BHP Billiton (BHP-N)

BHP and Rio Tinto are the two biggest mining companies in the world, and he owns both. BHP boasts product diversity in metals. It recently announced it's getting out of oil and will become a pure-play mining company. It will develop a potash mine in Saskatchewan and invest a lot, but will benefit them long term though hurt short term. It's delisting in London, so the stock has sold off, but it's now a great buying opportunity. (Analysts’ price target is $75.03)

The dividend is probably not as much of a worry as in the past. He prefers Teck Resources, or First Quantum.

Both Australian plays. You get global plays and get exposure to a lot of metals. Mostly copper, iron ore and some energy. Hasn't bought in Canada since there are no quality companies - they were all bought by BHP and RIO. Everybody should own some global metal stocks. Buy to trade.

It is exposed to Met Coal. There is a shortage so it seems attractive, but iron ore has a lot of supply coming on line. At some point it will be a compelling buy, but we are not there yet.

He looks at this as a mutual fund of large cap commodities. You could draw many analogies of the iron ore segment relative to the oversupply in the oil market. As it starts to normalize, you will see some upside. The ultimate upside for this company is that we are going to see highly reserved production trying to come back on line. Longer-term, if you are going to take a view and are prepared to have the cyclicality, this is something you might want to put in your portfolio and just put it away. Balance sheet is not bad. He likes it. As a 4-5 year hold, it is a Buy here.

Teck Resources (TCK.B-T) or BHP Billiton (BHP-N)? Both are a little overvalued and most analysts would rate them as a Hold. This is a global diversified mining company, where Teck is much more of a strong regional player in Canada. If you believe there is going to be a global upswing in mining and commodity prices, you would probably want Teck.

It is US listed. The commodity complex has been a tough one. It is driven by tepid world growth and inflation which we have not seen. There has been a bit of a rebound play over the last few months. Bottom fishers picked these things up for a trade. BHP-N does reasonably well, without a debt burden, but for now he would pass.

This was recently upgraded by Morgan Stanley as an outperform. A really well run company. It got bid up a lot in Europe until a couple of weeks before BREXIT. A lot of the mining companies were flying very high with a sentiment that Europe was a value play. Overall it is a fine company, and thinks it goes higher. Expects 10% upside in the next 6 months or so. With its oil exposure, diversified exposure and its global following, those are all positive.

A very large mining company. It bounced off the low and there was a huge run on these commodity products. Not sure that you want to buy it at these levels. If you feel strongly about commodities, he would wait for a pullback. Feels very uncomfortable owning iron ore, when looking at the dynamics of China.

(A Top Pick March 4/15. Down 40.42%.) Got stopped out. This is so big, that it is hard to analyse.

For a 2-3 year hold? Was one of the best mega mining companies globally, however made some missteps, particularly going into oil. Global miners have been under tremendous pressure for some time. Doesn’t think that is going to change. With a dividend of 10% plus, you are almost assured of a dividend cut. However, if you are willing to live with half of that, which is reasonable, you will be okay. In the short run it will go lower rather than higher.