Market. We are in uncharted territory and no one knows where it is going. The 5 most dangers words are 'this time it is different'. Investors are starting to get used to zero interest rates. The global economy has peaked and is slowing. Everything is based on valuation. There will be a recession sometime but he cannot tell you when. When stocks in a sector look weak, you want to lighten up on them. Focus on a long term time horizon. Go for quality and attractive valuation.

The whole Canadian banking system has traded down. He loves being an owner of it and thinks we are getting an opportunity. Housing market fears are laying hard on the markets. There are short positions in the US on Canadian Banks. The banks are starting to look very attractive.

They went from an in incredibly well managed drug company and then management decided to develop their own drugs and make mistakes. It is difficult to unwind these problems. Turning around a company like this will be difficult because of the debt. This is a highly speculative stock.

He sees upside. A large part of the assets are bonds and prices have gone up lately. They are, however, suffering with low yields for new money. New insurance policies should get more expensive. It is a great long term hold and you have to accept the volatility. Things could get softer if rates go to zero.

Oil. He is not a fan of the Canadian energy sector as they are terrible allocators of capital. They invest all of their cash flow and borrow money at the worst possible time. He has a zero weighting.

It is a 50% US / 50% Europe insurance company. The dividend is covered by cash flow. It is suffering with zero interest rates that are killing the entire sector. They are making money and are profitable. You will have to live through a volatile time.

Pipelines in Canada are stable income earners. ENB-T, however is more indebted than some of their peers. He does not like heavy debt loads. He would prefer a pipeline with less debt. If interest rates ever go up they could cut their dividend.

US T-Bills. They trade like stocks every day. If you hold it to maturity you get the rated interest. If you sell in the middle you get a gain or a loss. He does not recommend buying them to trade them. If you buy a 1% note then it is less than the inflation rate. You can get 6% in a bond fund in the US (high yield / currency hedged).

Oil. A lot of investors don't want to invest in oil for environmental reasons. It might make sense for private equity funds to buy mature producing companies but they would have to borrow money and might not get a good rate. That makes more sense than a private investor investing in the oil patch.

(A Top Pick Aug 01/18, Down 16%) 3.5% dividend. It has done a great job but is only trading at 9 times earnings. It is a defensive stock and he is happy to own it. There is more upside than downside.

(A Top Pick Aug 01/18, Down 33%) It is suffering by like every European financial. The dividend is 8% even paying out only half their earnings. 7 times multiple. Negative interest rates mean they charge depositors to hold cash. Their earnings have not been impacted.

(A Top Pick Aug 01/18, Down 15%) It is trading at a 30% discount to book value and has no debt. It has one of the longest track records of raising dividends. It is just an incredibly cheap global agriculture small cap company.