A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert (A Commentary)

North American steel. This industry will depend on how well the North American economy recovers. Steel prices have gone up because of higher input prices. If the economy softens, the producers could potentially get squeezed on the cost side.

Gold. Likes gold. Even with the strong US$ it is acting independently. People are looking for an alternate store of value. Everyone should have a portion of gold in their portfolio.

Cdn$ outlook is very good on a long-term basis because Canada's balance sheet is very strong relative to any other nations like the US, UK and European nations.

Longer term, clean coal is going to be a very good spot to be and is one of the cheapest ways to produce energy.

The market is trying to find some stabilization. Things look interesting, not super cheap. We should go bargain hunting soon. Take a look at your asset allocation. Earnings have been strong and we have to focus on what drives stocks higher and that’s earnings. We can ignore the news coming out of Europe. Stick in Canada because we are the best performing world economy.

Canadian banks: Best in the world. Next week we will see if they have any European exposure. They look cheap. There is some upside. Owns national, Royal and Scotia.

Can Real Return Bond 4.25%, (Top Pick Nov 10/09, Up 5%). You can own this if you don’t want to own gold.

At an opportunistic time, how would you play the gold sector? Gold is a good place to be in times of turmoil but really depends on why you want to own gold. If it's for safety, you should be in physical gold or ETF bullion. However, gold stocks have more leverage to the upside in gold prices.

US$? In times of crisis, people tend to turn to the US$. If the market continues going down, you can expect that the US$ will keep on going up.

Market. He has moved his clients to something like 40%-50% cash. Stocks are high income and defensive. Also has a hedge on the market of about 10% through the S&P/TSX 60 Bear+ ETF (HXD-T).

Greece affecting the US economy? Has already reached the US economy but hasn't erupted yet. A number of the US states are already in a debt crisis led by California.

Gold. Gold and the US$ tend to go in opposite directions.

Gold. One of the problems is the fate of the euro. Thinks it will survive but probably at a lower level. Given the government debt crisis globally, people are going to lose faith in paper currency and will look for a real store of value, which is gold. He is looking for $1200-$1500 by year-end.

Oil. Developing nations are the major demand factor in the oil market. He is considering the Nymex Oil Bull+ ETF (HOU-T) and if oil got much cheaper and the stock market showed signs of stability, he would definitely buy it.

Natural gas. This is a great story going forward. In 2013, the US government is going to impose very heavy penalties on companies that don't meet certain emissions standards. Think the demand for natural gas will get much stronger.