STOCKCHASE

0.020

Short 2 year Canadian government bond 1.33%. This is very difficult for a retail investor. Minimum million-dollar transaction.

2010-02-25

N/A

0.020

6 months ago we were in the position where there was inflation fears. There are still huge deflation fears in the world. This recovery is very fragile and lead by government stimulus only. Sweet spot on yield curve is 3-7 year term in corporates where they find value. The out performance trade on corporate bonds is over. Next opportunity is the high yield market. Huge fan of laddering.

2010-02-25

DON'T BUY

0.020

STEP-UP BONDS: They are a structured product from the banks where annually or semi-annually, the bank can call them from you or the rate steps up to a higher yield. They are in the bank’s favour and not for the investor. Can be an alternative to the money market funds.

2010-02-25

BUY

Claymore Advantage High Yield Bond ETF

0.020

CORPORATE BOND FUNDS: There is no drawback in buying a corporate bond fund. Prospects of yield widening is low. The only reason to not buy one is if you think we are going back into deep recession.

2010-02-25

BUY

Transalta Corp

TA-T

22.340

Transalta 2020 series bond: Likes the company, well managed and he would recommend these bonds.

2010-02-25

N/A

CHB-T

19.520

High yield bond fund. He has not looked at it yet in detail. Currency hedge is important. Prefers the iShares product.

2010-02-25

PAST TOP PICK

Trinidad Energy Services

TDG.UN-T

10.500

(Top Pick May 08/09, 25.5% capital gain) Trinidad Energy 7.75% 07/31/2012. They were a busted income trust.

2010-02-25

BUY

Sherritt International Corp.

S-T

7.130

Bonds 2014/2015. Favours them. If not for Cuba, would be trading at double ‘A’. Strong company, good balance sheet and nothing wrong with the credit. Bonds undervalued because the financial community can’t support their credit. Thinks they are good value.

2010-02-25

PAST TOP PICK

0.020

(Top Pick May 08/09, Up 1.5%) Gov’t of Canada 1.25% 06/01/2011.

2010-02-25

PAST TOP PICK

0.020

(Top Pick May 08/09, Up 14%) Bell Canada 5 02/15/17 Bonds.

2010-02-25

Comment

0.020

REAL RETURN BONDS: Apposed to them because he thought they were expensive, but they have been selling off. They are risky securities. Suggests tracking the spread between these and government bonds to get an idea of the inflation rate.

2010-02-25

Comment

0.020

BOND ETF RISKS: Pay their interest quarterly. There is a reinvestment risk. The yield of the bonds assumes reinvestment of coupons at the same rate.

2010-02-25

DON'T BUY

0.020

CORPERATE BONDS WITH MATURITIES OUT TO 2035: He would not buy a corporate bond that long a term. Only buys long-term government bonds. Nothing longer than 5 or 7 years.

2010-02-25

BUY

0.020

MIN INVESTMENT IN CORPORATE BONDS: $10,000 would be the absolute minimum for the minimum commission. If you need to invest less, go for the ETF market. E.g. XTB.

2010-02-25

BUY

iShares US High Yield Bond Index Fund

0.020

PH&N High Yield Bond Fund: Likes it. It’s really a medium yield fund. Closer to investment grade securities in it. Good money managers.

2010-02-25

TOP PICK

XHY-T

19.950

High yield US bonds ETF. Currency hedged. .6 MER. Double-digit potential return. They are all junk bonds with average credit rating B or B+. Could be capital gains potential.

2010-02-25

TOP PICK

0.020

Canada bond 3.75% due June/2019. Government yields have risen almost 50 basis points this month, which he didn't think would happen. There really is no bear story for bonds. This will be a trade in probably 2 to 3 months as he thinks there is a good chance they will go down to 3%-3.25%.

2009-12-22

TOP SHORT

Brookfield Renewable Power Fund

0.020

Short Canada 1.25% maturing Dec 1/11. Yield curve will flatten in 2010 with these yields rising back to where they should be.

2009-12-22

TOP PICK

BRC.UN-T

19.270

6.132% maturing Nov 30/16. Likes the company. 2.5% over Canada’s and are rated BBB. Undervalued.

