold. Loonie is going to go higher.

Borrowing for Investing purposes when retired: Should have done it 6 months ago, otherwise it is too risky.

How to Play China: Buy a US ETF. His outlook is pretty bullish for quite a while. There is going to be good news and bad news along the way. The economy can’t help but grow. He would suggest Emerging Markets, rather than just China.

Bank Preferred Shares: It was better to own them 6 or 7 months ago. But banks in Canada are the envy of the world. They remain safe and stable.

Bond ETFs. Pay quarterly dividend. You don’t have to worry about your brokerage’s inventory of bonds. With direct ownership of bonds, you need to ladder them, so that they don’t all come due at once, when interest rates may not be that favourable.

Very little doubt that interest rates will go up. The question is when, not if. Central bank will not change rate until next June.

Please note the comments in “Announcements” my son made on the home page but they are very interesting. If you become a member, we will send you Top Picks every day. Also if you have your special stocks entered, then whenever they are mentioned we will send you an email about them as well. If you miss going to the site you still know what is going on. You can also go to the Opinions/Portfolio comments and see the last 100 comments about your stocks. Try it, you’ll like it. Bill

Utilities. Have been lagging the market and have high yields so this would be a good time to buy.