Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA

(A Top Pick Jan 25/08. Down 37%.) Extremely cheap at these prices. 6.5% yield. $2.8 billion in cash.

World's largest gold company. Flat production this year over next but have a raft of projects. Great prospects and solid balance sheet.

10% yield so you are paid to wait. Just issued more equity that allows them to have Tier 1 capital of better than 10.4%. This puts them up in the top 2 banks in Canada in terms of balance sheet quality. Good price.

(A Top Pick Jan 25/08. Down 67%.) Announced orders had slowed and came out with an earnings warning for 2009. Plants are still running full out. Trading at 8X earnings and with no debt, should be a safe buy.

(A Top Pick Jan 25/08. Down 33%.) Agricultural products. Feels the 5% yield is sustainable.

One of the best gold companies with growth history. Trades at a little bit of a premium to NAV. Very solid management.

Gold: In times of uncertainty, investors should look at gold. If you believe there is any form of inflation becoming through this injection of liquidity, gold should help you.

Investors should be careful about oil/gas companies. They will all have to cut distributions further if they want to stay in the normal range. 16% distribution

Raised $2 billion in equity and several hundred million in preferred shares. Solid balance sheet. Tier 1 capital. Good hold on a long-term basis. Dividends are secure. (See Top Picks.)

One of the more conservative banks. Has the best history of earnings increases. Just acquired a major position of CI Financial (CIX.UN-T) from Sun Life (SLF-T) with shares, so didn't have to do an equity raise. (See Top Picks.)

Great asset base. Have a refinery so they benefit even when oil prices go down. Cut back on their budget so still have free cash flow. Very solid company. 7.25% yield could be at risk.

Tried to do a convertible debt issue and it got pulled. Definitely have some financial issues. Not for the faint of heart.

Oil sands. With oil prices down, its price collapsed. Will trade of oil prices. Had a big US following, which sold off when they didn't want to own oil. Thinks the selloff was overdone. Needs higher oil prices.

Laden with debt. Took on debt to buy Financial Post. Slow down in their Australian assets. Advertising is down on newspapers and television. High risk.

Dividend fluctuates on cash flow and at $40 oil they are going to have to cut the distribution. At $60 oil you might be looking at a $.50 distribution and at $40 oil you might be looking at $.10. (Sold his holdings recently.)