2009-12-22

PAST TOP PICK

0.020

(A Top Pick May 08/09. Up 39.2%.) Trinidad Energy Services 7.75% maturing July 31/12 yielding close to 9.5% to maturity.

2009-12-22

PAST TOP SHORT

0.020

(A Top Pick May 08/09. Up 1.6%.) Short Canada 1.25% maturing Jun 1/11.

2009-12-22

PAST TOP PICK

BCE Inc.

BCE-T

28.300

(A Top Pick May 08/09. Up 20.09%.) 5.54% maturing Feb 15/17. Still likes.

2009-12-22

DON'T BUY

iUnits Real Return Bond E.T.F.

0.020

Real Return Bond ETF or Fund? The yields on these are currently at 1.6%, which is too low for him. He would prefer seeing them at 2%. Also doesn't think the inflation rate is going to be 2.4% over the next two years, but will be under 2%.

2009-12-22

DON'T BUY

Aecon Group Inc

ARE-T

15.100

Convertible debentures. Does not recommend these. Yield to maturity is very low at just over 5% and these are non-investment grade securities. Yield on the underlying unit is about 1.2%.

2009-12-22

Comment

XRB-T

20.740

Real Return Bond ETF. For 10 years, this would be good to have in your portfolio but he would recommend a portfolio of individual securities rather than an ETF.

2009-12-22

Comment

iShares Cdn Corp Bond E.T.F.

29.570

Cdn Bond Market ETF. A good fund but would prefer the Cdn Corp Bond ETF (XCB-T). 74% of this one is government bonds and he would prefer corporates looking out to 2010.

2009-12-22

Comment

XCB-T

20.530

Cdn Corp Bond ETF. Prefers over the Cdn Bond Market ETF (XBB-T) because of its shorter duration and the higher yield. 52% of it is in financials, which is a high percentage.

2009-12-22

BUY

Marret High Yield Strategies

MHY.UN-T

10.550

Very bright and well-proven managers of high yield and credit risks. Fees are decent at 1% plus a performance fee. First class choice for a high yield fund. You could also look at Hi Yield Corp Bond ETF (HYG-N). (High risk/high return.)

2009-12-22

Comment

iShares Cdn Corp Bond E.T.F.

0.020

Bonds. Because there is no inflation, he thinks rates are going to go drop making this a pretty good time to buy. In particular, 10-year bonds are going to fall at about .5%. For terms of maturity, he would suggest 5 to 7 years.

2009-10-30

HOLD

XCB-T

20.430

Investment grade corporate bond ETF. The run this year has been excellent so far with 15%. Outlook for interest rate is fairly stable so you will at least earn the coupon rate.

2009-10-30

HOLD

29.640

Universe of every bond issued. There are about 2000 different bond issues from 1 day to 30 years so you own the bond market itself. Good news is low fees and no guesswork. Bad news is you don't know what is going to be worth when you retire giving uncertainty. You can plan your portfolio with a laddered approach in the meantime this is not going to hurt you.

2009-10-30

BUY

0.020

US treasury bonds. He is bullish on government bonds and thinks they are going to go to 3%. He uses ten-year bonds, which are at 3.5%. Rates are going to fall.

2009-10-30

DON'T BUY

0.020

Convertible bonds. There are some risks. They are subordinate to any other debt the company has. You also have to be very comfortable with the equity that they are converted to. A “buyer beware” market right now.

2009-10-30

Comment

0.020

Corporate bonds. There are still opportunities in the Canadian bond market that has seen a very strong contraction in credit spreads from the beginning of the year. We still haven't reached what is considered as normal levels.

2009-10-30

Comment

Bank of Nova Scotia

BNS-T

45.250

Preferreds. Not his favourite asset category. There is nothing in it for the investor. They are junior to bonds and you have no say in the running of the company.

2009-10-30

TOP PICK

iShares Hi Yield Corp Bond ETF

0.020

US treasury 3.625% maturing August 2015. Bond market has been very stable and so has the inflation rate.

2009-10-30

TOP PICK

HYG-N

85.180

US High-yield corporate bonds ETF. Yielding in double-digit territory. There will be a recovery. It will be slow. Spreads will continue to grind in more narrowly.

