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| Hank Cunningham of Odlum Brown Limited |
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| DON'T BUY | Fairfax Financial | FFH-T | 416.500 | .25% bond due June 22/20 yielding 5.9%. Is this safe? Thinks it is too far out for this particular corporate. He would avoid it. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 23.100 | (A Top Pick May 19/11. Up 7.22%.) 5.196% bond maturing Feb 3/15. Likes the company overall. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| TOP PICK | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 23.100 | 5.9% convertible bond during June 30/20. Underrated so carries a little bit more risk but still gets paid ahead of the common. Yields about 75 more basis points than the underlying dividend on the common. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Interest rates. Expect things will gradually creep up because the economy is getting better and inflation expectations are fairly subdued at just around 2%. Flight to quality has been in the US market will gradually erode or just disappear. This will cause a natural rise in yields. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Shorting US 2 and 10 bonds after European crisis winds down? The risk is that yields continue to go down. For an individual to short the bond market is very difficult. To do that you might have to use an ETF, which can be really leveraged. Very risky and complicated for an individual. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| SELL | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Real Return Bond ETFs? Yield on real return bonds is almost 0. You should get a return of 2% over inflation. If you own them, he would sell. Returns have been fantastic. If nominal yields rise and inflation expectations stay the same, these will sell off in price substantially. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | How risky are BBB rated bonds such as Calloway Real Estate (CWT.UN-T) or First Capital Realty (FCR-T)? Likes these 2 credits particularly. REIT sector has had a really good run and is still a comfortable sector to be in on the equity side. Dividends are well protected and interest payments are even better protected as they get paid out before the dividends. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| SELL | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Coupon, province of Ontario bond due March 8/23? This is an interest payment that has been detached from a regular bond. Very volatile instrument and has had a tremendous run in the last 2 years. He would be tempted to sell. For them to continue as well, interest rates would have to go down another full percent. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Investment for a fixed income portion of an RRSP in today's low interest environment? With be allocation and duration of investments? #1 He would build a portfolio using conventional interest paying instruments. He likes 1-10 year maturities. GIC's for 1-5 (yielding more than almost all bonds). Investment grade corporates for the 6-10 year term. #2 He would look for short-term (under 5 years) corporate strip bonds and for longer-term would look for provincial strips, 6-10 years. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | 10-year bond ladder with a minimum bond rating of BBB. Maximum percentage allotted to each credit and/or sector? Would put no more than 10% in any one credit or 10% in any one particular sector of the economy. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Floating Rate Bond ETF such as HFR-T or XFR-T in anticipation of rising interest rates? Not a good place to put your money. Also it does not appear as though short term interest rates will be rising anytime soon. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| PAST TOP SHORT | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | (A Top Short May 19/11. Down 8.3%.) Short the US 10 Yr bonds @ 3.12%. Didn't foresee the calamity in Europe. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Italian 10 year bonds? He has a very good outlook on Italy because he doesn't buy a lot of the criticism that they are coming under. 7th largest economy globally. 4th largest gold reserves globally. It runs a primary surplus. High risk transaction because you have the value of the bond plus the value of the euro versus the Cdn $. If you have a speculative inclination, this is a good value. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | $20,000 bond coming due on an 8-year ladder. Should he renew at 4% or go shorter? He thinks you should keep the ladder intact. 4% is a reasonable rate in 82% inflation world. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| TOP PICK | Brookfield Asset Management Inc. | BAM-N | 30.200 | 5.29% bond maturing April 25/17. This is an undervalued credit so bond yield is more that the underlying government of Canada bond yield. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| SELL | Bell Aliant | BA-T | 27.940 | 6.4% strip bond maturing 2031? If you own, he would recommend you sell. It's a long time for a Corporation never mind a bond. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | Brookfield Asset Management (A) | BAM.A-T | 30.270 | (A Top Pick May 19/11. Up 3.5%.) 5.20% bond maturing Sept 8/16. Thinks this is undervalued. Likes the company. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| BUY | Claymore Advantage High Yield Bond ETF | CHB-T | 20.440 | Advantage High Yield Bond ETF. Likes this quite a lot. Default rates on junk bonds have fallen substantially. This gives you a big, diversified portfolio. There are over 400 bonds in this one and reaching across the entire spectrum of this economy. Yield is going to be close to 8% and you might get as much as 10% this year. | 2012-01-30 | ||
