Current state of the markets. Everything seems to be OK. Yesterday had a pretty good manufacturing number, which made people nervous that the Fed wouldn't be as dovish. But the message from the Euro Fed was that they'd be very aggressive in terms of easing, and so the market turned around.

Fed's performance so far. They were right to raise when they did so that they'd have ammunition when needed. He'd give them an A. The only fumble was last fall when clear that economic data starting to wane. If they'd pivoted in October, the meltdown wouldn't have happened. They did the right thing in January.

Earnings season kicking off. 64/500 companies on the S&P have reported. Earnings coming in pretty flat, which is good enough for the market, with bond yields where they are and the Fed ready to ease.

Inverted yield curve and Ray Dalio's concerns. Does give credence to Dalio, but he's too early. Worrisome sign that Europe is in a downturn. But when the Fed does lower, the 3-month bond rate will go lower, pivot, and steepen the yield curve.

Telcos are pretty defensive, so he wouldn't be too concerned in a recession. But, do you put new money in right now? It's not cheap, but a great dividend that's expected to grow. If you own it, he wouldn't add more, but you can sell calls on it for a nice second stream of income.

Gold tends to do well when rates go down. The price of the commodity has been breaking out of its 20-day moving average, and that's positive. If this is another false start, the rally will come. If you're buying now, you might get caught, but in the next 3-5 years you'll do OK. If the cycle continues another 2-3 years, that won't be as good for gold in the short term.

Missed earnings last quarter. Lower 2019 volumes. Concern that new technology will elevate costs. Only 1% EPS growth. Exceptionally cheap at 6x. Really good over the long term, if not the next year. (Analysts’ price target is $72.11)

Likes it. Showing momentum. Numerous drivers to sustain long term growth. Raised guidance on Q1. Bad news is it's trading at 260x 2021 earnings. Expect huge air pockets if they ever start missing. Is there anyone out there who can eat their lunch? Thinks it can double.

Play on the VIX. People buy the VIX as protection when they think a correction's going to happen. It's a trading instrument. Problem is your money's stuck if the correction doesn't happen right away. Instead, reduce your equities or sell some calls.

Likes it, but it has problems in Egypt. Good balance sheet, boosted dividend by 9%. Good long-term play, but whippy. Dividend safe as long as the economy's going well. Some upside, but not for the faint of heart.

Say they can meet their generous dividend if WTI goes to $40. Balance sheet is fine. Likes it, but as oil prices bounce around, its metrics started to deteriorate. It's a good name as long as they execute and oil stays up. Yield is 10.5%.

(A Top Pick Jul 26/18, Down 1%) Still cheap. Favourable business mix. Still a good place to be.

(A Top Pick Jul 26/18, Up 4%) Trading at 7.7x, extraordinarily cheap. Growing at 9%, with 10% annual dividend growth. Litigation overhang has passed. Still a good place. He's not letting the market bully him out of the stock.

(A Top Pick Jul 26/18, Down 29%) Good stocks will move like this on sentiment. The macro's gotten worse. One-time headwinds. Levered to gold miners, and better days are ahead for gold. Really cheap. Being paid to wait. You still want to have it in your portfolio.