2009-10-30

TOP PICK

Molson Coors Brewing Company

TAP-N

48.970

5% bonds maturing Sept 22/15. In a recession proof business.

2009-10-30

PAST TOP PICK

BCE Inc.

BCE-T

25.890

(A Top Pick May 8/09. Up 16.4%.) Would still buy.

2009-10-30

PAST TOP SHORT

0.020

(A Top Pick May 8/09. Up .40%.) Canada 1.25% maturing Jan 6/11. Would continue to Short.

2009-10-30

PAST TOP PICK

ProShare Ultra Short 20+ yr Tr. E.T.F.

0.020

(A Top Pick May 8/09. Up 55.7%.) Trinidad Energy Services 7.75% maturing July 31/12 yielding close to 9.5% to maturity.

2009-10-30

Comment

TBT-N

52.240

Governments everywhere, certainly in North America, are expensive. 10 years at around 3.26%/3.29% and are probably going to 4% by the end of the year. That's getting back to where they should be in a normal world.

2009-05-08

Comment

0.020

Corporate bonds versus the stock market: Caution. Yield curve is so steep that everybody is hungry for yield. Greatest yields right now are in the longest maturities, where there is the most risk. He suggests laddering portfolios to spread the risks around, especially corporates. Buy individual bonds rather than ETFs or bond funds.

2009-05-08

BUY

Canadian Natural Rsrcs

CNQ-T

63.440

Bonds are not a strong credit, but credit worthy. If you are doing corporate bonds, buy a number of them and spread your risk around.

2009-05-08

BUY

Loblaw Companies Ltd

L-T

36.100

Just did a bond issue that was massively oversubscribed. Not a strong credit, but credit worthy. If you are doing corporate bonds, buy a number of them and spread your risk around.

2009-05-08

TOP PICK

BCE Inc.

BCE-T

24.670

5.54% maturing Feb 15/17. Likes the corporate bond market. Example of a utility that is offering a very handsome spread over Canada's. Could be some capital gain as well. This company is back to investment grade status.

2009-05-08

TOP SHORT

0.020

Canada 1.25% maturing Jan 6/11. A 2-year bond yielding 1% is a great Short. He doesn't think there is any way for government yields to go anywhere but up in the next year or two.

2009-05-08

TOP PICK

iShares Cdn Corp Bond E.T.F.

0.020

Trinidad Energy Services 7.75% maturing July 31/12 yielding close to 9.5% to maturity. There are a host of convertible bonds issued by income trusts that are still outstanding.

2009-05-08

DON'T BUY

XCB-T

19.540

Corporate bond ETF. An accumulation of over 300 bonds (including all the financials) and you don't know what your return is going to be. This year they have done well because corporate bonds have outperformed the bond market. With individual corporate bonds, you know what the maturity date is and what the return is going to be.

2009-05-08

TOP PICK

0.020

Canadian Housing Trust Dec 15/12. 4.55% and yield to maturity 3.9%. - 100% guaranteed by the government of Canada. Trades 48 basis points above the equivalent rate of the Govt of Canada.

2008-07-21

TOP PICK

Telus Corp

T-T

40.080

5.95% bond maturing Apr 15/15. 200 basis points above Canada’s and are investment grade. Issued after all the kafuffle about the Bell debentures so there were a couple of corporate issues with 2 provisos. If there’s a change of control and/or the investment falls below investment grade the company must buy these back at 101.

2008-07-21

TOP PICK

Calloway REIT

CWT.UN-T

18.810

6.65% convertible bond maturing June 30/13. Trust massacre in Oct/06 left a lot of trust convertibles in no man’s land. Good quality. Convertibles rank ahead of the units themselves giving a whole level of protection from the distributions. Units would have to go to zero before bondholders had to worry about their interest.

2008-07-21

Comment

0.020

Investing in bonds through an Indexed Bond Fund or Actively Managed Fund? – ETF’s ar your best bet. They are exchange traded with modest expense ratios.

2008-07-21

Comment

0.020

Long Term Bonds: - Technically in a bear trend right now, but won’t sell of very much because we are at a time when inflation scares will be behind us fairly soon. Probably a good Buy right here.

2008-07-21

Comment

iUnits Real Return Bond E.T.F.