| TOP PICK | iShares US High Yield Bond Index ETF | XHY-T | 20.650 | US High Yield Bond Index ETF that is hedged back to the Cdn$. This has 62 different bond issues in its portfolio. Covers the whole spectrum of the US economy. Not very risky and the default rate has fallen to less than 5%. You are going to get close to 8% even 9 9% depending on the price. | 2012-01-30 | ||
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| SELL | Connacher Oil and Gas | CLL-T | 0.395 | 4.75% bonds maturing June 2012. Do I sell after the year-end payout, lock in my return and forgo the final payout? He would recommend that. Small company and its main assets are in the oil sands. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | CitiGroup | C-N | 25.050 | (A Top Pick Feb 3/11. Down 47.56%.) Had a 1 for 10 split. At the beginning of the year, he had a forecast that the US economy was doing fine. This was wrong and he sold shortly after. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| TOP PICK | Just Energy Group | JE-T | 9.960 | 6% convertible you June 30/17. Judges the 12.5% dividend on the common to be relatively safe. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| DON'T BUY | Sherritt International Corp. | S-T | 5.150 | 8% bonds maturing in 2018? Market has always discounted this name because of the Cuban involvement. 5 of the 6 major underwriters in Canada won't touch them. Fairly solid balance sheet but is really not a fan of this credit and wouldn’t recommend them. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| HOLD | Yellow Media Inc | YLO-T | 0.230 | Bonds are trading at $.30-$.40 on the dollar and maturity is 2014 and 2016. Buy and hold? Bonds are trading at a massive discount to Par. Did not like the credit because there was too much goodwill on their balance sheet. If there's going to be a restructuring, it will be the bondholders that do it. Too late to sell. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| Comment | Uranium One Inc. | UUU-T | 2.240 | Debentures maturing Dec 31/11. Doesn't see any problem with this as it is a very short period of time. A pretty small company so he would be hesitant to recommend anything beyond a month or 2. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Convertible bonds seem to have a lot of turmoil in the last while versus straight bonds? Key to convertibles is the underlying company. When the equity price sinks, bonds start to acquire their basic intrinsic value and they lose their conversion value. In markets like this, the bid/ask spread becomes wider. Straight bonds have been rallying as government yields have been falling. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | When a bond matures, what value is returned to the holder? Original par value? That is correct. At maturity you get 2 payments. The principal value plus the final interest payment. If you paid a premium, you would have got an income stream that was higher than you would have received with a par bond. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| PAST TOP SHORT | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | (A Top Pick Feb 3/11. Up 12.50%.) Short the 10-Year 2.625% US Treasury bonds due Nov 15/20. He had thought he had seen the lows in treasury yields. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Risks of inflation linked bonds? Would you buy for a balanced portfolio? Yes, he would bite on for a balanced portfolio but right now is not recommending them. They are long-term, long-duration with considerable price risk. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Ontario credit rating? Structural deficit of $15 billion-$17 billion with a likely yearly deficit until 2016 or beyond. With its $250 billion estimated debt what are the chances of a downgrade? Chances are reasonable that there will be a downgrade but not in the near term. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| HOLD | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | GE Capital Canada 5.1% due June 1/16. 4.6% yield to maturity. Should I sell? This is a strong AA credit globally and has survived the worst of the worst. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| Comment | iShares DEX Universe Bond ETF | XBB-T | 31.060 | DEX Universe Bond ETF. With this ETF, you get every bond, which is about 1100 including government, provincials and corporate. Believes its duration is long so if interest rates rise, it would be affected adversely. This fund has done fairly well. He would prefer a corporate bond ETF. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| TOP PICK | Brookfield Asset Management (A) | BAM.A-T | 27.210 | 5.29% bond maturing April 25/17. Good company and their bonds are undervalued as the market not understanding the credit. A BBB rated credit. