Mike Philbrick

Investors want to make sure they have some exposure to the areas that are a bit more physical. In Canada, our index tends to skew that way. We have lots of rocks and trees and oil and gas that build our economy.

In the US, the S&P 500 is dominated by technology stocks. Oil & gas represents only about 4% of that index. So the big growth engine in the US is complemented by Canada's resource infrastructure.

Gold equities, which remain quite supported though volatility, likely to stay more elevated. In the options market right now, puts are far more expensive than calls (indicates a desire to hedge downside). For him, he expects a bit more unexpected upside.

Will benefit from strong bullion price, improving cashflows, and investor interest. Since interest rates are far from a sure thing, gold potentially has the opportunity to rise. A good diversifier.

Good time to start accumulating. Gold remains quite supported over the long term.

Also look at ZGD.

Equal weight, and it gets you away from the concentration on the large-cap globals of XGD. Good time to start accumulating. Gold remains quite supported over the long term.

Broad exposure to the Canadian equity market -- financials, energy, materials, industrials. Large-, mid-, and small-cap companies. Really likes it. Low cost. Canada stands to benefit from the next wave in the AI boom, especially as the next bottleneck is power.

Don't forget that it has 2x leverage on the downside. With leveraged ETFs, they're more a trading vehicle than a long-term hold. A 10% loss requires an 11% gain just to get even.

News from Strait of Hormuz is that things are being worked out. Despite 20% of oil being blocked, we couldn't get oil to $150 -- seems there's a lot of oil sloshing around the system. A reopened Strait could see oil normalize substantially lower. A geopolitical bet on what might happen in political negotiations, and that's hard to take a position on.

If you think oil's going lower, this is a way to play it. Rebalance your profits as you go.

Actively managed income-oriented portfolio that combines multiple asset classes -- equities, fixed income, covered calls. Goal is to provide higher monthly income while staying diversified across global markets.

Helps smooth portfolio volatility. Tradeoff is that you're capping upside exposure in a strong bull market. For example, it's underperformed by ~2% over the last year compared to VGRO or XGRO.

Overall, not a bad play.

Actually more globally diversified than just US, and that's how you get away from concentration in the Mag 7. Remember that the US economy is now 65-70% of the global market.

A 60/40 mix, so bonds help with downside protection. Rebalancing happens on your behalf. There's 1-2% in bitcoin and alternatives like that.

Writes puts and calls on treasury bonds, not equities. They can still have some volatility. If inflation is stickier and rates rise, that won't help bonds. And that's the challenge/risk. NAV would be eroded in a true market correction. Yield is ~7%.

Writes options on bonds, but still risk from inflation. No free lunch. Watch carefully. OK in a slightly falling market. In a true market correction, NAV would be eroded.

Still benefits from industrial demand and asset scarcity. Acts as ballast during persistent fiscal deficits and inflation uncertainty. Rebalance after runs and on drawdowns.

Rebalance on the drawdown. Agentic AI will be quite constructive for digital assets such as this.

Cyclical breadth is improving as AI enhancements trickle down to smaller companies. Small caps should have a position in your portfolio as long as economy avoids a hard landing and capital spending continues.

Financials have been doing well, especially Canadian banks. Very strong trend, and "the trend is your friend". Can add, but don't double or triple your position.

Great for long-term, patient money with an all-equity mix beyond just Canada. MER is 20 bps. Consider pairing with FEQT.