0.020

GE Capital Bond due June 10/0: - A triple A rated security so wouldn’t have any concerns on this. GE is a massive company with massive resources and has no dent in their armour yet that has made anyone nervous.

2008-07-21

BUY

XRB-T

20.440

Likes real return bonds and there should be a little included in your fixed income portfolio. Because taxation they should be in your RRSP account. Yielding about 1.56% right now. Fund mimics the real return index of the DEX universe so it tracks the passive index fund that is invested in the various real return bonds.

2008-07-21

Comment

Claymore 1-5 yr Government Bond E.T.F.

0.020

Bank Perpetual Preferred Shares: - Doesn’t like perpetual preferreds and would never buy them in the 1st place. Have been suffering along with the long term bond prices. If you own, not sure that he would sell them.

2008-07-21

BUY

CLF-T

20.080

A laddered bond fund. This is the only one that is publicly available. Mimics the DEX ladder. Invests in Federal and provincial Government maturities and buckets of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 maturities at a very low MER of 15 basis points. Payout is around 4.1%.

2008-07-21

TOP PICK

0.020

Canadian housing trust 4-year- 100% guaranteed by the government of Canada, thus are AAA securities. Trading 55-60 full basis points higher than the same maturity level government of Canada bonds. Very, very cheap for retail investors to buy.

2008-03-14

TOP PICK

0.020

Bell Canada 4-year bonds- Good maturity and an attractive bond. Yielding about 350 basis points over Canada’s, which makes them 6.35%. Bell is not going to go out of business, so these are very attractive for part of your portfolio. An above average turnover for a company that’s going to stick around.

2008-03-14

TOP PICK

0.020

Harvest energy Bonds, 7.25-year- Trading at very attractive yields to maturity. These are all energy related companies with very strong cash flows/balance sheets. The interest payments of these debentures come before the unit distributions, therefore these bonds are very safe. A very attractive bond to hold until maturity.

2008-03-14

DON'T BUY

0.020

Major bank stocks- Far to early to become involved with these stocks. We haven’t seen the tip of the iceberg yet. Dividends aren’t in any particular difficulty. Preferreds are good right now because interest rates are falling, and there are very good quality bonds.

2008-03-14

BUY

IGM Financial Inc.

IGM-T

41.900

Largest mutual fund company in Canada. Very good financial company, very strong. Business is growing, they have a few bonds outstanding but they don’t trade very often.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

When the American housing market turns around, there will be an avalanche of money going back into equities from the massive pile-up of money in very liquid T-bills. Stocks are getting very, very cheap, so when the catalyst occurs the financials will snap back incredibly fast.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Convertible Bonds- We like a lot of the convertible bonds that were issued by the income trust. They have been left alone and have very good value.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Laddering a Portfolio- A fool-proof strategy, You can beat ¾ of Canada’s professional fund managers by using this approach. It takes the guess-work out of interest rates by spreading your money out. An example of implementing this strategy involves dividing a lump sum of money into 10 pieces, and investing in 1-year through to 10-year bonds. Then as the bonds mature from year to year, continue investing in additional 10 years bonds, so that your portfolio constantly has a 10 year diversity.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

There’s not much more upside left in the bond market. The yield curve is very steep, which means there will be a very snappy recovery and you should not be in the long end of the market.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Convertible Bonds- We like a lot of the convertible bonds that were issued by the income trust. They have been left alone and have very good value.

2008-03-14

PAST TOP PICK

0.020

Shaw Bonds- (Top pick. July 4, 2007.) Mature December 2017. An improving credit. For several years their cash flow and profitability had been rising. We still recommend them.

2008-03-14

PAST TOP PICK

0.020

Telus Bonds (Top pick. July 4, 2007.) Mature March 2012. Telus has a good credit rating. Telus is likely to have to raise a lot of money through equity and debt in the near future. Still likes them very much

2008-03-14

PAST TOP PICK

0.020

3.75 Canadian government- (Top pick. July 4, 2007.) Mature June first 2009. The short term curve of this bond is going to steepen more, and the short term rates are going to go down more, so these have more upside in price, but limited.