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| Comment | Huntington Bancshares Inc. | HBAN-Q | 4.840 | Debentures. The only issue that he is familiar with are the 7.5% of March 31/12, which trade at a very small premium. He expects it will be called and the new one will be issued in its place. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | iShares US High Yield Bond Index ETF | XHY-T | 19.180 | (A Top Pick Feb 3/11. Down 2.96%.) US High Yield Bond Index Fund ETF. Sold his holdings. Based on the US economy, he could recommend these again. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| BUY | iShares US High Yield Bond Index ETF | XHY-T | 19.180 | High Yield Corp Bond US Hedge to CAD ETF. Well diversified portfolio across the US economy. The default rate on these has fallen. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| TOP PICK | BMO Emerging Mkts Bond Hedged CAD | ZEF-T | 15.810 | Emerging Markets Bond Hedged CAD ETF. 5.7% yield. Invests in bonds of Russia, India, Brazil, Argentina, etc. They buy 1 bond in each of these countries and weight it to the GDP of that country. Bonds are pretty long-term and will fluctuate quite wildly depending on the credit markets. Probably has been adversely affected by what is going on in your, so a good time to pick some up. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| DON'T BUY | HAP Floating Rate Bond ETF | HFR-T | 9.910 | Floating Rate Bond ETF. He has looked at this one and he doesn't understand it. There are a lot of derivatives involved and they are trying to play this spread between the corporates and interest rate swaps, etc. Too complex. | 2011-11-28 | ||
| TOP PICK | BCE Inc. | BCE-T | 37.200 | 3.65% due May 9/16. Attractive yield. Starting yield higher than Government of Canada means it is likely to have a positive rate of return in the next 12 months. | 2011-06-15 | ||
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| TOP PICK | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 20.990 | 5% due Dec 1/18. Attractive yield. Starting yield higher than Government of Canada means it is likely to have a positive rate of return in the next 12 months. This one is undervalued in the bond market. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Market. Everyone’s concerned about the soft patch in the economy due to the oil price spiking to $110 and the Japanese supply disruption. Now the Greek fear is now endemic. Also Bernanke scared everyone with his comments on the debt limit problem. Bond market dropped dramatically but Bernanke’s remarks started the bonds to lift as the flight to quality started to take place. Thinks the soft patch is now over and the worst is past. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| TOP PICK | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Corporate Bond Ladder. You take a lump sum of money and divide it into 10 equal pieces and buy a 1-year bond with the first part, a 2-year with the next part, etc until the money is exhausted. You are now diversified by maturity. Also likes to put in different credits in a 1 to 10 year ladder to spread credit risks out. After the first year, you re-invest in a new 10-year bond so you always have something coming due. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Real Return Bonds. This is not a good time to buy them. If you buy one that offers you 1% real return, you will get that if you hold to maturity. They’re long duration so are very volatile. Current rates are 1% and should be 2%. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Barbell Strategy. Splitting a fixed income portfolio between 3 month T-Bills and long dated corporate strip bonds. Likes this approach as you have half your money safe in 3 month bills. Wouldn’t choose a long term corporate strip because so many things can happen to a corporation over the long term. You could use long-term provincial strips instead. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Bonds for a deflationary environment? Answer is long-term government bonds. Corporates could find it difficult for them to pay their interest as they are chasing downward spiral in prices. We are a long way from a deflationary environment. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | (A Top Pick June 7/10. Up 2.25%.) US Treasuries 30 year 4.375% 5/15/40 and to exit the position in 3 months. Sold these last fall at $112.82. His return would have been close to 10%. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | (A Top Pick June 7/10. Up 10.2%.) Brookfield Renewable Power 6.132% bond 11/30/16. Likes this credit and what it is doing. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Canadian bank preferred shares for retirement? The new Basel capital treatment rules are going to change the landscape for preferred shares. Also preferreds that have been issued in the last 3 years have been the reset preferreds are coming due in 2 years for resetting. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Floating rate corporate bonds? Work well in a period of rising interest rates. He expects the Bank of Canada will be raising rates in the next 6 to 12 months by a full 1%. Also available through ETFs. