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

Would you recommend a book on options? The bible for options traders is called “Options as a strategic Investment” by Lawrence McMillan. It walks you through all possible strategies. A great book.

Would you recommend an investment in ETF for a TFSA for $5,000 for a 19 years old? Always tough to get this challenge. He recommends 50% on iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF (XIU-T) and 50% on a covered call ETF. He recommends the BMO Covered Call Cdn Banks ETF (ZWB-T). He likes the Canadian Banks now.

Market. The threat of inflation is starting to be reflected in longer term bond yields. As rates begin to go up around the world, even in Japan, investors need to be wary. Cash is a good think to be holding right now. Rising stock markets and rising rates usually don’t go hand in hand. One needs to be careful as this is the second longest bull market in history – trees never grow to the sky.

Molson Coors investment in Marijuana. Beer companies participating in this new market makes sense to do it early he thinks. They are talking a totally new market and new beverage opportunity, which he thinks is more of an experiment on their part. He does not understand what a successful business model in the cannabis space is going to look like and the valuations are simply too high.

High Yield Bond Funds. Cash in a registered account should be invested in interest bearing instruments. Do not invest in Canadian only high yield bond funds as they tend to be highly commodity based and too risky. Look for a North American fund instead, which hedges the US currency risk out. An ETF also holds derivatives as well and have thus not tracked the indices as well.

Holding Cash. You want to own cash to take advantage of a short term plunge in the market. Therefore, it should be in something that is guaranteed, where you can access your holdings the next day.

Bonds 101. Bonds are fixed income, because the yield is fixed. The price of the bond is volatile (based mostly on interest rates), but if you hold the bond it will mature and return your principal as long as it does not default. You can take less risk by buying a shorter term bond.

Is a market correction due? He has no idea when the next correction is coming. If it happens, do not sell into the plunge. You may want to take some chips off the table to have some of your holdings in cash. The time to step back in is when the sell-off looks like it will continue to fall everyday.

Market. It is a stock pickers market. In Canada, seeing a style rotation. The leaders have been the momentum and growth stocks but are starting to see a few chinks in the armour of these darlings over the last few quarters. The laggards are showing signs of improvements and catching the eye of value buyers. The laggards have been clustered in the resource space. The style shift seems to be from the momentum stocks to the value stocks, but a few weeks does not make a trend. Value does outperform growth over a very long period of time. The catalyst may be rising interest rates. This may not be the definitive reason why we are seeing a shift.

Market. Regarding the sell-off in the FAANG stocks, he said that it is normal to see a really big selloff when a rapid-growing, high-multiple company shows any kind of weakness, such as earnings or growth not quite up to expectations. The companies that continue to produce will inevitably have slower growth at some point and will gradually look more like utilities. With specific regard to the selloff in Facebook and Twitter, he noted that the problem is not just a one-off reduction in users as the companies shut down bots. It is also a user shift. Younger people are shifting away from Facebook. He also thinks that the metrics involving the value of advertising done through Facebook are soft. This creates a high level of risk going forward. Generally, he thinks that there is still an upward trend in US stocks. The US economy is strong, interest rates are rising, the value of the currency is rising and this is leading toward better opportunities elsewhere in the world. Emerging markets, Europe, Canada and Australia are all cheap if you are buying with US dollars. The short-term trading gains are in the US, but the longer-term investments are outside of the US.

On economic status. He does not expect a recession in the near future. He thinks a recession will be telegraphed well in advance. He does expect a correction and notes that the S&P, excluding the FAANG stocks, has already been trading sideways to down. If the FAANG stocks were to give back 20%, the US would already be in a bear market. Outside of the US, many companies have sold off. He expects to see a little more downside in Asian companies, Europe will trade sideways, and the US will give up value in the FAANG stocks. Rather than rotating into cash, he thinks there are companies that are cheap, such as commodities and oil.

US vs. Canada. Wind at your back in US. Canada trails, but still gets pushed along by the US. Canadian economy doing well, but trouble is environment not as hot as US and valuations are getting out of alignment. Canada is now cheap. Headlines, like trade, are affecting Canadian market. Mexico wants a tri-lateral agreement, but Trump is trying to break up Canada and Mexico to create a weaker position. Unwanted volatility, but opportunity in next 6-12 months for Canada to catch up. A commodity bid will help even more. Sees Canada outperforming in next 12 months.

Increased volatility. VIX is still historically low. Haven’t seen markets down 3-5%, only 1-2%. Have seen sector rotation from tech into consumer staples, utilities. Would be more concerned about volatility if interest rates weren’t in this tight range.

Apple earnings. Positive impact. He owns it. Stellar numbers today, which changed the tone. Now we’re seeing the tech companies diverge.

Keep at least 10% in bonds? Bond markets aren’t a great earning environment, but you need to preserve capital. The day the market’s down by 10%, you can reallocate to equities. It’s a holding place, and better than cash. With GICs, you have to lock in for 3-5 years. You have to allocate something to bonds.