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Canadian housing trust 4-year- 100% guaranteed by the government of Canada, thus are AAA securities. Trading 55-60 full basis points higher than the same maturity level government of Canada bonds. Very, very cheap for retail investors to buy.

Bell Canada 4-year bonds- Good maturity and an attractive bond. Yielding about 350 basis points over Canada’s, which makes them 6.35%. Bell is not going to go out of business, so these are very attractive for part of your portfolio. An above average turnover for a company that’s going to stick around.

Harvest energy Bonds, 7.25-year- Trading at very attractive yields to maturity. These are all energy related companies with very strong cash flows/balance sheets. The interest payments of these debentures come before the unit distributions, therefore these bonds are very safe. A very attractive bond to hold until maturity.

Major bank stocks- Far to early to become involved with these stocks. We haven’t seen the tip of the iceberg yet. Dividends aren’t in any particular difficulty. Preferreds are good right now because interest rates are falling, and there are very good quality bonds.

Largest mutual fund company in Canada. Very good financial company, very strong. Business is growing, they have a few bonds outstanding but they don’t trade very often.

When the American housing market turns around, there will be an avalanche of money going back into equities from the massive pile-up of money in very liquid T-bills. Stocks are getting very, very cheap, so when the catalyst occurs the financials will snap back incredibly fast.

Convertible Bonds- We like a lot of the convertible bonds that were issued by the income trust. They have been left alone and have very good value.

Laddering a Portfolio- A fool-proof strategy, You can beat ¾ of Canada’s professional fund managers by using this approach. It takes the guess-work out of interest rates by spreading your money out. An example of implementing this strategy involves dividing a lump sum of money into 10 pieces, and investing in 1-year through to 10-year bonds. Then as the bonds mature from year to year, continue investing in additional 10 years bonds, so that your portfolio constantly has a 10 year diversity.

There’s not much more upside left in the bond market. The yield curve is very steep, which means there will be a very snappy recovery and you should not be in the long end of the market.

Convertible Bonds- We like a lot of the convertible bonds that were issued by the income trust. They have been left alone and have very good value.

Shaw Bonds- (Top pick. July 4, 2007.) Mature December 2017. An improving credit. For several years their cash flow and profitability had been rising. We still recommend them.

Telus Bonds (Top pick. July 4, 2007.) Mature March 2012. Telus has a good credit rating. Telus is likely to have to raise a lot of money through equity and debt in the near future. Still likes them very much

3.75 Canadian government- (Top pick. July 4, 2007.) Mature June first 2009. The short term curve of this bond is going to steepen more, and the short term rates are going to go down more, so these have more upside in price, but limited.

ISHARES- Very good investment for those retail investors who don’t have an advisor to help them pick individual bonds. ETFs are better than mutual funds because they charge a very small management expense ratio. Likes the short term XSB (on the TSX) and the XRB (real return fund). These are a good combination for investors to buy now.

Safety on Market Funds- Your far better off buying individual T-Bills with your short term money than any money mark funds.