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | 10-20 year strip bonds at 4.6%? He likes strips. Make sure your basic portfolio consists of other things as well. Strips are ideal for retirement vehicles and RIFs as well. Inflation is the enemy of every bond, so diversify. Wouldn’t recommend having everything in 10-20 year strips. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | 24-Year Ontario Bonds @4.6%? This is the time in the cycle when it is very dangerous. People are all looking for yield. The most yield is in the longest-term securities. Your principal is at risk. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| SELL | iShares Corporate Bond ETF | LQD-N | 111.030 | Corporate Bond ETF. Average term is too long in this environment. Portfolio is not as diversified as he would like. You also have currency risk. Easy money is behind us on this one. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | iShares Hi Yield Corp Bond ETF | HYG-N | 89.470 | (A Top Pick June 7/10. Up 16.75%.) US High Yield Corp. Bond ETF. Switched to the US High Yield Bond Index Fund (XHY-T) because it is hedged back to the Cdn $. Returns are almost identical. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| Comment | BMO 2013 Corporate Bond Maturity | ZXA-T | 14.980 | 2013 Corporate Bond Maturity ETF. Made to counter the criticism of any fund that most bond funds never mature. Gives the investor more certainty. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| Comment | BMO 2015 Corporate Bond Maturity | ZXB-T | 15.100 | 2015 Corporate Bond Maturity ETF. Made to counter the criticism of any fund that most bond funds never mature. Gives the investor more certainty. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| DON'T BUY | Claymore Adv. Short Duration High ETF | CSD-T | 20.070 | Adv. Short Duration High ETF. This is a junk bond ETF so make sure you don’t have everything in this. Short duration is less than 1 year. There are not enough names and they really are junk. Very high risk. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| DON'T BUY | Claymore Adv. Convertible Bond ETF | CVD-T | 20.140 | Adv. Convertible Bond ETF? They are late. Should have come out with these a year or two ago as right now there is very little value in the convertible bond market. Convertible bond market in Canada is very immature and consists mostly of small non-rated or junk issuers. A lot of them in the energy patch. A lot of REITs. | 2011-06-15 | ||
| Comment | BCE Inc. | BCE-T | 39.000 | 9.25% Strip bond May 15/30? Strip bonds are the most volatile of all fixed income maturities and long term ones are the most volatile because they have no interest payments to shorten the duration. Your entire market value depends on long term interest rates. When rates go up, the value of the strip bonds go down. Consider selling and going into shorter term bonds, depending on your portfolio. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| TOP PICK | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 22.150 | 5.196% bond maturing Feb 3/15. Good company and their bonds trade at about 1.5% higher than Govt of Canada. As Govt yields rise, the returns will still be positive because the term is so short and the starting yield is higher than the Govt. | 2011-05-19 | ||
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| DON'T BUY | Rogers Communcations (B) | RCI.B-T | 37.450 | 2040 AAA bonds? Doesn’t know why anyone would buy a corporate bond with such a long term. It’s a dangerous time in the cycle and people are reaching for yield. He prefers a much shorter period. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| Comment | GOOG-Q | 531.250 | Have a pile of cash on their balance sheet so why do they issue bonds when they could just use their cash? About half their cash is offshore and if they bring it back they are taxed. Also, the money they got was only 3.7%. | 2011-05-19 | |||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Economy. Bad things have happened in the 1st quarter including weather, events in Egypt, Libya and Japan. This has all conspired to slow recovery down but there is still a Global economic recovery going on. Growth could be 4% this year and next, but very uneven with less than 1% in Europe and Japan, 3% in North America and high single digits in emerging markets. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Fixed Income. Returns are very feeble right now. Not expecting a double dip coming so expects rates will rise from here, so you have to be very defensive in a fixed income portfolio but he’s been wrong for the last 3 months so has never abandoned the laddered concept. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | 24 Yr Gov Ontario bonds @4.6%? He would recommend a laddered approach rather than just one single bond. This is case of inflation and rising interest rates. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | 30 year Gov’t of Canada Bond 4% 6/1/2041. (A Top Pick Apr 27/10. Up 12.34%.) Turned bearish on the bond market in Sept so he sold. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Preferred shares? Rank senior to equity shares. Dividends must be paid before common share dividends. However, they rank junior to bonds and debentures. The advantage is the tax credit. