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

Natural Gas: We can't expect demand to pick up in North America until we see the economy start to improve and there is industrial utilization picking up. However he expects inventory levels to start declining ones the overproduction of gas passes through. The question mark is When! Usually takes 12 to 18 months for that process to go through and we probably have a couple of months to go before the supply starting to come down.

Markets: Each time we move from a secular Bull to a Bear and vice versa, a new theme arises. We are now in a secular downtrend. Thinks there will be an “echo” technology boom because of the BRIC countries rolling out Internet access. (1st technology boom was in the 80's and 90’s.)

Stop Loss Calculation: For an investor, go to Google and search “true range”. The lowest low 10 weeks ago also works well. If you are a trader use the lowest low 10 days ago.

Cdn$: Cdn$ is driven by commodity prices. There has been quite a rally in the last 3 or 4 months. Has a high correlation with crude and base metals. It will probably pause and have a rest here.

Gold: Some of the big gold stocks are acting very well and near their highs. Acting counter cyclically is positive for gold. Your portfolio should only have 5%, 10% tops. Keep an eye on them and see if they break through new highs. If they start rolling over, reduce your holdings. (See Top Picks.)

Gold: Is looking for $1000 in 2010. Watching out for inflation but doesn't see it this year.

Gold. Thinks there will be a significant rise in the price level over the next 10 years. In the near-term he thinks it will go through $1000 and when it does we could see $1200 by the end of the year, if not higher. Expects there will be inflation in commodities and gold will participate.

Energy: S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index will probably be coming down over the next little while because of continuing low gas prices.

High-quality corporate bonds. Single A, AA or potentially BBB is the right place to be right now. Spreads have come in a lot but if you're looking for fixed income this is the right place to be. Moving into the 4th quarter, moving into some of the lower investment grades for a little bit more risk but better yield is going to be coming in. Default rates have been increasing as expected but think they will peak out in the 2nd half, which should give a very strong opportunity.

Value Biased Equity. Thinks that the equity market still has some potential strong room for growth. Looking at the last 18 months growth has really outperformed value stocks. Consider any of the dividend ETF's.

Hard Asset Commodities. In the event of inflation and devaluation of the US dollar, hard assets will be a big rotation area for portfolios. Likes gold a lot but likes silver even more.

Inflation: If inflation is coming, the one sure sign will be higher interest rates and these are dominated right now like government policy. Some installation is going to be the perfect way for the US to grow their way out of this debt problem. They would like 3% inflation.

Oil and Base Metals: Looking for a pullback in the order of 10%, maybe 15%. Currently he favours defensive stocks or senior producers.

GMAC Canada bond due June 30/09. Although GM has gone bankrupt, this is a separate company. Outlook for the short-term is pretty good. They are selling at $.85 on the $1 indicating there is still some risk. They are deeply non-investment-grade which could mean a default.

Provincial strip bonds in a TFSA? This is one of the best choices you can make. You get the compound interest tax-free. You are looking at 12 to 14 years and basically doubling your money.