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

5-year outlook on gold? With problems in different currencies, gold is a natural place to go. Believes the direction is up from here as there is very little alternative to go to.

China. Caller commented on rumours that the government may devalue their currency but he feels they may revalue up. The revaluation is overdue as it is good for the Chinese economy..

Market corrections. Charts show uptrend and moving averages have been broken. Could be heading further south. Surprised at how far the market went before correcting. Could drop another 10%-15% without any trouble. If you own quality, dividend-paying stocks, they won't go down as much as the market so continue to hold.

Canadian banks, especially those with US exposure? Canadian banks are looking vulnerable largely because they moved up so far when investors were chasing yield. The new Basil Accord could be tough on Canadian banks because of their high preponderance to increase dividends regularly.

Pairs Trading. This is when you are long and short stocks in a particular industry. You could be Long one bank and Short a different bank at the same time. He tends not to use this strategy but prefers to have a distinct set of Long positions in a variety of sectors and a very separate distinct set of Short positions, which could be very different industries.

Canada 2037 5% bond. This one has done very well in the current environment. Long bonds are very sensitive to interest rate movements. Even the smallest changes will give you big swings in price. Currently at a premium in a range of about 1.25 to 1.2. When you start seeing inflation and the next tightening cycle, that's when you want to get out. Should be okay for the next 1 to 2 years.

Strip Bonds and Strip Bond packages? Great for if you need maturity on a specific date. Very sensitive interest-rate movements, a lot more than on a regular Bond.

Real Return Bonds. These protect you in a rising inflation rate environment by giving you an increasing coupon rate. He doesn't expect to see inflation for the next 1 to 2 years and that's when you should look at them.

Bond Ladders. A very simple and basic way to go if you are going to structure your own bond portfolio. With rates being very low at this time, it may not be worthwhile to do a 5-year ladder in government bonds but a 10-year ladder could be valuable especially if you include some corporates.

In recent weeks, the tone has changed. If investors can maintain a time horizon of 2 to 3 years, the market will do quite well for them. Emerging markets are potentially in a valuation bubble. Regulatory risk can move to dampen things. Pessimistic on outlook for emerging markets. Healthcare, utilities present many opportunities, otherwise it is a stock by stock basis.

For a Medium-risk, long-term portfolio he would look at something that is broad based. This would include the iUnits S&P/TSX 60 (XIU-T), S&P 500 $Cdn ETF (XSP-T) and iUnits Short Bond Index (XSB-T). This would be a core position.

BMG Bullion Fund. Open ended mutual fund. Unique in that it is not only gold but is gold, silver and platinum, one-third each.

One shouldn’t expect an aggressive recovery from current levels. The over all growth should stay moderate.

Silver. Should go higher over the next few years. Currently positioned to outperform gold. With the economy continuing to accelerate, industrial commodities are going to be the beneficiary.

Likes Natural gas. A plentiful commodity, but it is in the ground and you have to get it out and it needs a high enough price to convince producers to get it out. Inventories have been coming down significantly. Suspects that over the next 6 months or so gas will go to $7 and even $8-$9 if it gets overdone.