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

Lyondell Chemical- (Top pick, March 28, 2007. Up 21%) Has been acquired.

Preferred shares- We have been buying a lot of preferred shares. They typically have 5-6% dividend yields, which is quite high on bond equivalent basis.

Caller's question was, can a Canadian Bank fail? Answer: No. Canadian banks are generating most of their earnings from deposits and trusts.

The sweet spot for covered calls is between 60 to 90 days for them.

GC/J8- The recent sheer drop in price tends to be associated with bull market. Not bullish on the U.S dollar. The value of the gold stocks are pretty good.

Resource stocks- Don’t rush out of the sector, cherry pick certain stocks. Should come down because of a global economic slowdown.

Solectron corp- (Top pick, April 19, 2007. Up 17%) Could go up over $30. A huge company with good management. Would like to see the debt come down a bit more

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.