Ken McCord

Gold bullion, not stocks. Technicals indicate that gold is going to run.

Bond ETF. Thinks the 30-year bull market in bonds is over. This provides insurance against expected inflation.

S&P 500 Bear+ ETF. He is bearish on the market in general. This is a levered product at 2X and is not for the faint of heart. His strategy would be to have a half position against his 2 full positions in his other Top Picks.

Gold is the one area that he is bullish on.

Have very grave concerns for US financials right now.

A market neutral play. Earnings coming out next week and he expects them to be reasonably good. Same-store sales are good but not sure they can continue at the same pace.

Buying Puts on stocks you own is a great strategy for a market like this. A way to pay a small premium today for what could be a disaster down the road. The one caveat is that Puts are not cheap.

Not bullish on energy. There could be a rally, which would give you the opportunity to sell your energy positions.

This is a play on safety. Nice yield of over 10%. More into oil/gas distribution so you can consider it as more of a utility. Acquired Cutbank Complex, which is somewhat accretive.

REIT sector is starting to pop up on his radar screen. A nice diversified play and one of the lower risks in REITs. Debt to equity and payout ratios is very conservative. Yield of about 6%. Had a big growth opportunity with the Bow project in Calgary, which seems to be fully financed now.

Technical analysts are saying gold is ready to break out to $1000-$1200 but he doesn't buy a big rally in gold. Thinks it will be in a trading range for quite some time. He wants to be Long gold stocks and write Call Options to collect premiums. Bought this one for $36 and wrote a $38 Call Option for 30 days, giving him $1.60 as a Call Premium. If it takes off he will make $2 capital gain as he will be forced to sell at $38. (US exchange has more liquidity for the stock and options.)

Markets: Expecting a bit of a reprieve during the summer but really worries about the end of Q2 and Q3. Great possibility that March/09 lows could be tested and we need to prepare portfolios for that. Need to consider Shorting as well as insuring portfolios with Options strategies. Also, there is nothing wrong with Cash and July-Aug would be a good time to raise some.

(A Top Pick July 29/08. Down 33.94%.) Aircraft leasing company. Sold out last fall when the markets started falling.

(A Top Pick July 29/08. Down 51.18%.) Sold his holdings in the fall when the markets started to fall. If you are Long consider selling a Call Option on it. Still believes fertilizer and still likes this one