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

China – purchasing stocks, not ETFs in order to diversify. The Hong Kong – listed shares vs. the 'A' share markets differ quite dramatically over time. China has growth issues with the average age being 42. They are still a major growth engine for the world but with 50% more volatile than the rest of the world. He has no direct exposure right now to the Chinese market. He is looking for a pull back later this year in order to step in.

Educational Segment. Financial Planning. The Financial Planning standards counsel puts out a document every year with guidelines for assumptions that planners should make when doing planning for clients. The average Canadian is almost 41 years old. You have a 10% probability of one of a couple getting to 101 years of age. 25% is the chances of getting to 98 and 50% for getting to 95. Net returns after fees in conservative portfolios are only 3.16% so retirees want to go into aggressive portfolios. Canadian stocks do not have the exposure to the high growth sectors. He thinks financial planners have a high likelihood to underperform. People are not saving enough.

Market. Everything in the model looks really good. He is looking for the NASDAQ to be the growth part of his portfolio. The trade deal affects some parts, but Tech situations are up. The TSE has not had any rate of return in years. S&P and NAZDAQ stocks have done very well. You have to have some growth in the portfolio or it will underperform. Bank stocks, for example, have done nothing. There is 2% inflation eating away at your nest egg every year.

He didn't take any action today, despite the sudden market drop. A lot of times in investing it's best to do nothing. Let things go. Interesting today was how oil and copper acted. If Trump's tweet is the precursor to not getting a China trade deal done--that would be a very bad outcome. Six months from now, we could be tallking about much higher rates, so now could be a pause. You need a pro-growth portfolio with some defense. Oil stocks will be a place of value (a top pick today) and plough right through in the coming months. The US dollar will roll over soon.

Fibonacci trading Use them in retracements, where a stock peaks then comes down, and those levels are 76.8%, 61.8%, 38.2% and 23.6%. The nuance is in finding your spot. So, if a stock makes a brand-new high and starts to head down. You got a lot of trading action at those four levels. This isn't foolproof, but shows clusters that tend to happen. Some investors really adhere to this theory. Do more research online.

How do you do tech analysis on a new, young company with little history? Also, are there any new patterns used in tech analysis? He wouldn't. There's not enough data. And he isn't aware of any new patterns, and that's good. Tech analysis began when Japanese rice farmers looked at past patterns of harvests to determine the future harvest.

Market Outlook He thinks the market reminds him of the saying, "But the Emperor has no clothes!" Semi-conductor stocks are up 35%, but their industry is in depression and going down. Phone sales are flat or going down. He thinks investors are only focusing on recent analyst forecasts -- if they beat it, buy it. He has been in the business 50 years and calls this market "insane." He thinks the S&P500 would hit fair market value at 3080 -- historically a major turning point down when the broad market achieves full valuation.

S&P500 He sees technical support for the S&P at 2.5 times book value -- about 2505. Until then it is still a bull market. The ceiling is 3080 -- fair market value.

Stock market buoyancy today. Market of two tales. Any correction in growth names, like tech and consumer discretionary, tends to get bought. Good numbers are coming in. Defensives like healthcare and utilities are a different story.

Golden opportunity to get into healthcare? Positives are there such as aging population, developing markets, new technologies set the stage for long-term positive dynamics. In the shorter term, polarized extreme views have come out, but there's no substance to them. The correction is just noise, and it's a well-timed entry point in the sector. Bernie Sanders' "medicare for all" inspired a downturn. Technical healthcare names have held up.

Medical device ETF? Likes medical devices, and they've significantly outperformed the other sub-sectors. Tend to be less susceptible to the political noise. Great earnings growth. But if we see an improvement to some of the other sub-sectors, we could see them underperform the others. So have a diversified portfolio in that space.

Market. The message the market is giving us is that it is very tuned in to what the Fed is doing. A rate rise from 2-4% is a doubling but from 8-10% in the past, is not as big. It influences those using debt to finance their operations. Interest rates are the single biggest factor in the valuation of assets – present / future value. The bar-bell strategy is paying off for him. He is much more conservatively positioned now. He does not own bit coin at this point. He has assets that can do better as the market goes higher in the short term but others that will do better if the market starts to go downward.

Market Outlook - This market got very overbought. It needed an excuse to sell off. A market that continues to trend up. The rumor is that we will see a deal with China next week. He thinks that if we don't see a robust deal, the market could sell off. The bar was low for earnings. There is a kind of all-clear. Another concern that was put aside for now. Tomorrow's print on jobs is going to be in line.

Market Outlook. There appears to be a disconnect between the stock market and the economic outlook. Markets are buoyant, while companies continue to load up on debt. Companies have been beating earnings expectations, but earnings growth is deceleration. Share buybacks have been supporting the market, but he thinks now is the time to be more cautious. Watch companies that may have a hard time maintaining dividends.

Energy stocks for diversification? He is a firm believer in diversification and Energy has a good valuation. He might expect to see increased M&A activity by the stronger players. He wouldn't make a huge play in energy right now if you are retired -- it all depends on your personal situation.