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Stock Opinions by John Hood

COMMENT
Be cautious with new money.

Yes, simply because we have two major events occurring over the next couple of weeks, with the major one being Trump. The other is a Canadian election coming up. So he's holding off until he sees policies coming out, as it's just too volatile right now.

Nevertheless, overall he remains quite bullish on the US. Virtually all of his positions are in the US, no reason to change that.

Unknown
COMMENT
Canadian market.

Has put virtually no new money in Canada, due to the ruling Canadian government for the last several years. We've lurched from one crisis to another in terms of deficit, housing, and inflation. Tax structure is not conducive to foreign capital coming in, and it takes decades to get anything approved. Capital gains tax in the US is much more favourable for startups.

He had held Canadian banks for quite some time, but then got out when the TD money laundering fiasco started. A change in government might be an opportunity to invest in Canada, but he wants to wait until the dust settles a bit.

Unknown
COMMENT
How could a new government rejuvenate the Canadian economy?

One thing would be reducing capital gains taxes. Those kinds of taxes just stifle development. Have to look at what can be done about growth. Civil service has increased by 40% in the last few years, money being wasted on consultants, ridiculous. 

They've just been shoveling money out the window, and it has to end. That's what he'd anticipate with a Conservative government. At least he hopes so, nothing's guaranteed!

Unknown
DON'T BUY

INDA is a bit more diversified with 70-90 stocks, instead of just the top 50 of INDY. The MERs are fairly pricey around 90 bps or so. The MER for EPI is somewhat smaller, around 30 bps lower.

He's not that familiar with that market or the companies in those ETFs. Modi has made changes there, mainly to the good. But ethnic divisiveness is a serious issue. He's not investing there for his clients at this point.

E.T.F.'s
DON'T BUY

INDA is a bit more diversified with 70-90 stocks, instead of just the top 50 of INDY. The MERs are fairly pricey around 90 bps or so. The MER for EPI is somewhat smaller, around 30 bps lower.

He's not that familiar with that market or the companies in those ETFs. Modi has made changes there, mainly to the good. But ethnic divisiveness is a serious issue. He's not investing there for his clients at this point.

E.T.F.'s
DON'T BUY

INDA is a bit more diversified with 70-90 stocks, instead of just the top 50 of INDY. The MERs are fairly pricey around 90 bps or so. The MER for EPI is somewhat smaller, around 30 bps lower.

He's not that familiar with that market or the companies in those ETFs. Modi has made changes there, mainly to the good. But ethnic divisiveness is a serious issue. He's not investing there for his clients at this point.

E.T.F.'s
DON'T BUY

He's never made money investing in Europe. One reason is that they have some very funny labour rules, such as not being able to fire anyone. Government coalitions are always ready to break apart. An investor probably already has North American financials, so to invest in this would put a portfolio overweight in financials.

A lot of global funds are 40-50% US anyway, so he just buys the S&P.

E.T.F.'s
DON'T BUY
A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert
Silver ETFs.

There are several, but he's not a big fan of silver at this point. He hasn't been in gold. Commodity ETFs are quite volatile, so it really depends on the individual investor. What's your asset allocation overall, and how big a position do you want to have in commodities?

Unknown
WEAK BUY
Earnings growth only, no distributions.

Total return ETF. Not based on an index. Done on a swap basis instead. Takes the theoretical distributions and puts them into the price of the stock, so there is no distribution.

E.T.F.'s
WEAK BUY
Earnings growth only, no distributions.

Total return ETF. Not based on an index. Done on a swap basis instead. Takes the theoretical distributions and puts them into the price of the stock, so there is no distribution.

0
DON'T BUY
The Bitcoin Fund

Already several bankruptcies, fraud, and disasters with bitcoin. Allegations of criminal organizations using bitcoin for money laundering. He's in the investment business, not the gambling business. Highly risky, not for his clients.

E.T.F.'s
DON'T BUY

Doesn't care for the global basket. Prefers something much more specific like the S&P. Most of this is American, with many of those companies being global anyway. High MER. Take a look at ZSP instead.

E.T.F.'s
BUY

Low MER at 8 bps. A good choice for S&P exposure, with many of those companies being global players as well. Good choice for a university-aged person in their TFSA; buy it, hold, don't sell.

E.T.F.'s
BUY ON WEAKNESS

He owns XSP, the same thing. He hasn't sold a single share for years, just keeps buying it. Hold on.

E.T.F.'s
BUY ON WEAKNESS

He hasn't sold a single share for years, just keeps buying it. Hold on. Has it in all his portfolios.

E.T.F.'s
Showing 1 to 15 of 1,958 entries