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Real Return Bonds? Principal and interest payments are indexed to the CPI, every 6 months as the CPI comes out. Trade on the “after inflation” number. These are long duration securities and if yields rise, the price of these will fall dramatically. Not a good time to buy. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| TOP SHORT | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Short the US 10 Yr bonds @ 3.12%. There is a world recovery under way. Excessive stimulus that has been kept in place by the Federal Reserve Board has meant bond yields have stayed artificially low and inflation expectations are rising and with inflation at 2%-2.5%, these bonds should be 4.5%, not 3.5%. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| DON'T BUY | Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd. (A) | CTC.A-T | 64.630 | Long term bond maturing in 2035 at 6%? 2020 is about as long as he goes in corporates. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | Brookfield Asset Management (A) | BAM.A-T | 32.490 | 7 Year Bond 5.29% 4/25/17. (A Top Pick Apr 27/10. Up 8.42%.) Thought and still thinks the credit was undervalued. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| TOP PICK | Brookfield Asset Management (A) | BAM.A-T | 32.490 | 5.20% bond maturing Sept 8/16. Likes the company a lot as an equity and likes their bonds as well. Their bonds come to market with yields much wider than similarly rated bonds would come. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| Comment | Claymore 1-5 yr Ladder Corp Bond ETF | CBO-T | 20.270 | 1-5 yr Ladder Corp Bond ETF. The 4.3% advertised by this fund is a trailing return, so he cautions that if yields start increasing, the return will fall. Be very careful and look carefully at what is in this ladder. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | iShares US High Yield Bond Index ETF | XHY-T | 21.290 | High yield corporate bond US Hedge to Cdn$. (A Top Pick Apr 27/10. Up 12.75%) Liked high yield bonds for some time. Expects returns from high yield funds from this point on will not be as attractive. Probably won’t get double digit returns, but probably in the 7% area. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| DON'T BUY | BMO Long Federal Bond Index | ZFL-T | 15.260 | Long Federal Bond Index. Long term government fund and will fluctuate greatly with change in long term yields. In a Bull market will go up substantially but in a bear market will fall. No defence mechanism possible. If interest rates go up, the fund will fall. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| BUY | BMO 2013 Corporate Bond Maturity | ZXA-T | 14.950 | This is a Bank of Montreal solution to fixed income funds with no maturity date so you don’t know what your money is going to be worth when it matures. You start out with 3 yr corporate bonds in it and as each bond matures, they buy a money market security. By the time 2013 is up you get 100% of your money back. Likes these. | 2011-05-19 | ||
| TOP PICK | CitiGroup | C-N | 4.810 | Amazing global footprint. Tremendous earning power. Immense tax-loss carry forward. 60% of earnings are from outside the US. Will also benefit from the yield curve as the cost of money for them is .25% from the fed and they can turn around and loan that money or buy other securities that yield more than that. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| BUY | Great West Lifeco | GWO-T | 26.660 | 4.65% bond due August 2020? Strong AA. One of the best managed life companies in Canada. Well structured balance sheet with assets and liabilities being well matched. Yield is just slightly under 4.65%. Would include them in a laddered portfolio. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 20.570 | (A Top Pick Feb 25/10. Up 7.11%.) Bond 5.196% 02/03/2015. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| BUY | Shaw Communication (B) | SJR.B-T | 21.630 | 5.7% bond due March 2017? Likes this company’s bonds. Rated BBB. Yielding about 4.11%, which is reasonable. Would be a worthy inclusion on a laddered portfolio. | 2011-02-03 | ||
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| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Rising interest rates affecting bonds bought over par? Generally if interest rates rise from 1 year to 30 years, all bonds fall. It’s like a teeter-totter in that the closer you are to the center, the less that bonds are affected by the move. 3 to 4 years his sweet spot. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| TOP SHORT | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Short the 10-Year 2.625% US Treasury bonds due Nov 15/20. Bearish on bonds as the economy is coming back very nicely. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | (A Top Pick Feb 25/10. Up 1.34%.) Short 2 year Canadian government bond 1.33%. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Convertible debentures for safety and versus preferred shares? Those issued in Canada are typically small issues and are un-rated. Normally subordinated to any other debt on the company’s balance sheets but rank ahead of preferreds. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| TOP PICK | iShares US High Yield Bond Index ETF | XHY-T | 20.990 | (A Top Pick Feb 25/10. Up 13%.) US High Yield Bond Index Fund ETF. Mimicking the US high yield index. Average yield to maturity is about 6.83% right now. Will probably produce double-digit returns this year on the strength of falling default rates. As people continue to look for yields, it will drive the spreads narrower against government’s. | 2011-02-03 | ||
