SPDR High Yield Bond E.T.F. (JNK-N)

He is in favour of high-yield bonds. Ishares High-Yield Bond (XHY-T) that he favours, because it is hedged to the Cdn$. High-yield bonds have seemed to recover from the nasty shock that occurred when the energy price disaster hit in the 4^th quarter. About 20% of the US high-yield market is in energy bonds.

He has been building his exposure in this because on a relative basis, if stocks do pullback 10%, something like this may only sell off 4%-5%. You could Short this. Not sure there is an inverse ETF that plays high-yields at this point. High yields are the most expensive they have ever been in terms of where yields are and where prices are.

There is a portion of it for fixed income portfolio but would favour no more than 5% in it. Expect you will get 5%-5.5% this year. Capital gains days are over for these funds, but will still produce income. Pretty safe.

Symbol JNK, stands for junk and that is what you are getting, a junk bond. Yields look very, very attractive but junk bonds have substantial credit risks in them. When you have a recovering economy, it is perhaps not a bad idea to be in them but he thinks that game is already gone where it is going to go.

He has a positive view on the economy that there will be no recession and there will probably be a pickup in US growth in the 2nd half and the default rate on high-yield bonds will stay relatively low. Thinks you will get a 6%-7% return in the next year. However, this is not hedged so there is a currency risk. (See Top Picks re: XHY-T.)