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Today, Daniel Straus commented about whether HAD-T, DQD-T, ZLB-T, ZWC-T, HAC-T, VGRO-T, ZMI-T, VGT-N, FIE-T, PXS-T, ZEO-T, XIU-T, HEJ-T, RBOT-T, BOTZ-Q, CGL-T, ZWP-T, ZWE-T, ONEQ-Q, HMMJ-T, ZCN-T, HHL-T are stocks to buy or sell.

COMMENT
There are many concerns about the US and Canadian economies, but overseas as well with trade wars and Brexit. Because of the latter, he is tilting more to Canadian assets. ETFs can offer anything you can shake a stick at it because ETFs are so volatile yet charge low fees. The hawkish signals central banks were giving us at the end of last year quickly reversed this year. Don't trust these signals; central banks can reverse direction again.
Unknown
COMMENT
Popular. It has a covered call overlay so it's one of the more pricey ETFs at a 1.37% MER. They do quantitative screens on the healthcare companies they pick.
E.T.F.'s
BUY
One of five ways to get pure, low-cost, passive Canadian ETFs like VCN. Canada's markets are mostly financials and energy which can be volatile. But these ETFs are perfectly fine. Charges only 6 basis points.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
This has attracted A LOT of interest, but inflows into cannabis have plateaud. There's lots of speculation and uncertainty, though it's an interesting space. Definitely, cannabis is not a core holding of his. It's typically to see extreme moves in this ETF and sector. This charges an 0.87% MER. Also consider the smaller SEED-T.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
It was originally a Questrade ETF. It's an ETF of ETFs. It charges over a 1% MER, which is still lower than mutual funds, though high for an ETF. A passive MSCI world index will do a similar job to this (E.G. XWD), so compare them.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
ZWE vs. ZWP Both are similar, the difference being the CAD currency hedge in ZWE. Also keep in mind that there's a covered call overlay on these ETFs. IF you need a lot of yield, certainly both are valid. He thinks the CAD-Euro will be neutral for a while. Perhaps buy a mix of the two.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
ZWE vs. ZWP Both are similar, the difference being the CAD currency hedge in ZWE. Also keep in mind that there's a covered call overlay on these ETFs. IF you need a lot of yield, certainly both are valid. He thinks the CAD-Euro will be neutral for a while. Perhaps buy a mix of the two.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
He likes gold in small amounts in a portfolio, not expecting it to appreciate a lot. Over the long haul, gold just sits there and is de-coupled from the stock market. Gold offers diversification. He holds very little gold. CGL is currency-hedged and is the biggest and most liquid gold ETF in Canada.
E.T.F.'s
RISKY
10-year horizon If you're worried that robots will take your job, use this ETF as a hedge. In Canada, you can get the similar RBOT which may be easier for investors holding Canadian dollars. Robotics will take over the industrial landscape. This will be very volatile because speculators are watching the AI space.
E.T.F.'s
RISKY
vs. BOTZ-Q If you're worried that robots will take your job, then use BOTZ-Q as a hedge. In Canada, you can get the similar RBOT which may be easier for investors already holding Canadian dollars. Robotics will take over the industrial landscape. This will be very volatile because speculators are watching the AI space.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
It's the only covered call for international stocks, aimed for investors who want extra yield. Warning: if there's a strong upside move in markets, you won't participate fully in that move. One should always hold a few international equities. This ETF is a yield play. Look at the low-cost XEF as an alternate in international equities. He thinks foreign stocks will hit a rough patch.
E.T.F.'s
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Nov 23/17, Up 5%) The largest Canadian ETF and perhaps the oldest in the world. He likes it for its institutional liquidity. It's a little different from XIC and others, because this holds only 60 stocks, which means large caps (heavy on the banks). For a longterm buy and hold, though, look for another ETF (XIC or ZCN), though this one charges only 17 basis points.
investment companies / funds
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Nov 23/17, Down 14%) Canadian oil has been beaten up since Nov. 2017. Oil investors are frustrated. ZEO is equal-weighted, so it's biased towards mid-caps.
E.T.F.'s
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Nov 23/17, Up 11%) He uses this as a satellite position to put alongside a passive core, like the S&P 500 or Russell 3000. This starts with the RAFI 1000 universe then re-weights it based on their economic weight (cash flow, dividends, P/B). This has done well, not as well as the cap-weighted ETFs. It was a good way to gain US stock exposure and US currency exposure.
E.T.F.'s
DON'T BUY
What percentage of the distribution would be return of capital, not profits? You can look it up on the iShares website. He hasn't looked at this ETF in a while. It's an asset-allocation portfolio ETF. It uses a lot of financials and their bond and preferred issues to build a high-yielding portfolio. It also uses 15% leverage to juice its distribution to clients. It has a mixed of assets--preferreds and bonds. Pays nearly a 7% dividend. This underperforms financial sector ETFs, either flat or lower. This should stay flat on a capital basis. Look at XFN instead. basis. IT pays a 6.% but that means little stock price movement.
E.T.F.'s