| SELL | Great West Lifeco | GWO-T | 26.430 | Preferred shares. When rates go up, preferreds may plummet. Company is well run, but these are long-term securities and are perpetual so have a very long duration and are influenced by long-term interest-rate movements. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| TOP PICK | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 20.720 | Convertible debt at 5.9% maturing June 30/20. Current yield is almost 2% more than the underlying equity pays. Likes the REIT sector as well as this particular company. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | (A Top Pick Oct 30/09. Up 11%.) US treasury 3.625% maturing August 15/19. There were more deflationary pressures than most people thought with a good chance that longer-term yields would fall, which happened. Now starting to see a spreading recovery. (See Top Picks.) | 2010-10-28 | ||
| TOP SHORT | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | US treasury 2.625% maturing August 15/20. (See Past Picks.) 1) Rates have gone too far down and shouldn't be this low. 2) There is a recovery coming, which will cause some demand in credit to pick up. QE1 and QE2 is pushing on a string. Pumping money into the system but no one is borrowing it. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| SELL | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Government of Canada 4% maturing June 1/41. This has given a good ride and you should take your profits. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| DON'T BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Foreign debt? He is a “stay at home” guy with fixed income securities. He would recommend you keep your money in Cdn$ bonds as foreign bonds are too risky. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Real return bonds (RRBs) as a long-term investment? Interest and principal payments are both indexed to CPI. If you buy one today with a yield of 1.15% and you hold it to maturity you will get 1.15% after inflation. If you want to sell in 2 years and yields have risen to 3% you will love lost a lot of money. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Cdn Bank Tier 1 bonds and the Call feature? When Basil 111 comes into being, high yielding capital trust securities issued by the banks, 10% a year will not be allowed after 2013 so will be phased out by 2023. Could be called at par. He would be nervous and would look to see what the bid is. He doesn't have an answer. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | TD Real Return Bond Fund? Expensive fund because it charges a higher management expense ratio than if you bought the ETF that iShares has (XRB-T). Has had a great track record because real yields have been falling and bond prices have been rising but there is no guarantee this will continue. You pay more in fees than if you buy an ETF or your own individual RRB. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| Comment | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Ten-year bond ladders. He is a staunch advocate of maintaining the discipline of laddering because you don't know what rates are going to be in the future. You always have a 10th of your money maturing every year and that protects you from inflation as well as credit risk diversification. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| BUY | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Brookfield Renewable Power Bond. 2018 @ 5.25% or 2020 @ 5.14%? Likes Brookfield as an equity investment and their bonds. He would buy the shorter term Bond, 2018. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| BUY | iShares DEX Short Term Bond | XSB-T | 29.190 | DEX Short Term Bond ETF. 1.89% yield. 1 to 5 year Canada, Canada agencies, provincial and corporate bonds. Has a short duration and the reasonably good place to park money. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | Molson Coors Brewing Company | TAP-N | 46.480 | (A Top Pick Oct 30/09. Up 8.6%.) 5% bonds maturing Sept 22/15. Non-cyclical company. Still likes. | 2010-10-28 | ||
| PAST TOP PICK | iShares Hi Yield Corp Bond ETF | HYG-N | 90.700 | (A Top Pick Oct 30/09. Up 16.1%.) US High-yield corporate bonds ETF. (Top Pick is the Canadian version XHY-T.) | 2010-10-28 | ||
| BUY | Marret High Yield Strategies | MHY.UN-T | 11.260 | Very good fund with skilled management. Won't be as correlated to rising rates as a conventional bond fund would be. | 2010-10-28 | ||
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| TOP PICK | iShares US High Yield Bond Index ETF | XHY-T | 20.680 | US High Yield Bond Index Fund. (Same as Past Top Pick but hedged in Cdn$.) Thinks the recovery in the economy will lower default rates and the spread from high-yield bonds to US government bonds is going to narrow which will cause some relative capital gains so is looking for above average returns. Average yield is 7.33%. | 2010-10-28 |