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Markets. There is not a lot of money in the US budget for a wall – it is a dumb idea. It is a metaphoric example. Congress is not willing to work with Trump on a bipartisan basis on anything he wants to do. When he wants to launch his budget it will be either the fourth quarter this year or Q1 next year, but the market is excited about it. Going into the summer months there is high risks in the markets as it is priced for perfection. We are basically at full employment in the US. He is fully hedged all his portfolios. 73 cents is the low end of the range for him and we hit that last week, although that is not to say it could not go down a little further.

NASDAQ 100 hedged Tech. Previously this was the last thing to break before markets broke. He knows of a well known trader who is now shorting the NASDAQ 100 as of last week. Larry is net short the small NASDAQ companies presently.

Some of the most effective charts are the double tops. In the S&P 500 we have not had the confirmation when it takes out the low of the middle of the pattern. We will know sometime this summer. He is about a quarter short in his long/short strategy.

Structured Notes. Through options they can structure a product that preserves capital and gives you some upside. The cost of these products is huge. There is no free lunch. If it makes sense to you then go for it. You have to know what you are paying. It could be 5% a year.

ETF with Monthly Income. There are suites of them. He likes XTR-T and FIE-T because they give you diversification. FIE-T pays out a fixed kind of return, but there is nothing in there that pay outs that much so you are getting some of your capital back. Both products are fine. FIE-T has a big concentration in Canadian financials, so there is some concentration risk. There is no international exposure. He uses ZWE-T and ZWH-T and ZPW-T to compliment Canadian holdings in registered accounts.

It is now back almost at the lows of early 2016. The oil and gas sectors are getting cheap again and he is starting to buy, but we could see further weakness. We could see oil prices cooling off and heading back to $40. Use caution. He is nibbling and accumulating. The M&A activity with CVE-T is interesting. He is not worried about it, but the market thinks it is an issue.

Caller has a bond – wait for maturity to sell? If it is a going concern and the stock is heading lower, analyze their debt or ask your advisor to do it. This is the toughest question he has ever had on Berman’s Call.

Educational Segment. The Fed in their meeting will debate this week how to reduce the debt. He thinks we are in a liquidity trap. He does not think we can get back to 3% growth and they can’t raise interest rates much. Looking at quarterly GDP going back 20 years, the chart has been falling constantly for decades. The 34 quarters since the Lehman moment have seen us running at 1.5%. Interest rates first fell dramatically in 2000. The fed is thinking 3% is what we can get back to. He does not think so. The US yield curve 10 years compared to 2 years. The curve is not saying there will be a recession. Since they started raising rates the curve has been flattening, so the economy is not handling it. Look at the fed balance sheet. It has been flat since QE3 ended in 2014. The annual GDP was last growing without deficits in 2000. So the economy is very, very weak.

XGD-T is the market cap weighted way to play the golds. ZGD-T is another one. Gold is probably going to be 1100-1350 over the next couple of years. He would buy dips in the gold names for a return to $1250 over the summer. It is a good play this summer.

Markets. This is the time for active management. In a fast rising market, active managers will always underperform. It is a momentum driven market. In a gently rising or down market, active managers will outperform. Active managers can hold cash. So many managers hug the index. You have to know what your fees are. You want something with a relatively low fee. Right now the broker only has to tell you what fee they are getting out of the investment.

(Top Pick May 2/16, Up 12%) It owns Great West Life, IGM (Mutual Finds) and a holder of European firms. It has more of an exposure to Europe than the other guys. CRM-2 with more discloser was thought to hurt them, but did not.

(Top Pick May 2/16, Down 19%) It was a disappointment because their same store sales were pretty anemic. It had to do with the oil patch. Long term they are investing in their restaurants and turning them around. St. Hubert in Quebec was a good investment.

(Top Pick May 2/16, Up 13%) A Swiss, international company - the biggest in the world. They are a bet on world GDP.

This is gambling. He would not touch it. Huge debt load. It is not even for the speculator. It is for the gambler.

It was acquired. He can’t argue with this company or with the shares you get in PPL-T. It is a friendly deal.