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

Income trusts and REIT’s- Would be happy capitalizing on distributions for the next couple of years. Come 2011 these income trusts could become corporations again, don’t worry about it.

Cash- Defensive. There’s going to be a huge buying opportunity for commodities later in the year or 2009, this will be pre-empted by a big drop. There are big problems in the U.S, and it will take time to work itself out. Be in cash so you can pick up stocks when things get really cheap.

Real estate outlook- Can’t recommend an ETF or index fund. Benchmark the large pension plans for a real estate allocation.

Purchasing your first REIT- Suggest RIOCAN. Largest REIT in Canada, very defensive asset class and retail. Very large and liquid.

Owning REIT’s in an RSP- Doesn’t make a lot of sense from a taxation perspective. If your looking to maximize your total returns from your RSP then adding real estate to it does make sense.

U.S REIT’s- U.S REIT’s are slightly undervalued at these levels, a very volatile market. Have been a seller in the very recent past. Be patient and wait for April-July to buy.

GC/J8- Have no idea what gold will do in the future. Gold will go up over the next 5 years, will be a good investment.

Gld-us: Mimics the price of gold. Gold has some very strong long-term fundamentals.

GLD.US- Entry point of $90. This is a pure play. No leverage involved.

ISHARES Aerospace- Not a believer in ISHARES. Would rather pick individual names out there. United Technologies is one of the best in this sector.

330 HK- 70% of business is in Europe. Their costs are in Hong Kong currency, and their revenue is in Euros.

Movement of money- cautious about using book value as a value indicator. In a declining environment when companies are losing money the book value can deteriorate rather quickly.

SI/K8- Like silver much more than gold. There’s a huge physical shortage of silver. There are very few equity plays to invest in silver. Do like this space a lot. Prefers PAN American.

Rumours become reality, LeManns is the next one to be attacked. Thinks we are in serious trouble. Doesn't expect recover in 2008. He's usually very much a bull.

Caller was suggesting that oil's book value is too high and bank book value was at 1.5%, which should signal the time to go back into banks from oil. Peter responded by saying don't trust book value, since in a declining market book value can deteriorate very quickly. He would much rather own a Canadian bank then a US Bank. He is a big believer in commodities. Hard asset is where it's at.