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

Is there a preferred time of year to rebalance a diverse ETF portfolio? Every six months sell some of the stocks that are heavily weighted in your portfolio. Also rebalance to your original asset allocation when there's an event trigger.

Deltas and options: Delta is the price of the option in relation to the stock. It's complex, so if you're looking at deltas, you're a pro trader.

The TSX has been on a run lately. There's a lot more to come. The recent run-up is largely due to the rise in oil prices. XEG has another 8% upside. A slow-down in production by Venezuela is one reason. He's buying more oil. He guesses 15-20% more room to run in oil stocks. These companies will buy back stocks, pay down debt and/or raise dividends. Rising oil and gas prices will hit Canadian consumers, of course. Rising interest rates and new laws constraining real estate will dampen real estate. But overall he sees at least another good year for the stock market.

Market Outlook. This is historically the part of the year when you want to become more defensive. Typically, that means going to bonds. This year we are in a rising interest rate environment so maybe you don’t want to be there as inflation still keeps coming up. If the Fed keeps on raising rates Poloz will have to follow in suit. 2.2% increase in mortgage expenses for Canadians just year-to-date. Gas up 14%. Inflation needs to be stabilized.

Timing the market is not a good idea as most experts but seasonal investing seems to work - He runs the website Timigthemarkets.ca so he is for it, but he just wouldn’t advocate anybody to do it. Seasonality should be seen as a tail wind for stocks but should be seen in conjunction with fundamentals and technicals.

Rising Interest Rates did not do any harm since January. Why not buy dividend stocks today? Some are interest sensitive names. He owns some, knowing interest rates are going up. Many are negative year to date. EMA-T, for example, down 14% YTD. You have to look at it with a longer term perspective.

Is GOLD a secure investment all year round? Gold is not a safe investment. It carries volatility and risk. You can lose lots of money. You need to hold it and not trade it and you need to hold it in the right cycle. He feels this is a right cycle. He has a 7% weighting. GLD-N and XGD-T are two ETFS to consider.

Canadian Banks – Buy? Which names? At some point we have to go through a credit cycle reset. He owns them but he is light. Those more leveraged to the Canadian credit markets are trading at lower valuations. He owns CM-T, for example, who have a bigger exposure but is trading lower. TD-T and RY-T would be his recommendations, although he is not pounding the table.

When to build an income portfolio. Trying to time it is risky and dangerous. You can’t invest in growth until the day before retirement. You want to have the majority of your portfolio generating income well before you retire. Don't go growth until the last minute.

At 30 is it safe to invest in tech and the like. It comes down to how much time you have for research. If you can do due diligence, then build a portfolio of stocks. Otherwise you have to hire someone to do it, or just invest in equities over the long term. You have to be diversified. The biggest risk is an investment that significantly erodes capital. You can use a mutual funds or a US/Canadian ETF. It is just a matter of being in the game with a diversified portfolio.

Market. We are into a new investing era, but it is old. It has been so long since we experienced the good AND the bad in equity investing. Volatility has come back. Oil and commodities are the main drivers in Canada but in the S&P it is more balanced in terms of sectors. When you look at returns from the market, they will not be as meaningful in the next 5 years. Investors look at things on a day to day basis. Having that information provokes you to take action more frequently.

BMO-148 Monthly income fund mutual fund. He does not buy mutual funds. The traditional monthly income funds have had an asset mix of 60/40 and that is what you are investing in. Not all mutual funds that appear the same have the same risk. You have to look at the underlying risk. He would rather manage money for his clients himself.

Market Outlook. Rates have gone up. There is always a negative slant associated with this but that is more based on history. We don’t know how markets are going to behave going forward. Tax benefits are affecting earnings positively. There is a seismic shift also on how business is done with the Internet of things, AI and other technologies. There is a big shift in the way data is disseminated and analyzed.

Signature Diversified Yield CI Funds. He typically doesn’t respond on funds as he doesn’t know their strategies. Better proxy than owning some of the dividend yielding stocks. Good asset base and diversification.

General Market Comment. There have been many new ETFs developed. Any new theme will cause the launch of a new product line such as block chain and cannabis. Low cost, beta funds were particularly popular last year in the US. The funds make money on low MERs by taking advantage of economies of scale. He thinks ETFs will likely save the fixed income bond product environment, especially as rates are beginning to rise.