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

A low volatility ETF? He has BMO Low Volatility Cdn Equity (ZLB-T) and BMO Low Volatility US Equity (ZLU-T). He watches these fairly close. They continue to outperform their comparative markets.

Canadian Banks? In his portfolios, he has the Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and Bank of Montréal (BMO-T) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) as core positions. They are quite different from each other. Canadian banks in general are better managed and more equipped on the electronic side and with the systems, compared to the typical US banks. You could also Buy a Bank ETF which will give you more diversification, and is not a bad way to go.

Markets. 100 years ago the president of France said that war is too important to be left to the military. What we have today is an economic war that the central banks are trying to win against investors. We had 5 quarters in a row in which the S&P earnings have been slipping. The market is too important to be left to investors so the central banks are intervening and in Japan they are massively buying equities. The US election is a critical breakpoint in time. The Fed has to get it ‘there’ come hell or high water. Otherwise Hillary looses and who knows what happens then. Central banks are keeping things going at least until November.

Gold. He recommends going into gold stocks for the next couple of years. He likes the juniors. Go for ETFs.

US BioTech. Some are coming round. They are looking reasonable. The set back has given people a new leaf on bullish life on the group. You could be in this and stay in. See IBB-Q for an ETF.

Precious metals. We have had a great move in the stocks. There is probably still more risk of being out of them than being in them, despite the move. The catalyst for the move has been zero or negative interest rates globally. The move in golds was due partly that they were oversold, but the margins of these companies are able to demonstrate with the up-move in gold obviously magnifies the move in the gold price. Bear markets are the authors of Bull markets. You have to have the courage to invest in the bear markets, so that you are positioned to sell during the bull markets. It seems like there is widespread economic malaise. If you believe, as he does, that gold trades inversely to fiat currencies, particularly the US currency, and particularly the US currency expressed in the US 10-year bond, that bond was in a 35-year bull market. The yield fell from 15.6% to 1.3%. Can it fall further? Yes, but how much further. If you follow the logic that gold trades inversely to the bond, and that the bond market after 35 years is running long in the tooth, that would suggest that the gold bull market is very early in the game. Thinks there is an absolute train wreck coming, both on Bay Street and Wall Street in stressed energy credits. Credit tightness happens about once every 10 years in resource markets, and are usually pretty good events to take advantage of. The energy market is so much larger than it was last time, that he is expecting an absolute deluge; really spectacular opportunities beginning in the 4^th quarter of 2016, and probably extending all the way through 2017.

Lithium? He is skeptical. It is weird that all the small companies that don’t have lithium, talk about an impending shortage, and the 4 companies that are big producers suggest that they have about 160 years’ reserve at current prices.

Markets. We have had a scare, with BREXIT having a big washout, followed by a huge snap back. That snap back occurred during the seasonal Summer rally period, from the end of June through to the earnings season. From a seasonal perspective, everything is working out quite well this year. We are now entering into the most volatile time of year for stocks. Over the next 2 months, September in particular, equity markets tend to be particularly weak. In September alone, the S&P 500 averages a decline of about .6%, and has only been positive 44% of the time. The TSX has only been positive 40% of the time, with a loss of 1.9%. It’s those declines that can really washout portfolio returns. We could see a volatility washout because volatility is exceptionally low right now and everybody is very complacent. The VIX has been hovering below 12, well below average for this time of year. The average is 20. With complacency reigning, it is probably not best to be overly aggressive in the market at this time. For investors that are wanting to hedge their portfolios, he would suggest doing it through Puts.

Natural gas? This has been interesting. Last week we saw the first draw down in natural gas inventories during the summer in the last 10 years. With consumption higher than average and production lower than average, it has drawn upon inventory levels. The chart on UNG-N shows a double top has formed, and the stock fell below its support level today, so there could be a bit of downside pressure. September all the way through to December is the period of seasonal strength for natural gas. Usually the peak is in Oct/Nov. September is an ideal time to pick this up.

Market. This has been a funny market this whole year. In the Canadian market, there has been so much of the golds and energy moving. We have also had BREXIT, which was a full macro sort of scene. Then you have the Fed which has been driving a lot of expectations. She thinks Fed expectations are going to be a big mover. There were huge rallies in yields early in the year, but the Fed backpedaled from their story of raising rates. With fear levels up, it is amazing that we are hitting new highs. Her preference is to own stories where there is a little bit of yield generation at the company level, and from that standpoint, she thinks cyclicals are a better place to be.

Markets. Macro has always been difficult, and in this environment it is the hardest it has ever been. Not only is it hard to predict what events are going to happen, but the market’s reaction to those events can be totally different than expected. One thing he thinks we have learned from BREXIT is that the world is laser focused on Central Banks and focused on long-term interest rates being lower for longer. His firm’s mission is to modernize equity research, which is done by building equity research tools for his buy side and sell side clients, institutional portfolio managers, and analysts. He builds out fully working financial models for all companies in Canada over $30 million in market cap.

Markets. Most participants are quite nervous about what is going on. However, Bull markets climb walls of worry, so the fact that there is worry out there is good. It means people are taking a rational look at stocks and markets, and addressing the “concerns” versus the “opportunities”. A lot of people like to look at valuations, and markets are expensive. We are towards the high end of the range, but we can remain in this high end for quite some time. The first leg we have seen has been a multiple expansion, up to 18 or 19 times on the US market. What we need now is for earnings to fill in and reduce that multiple. Expects we are going to see that towards the end of this year and into 2017 with recovering energy prices, which will fuel earnings both in the US and Canada. In addition, we have a US economy that is growing, at an anaemic pace, but still growing. Expects we will see an input from global capital markets and global economies, which will push that even higher. On the US front, we are starting to see a stronger recovery. Friday’s jobs numbers definitely help the economic picture. We are also seeing a recovery in housing starts. Not only are there more people are looking for work, but for better jobs as well. He does have some concern with BREXIT and what that is going to mean for Europe. Seeing some signs of strength in Asia, particularly in China. There is definitely a bottoming, and the next step would be growth.

Gold. If you have $1 million sitting in a bank, are you going to give bank $1000 a year to hold it for you? You are going to try and find something else to put it in, whether it is real estate or gold. Two assets that should store their value, if not grow. The sector as a whole has been under pressure for the last 5-7 years, and have invested nothing in their projects. There has been no exploration. That is now changing in money is being spent on the ground and will lead to projects that will be developed 10+ years from now. You have both sides of the demand/supply equation working in your favour for the next few years anyway.

Markets. The S&P is at an all time high. The NASDAQ is above the level of year 2000 at an all time high. On Friday we broke on the TSX to a 52 week high. The question is if this is a fake out or is it going to keep going to new all time highs. No. He thinks not. Energy stocks normally do well from now until the middle of September. It is because of hurricane season. Gassy stocks normally do better than oil stocks. Last Friday the financials powered into new highs, taking the market with them and this is why he thinks it is a fake out on the TSX. Materials and consumer discretionary did not show that kind of a bump. Going forward there are warning signs that we should be very, very careful.

Gold in General. Historically this is the time of year to buy gold and gold stocks until the middle of October. We had a pullback on Friday, but any weakness is an opportunity to buy.