2008-03-14

VAGUE

0.020

ISHARES- Very good investment for those retail investors who don’t have an advisor to help them pick individual bonds. ETFs are better than mutual funds because they charge a very small management expense ratio. Likes the short term XSB (on the TSX) and the XRB (real return fund). These are a good combination for investors to buy now.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Safety on Market Funds- Your far better off buying individual T-Bills with your short term money than any money mark funds.

2008-03-14

SELL

0.020

GMAC high yield bonds- Don’t like these bonds. Company has serious problems ahead. Buy the common shares if you think GMAC is worth investing in. Take your money and run from these bonds.

2008-03-14

WEAK BUY

0.020

GoC 30-year bonds- They’ve been in a bull market, with a lot of jerking around lately, but it looks like the long term has more room to run. Be more cautious as the yield curve gets steeper. Right now they look OK for further capital bonds.

2008-03-14

BUY

0.020

Real return bonds- Now is a good time to buy. In this climate there is great potential for markets to turn around, so be cautious about bonds.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Inflation and bond prices- Very low risk of inflation. This danger is not close yet, but there is a real possibility.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Interest rate risk- It’s very challenging to predict when and by how much interest rates will change. Interest rates have got a long way further to fall. Pay very close attention to the U.S housing market to get an idea of when the interest rate may change. Borrow money in U.S dollars not Canadian dollars (bearish on U.S $)

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Holding Strategy bonds- Like the shorter maturities right now. You can make money in short term bonds.

2008-03-14

Comment

0.020

Sub-primes - There will be more fallout. They have to figure out what these assets are and what their value is. $1.5 trillion is outstanding and $300 billion is going to be written off. These over collateralized obligations are going to be significantly underwater. This is just the sub primes of the CDO’s themselves and then you go to the leveraged loans, which is the next problem. There are some serious write-downs yet to occur.

2007-10-02

Comment

0.020

Bankers’ acceptances - These are promissory notes that a small corporation issues to raise short-term money. They can't do it through the money market so they go to a bank who, for a fee, stamps it and the stamp signifies that it is 100% guaranteed by the bank. Very liquid and trade every day. Very safe investment.

2007-10-02

Comment

0.020

Canadian $ - He and it would be imprudent to change currency into the US at this time.

2007-10-02

Comment

0.020

Provincial Bonds - Have a very stable yield spread from Government of Canada's. Every province now has a surplus. If you are biting government bonds, by provincial rather than Canadian, which gives you a better year low.

2007-10-02

TOP PICK

0.020

Molson Coors 5% bonds maturing Sept 22/15. Pays 5.5% at the current price of $96.86. Since the merger, their balance sheets have strengthened considerably and their net free cash flow has tripled.

2007-10-02

TOP PICK

0.020

Advantage Energy convertibles. 8% coupon maturing Dec 31/11. His view is that natural gas side is due for a rebound in the next couple of years.

2007-10-02

TOP PICK

0.020

Bell 5% maturing Feb 15/17. At the present price of $85.34, it is paying 7.17%. Mildly speculative.

2007-10-02

DON'T BUY

0.020

Bond Funds - You should not buy any bond funds because you are paying too high a management fee for uncertain performance. You don't know what the fund is going to be worth on a year-to-year basis because fund managers extend terms and shorten terms.

2007-10-02

SELL

0.020

Bank of Montreal bond maturing January 2010 and paying 7% is a very short-term bond and it will amortize downwards back to par. Very little chance of a capital gain here.

2007-10-02

TOP PICK

0.020

5.7% Shaw bonds maturing Mar 12/17 yielding 6.50%. Shaw is continuing to improve its business.

2007-07-04

TOP PICK

0.020

4.5% Telus bonds maturing Mar 3/12 yielding 5.78%. Likes the sector and the company.

2007-07-04

TOP PICK

0.020

3.75% Canadian government bonds maturing Jun 1/09 and yielding 4.59%.

2007-07-04

BUY

29.580

Mimics the Scotia Capital Universe Bond Index, so when you buy this, you are buying the bond market. The fees are only .3%. Has an average turnover of about 10 years, duration about 7 with a yield of about 4.25% and the trailing 12-month performance is close to 6%.

2006-12-11

TOP PICK

ATS Automation

ATA-T

10.890

(A Top Pick Oct 31/05. Down 15.4%.) Still likes. Likes their subsidiary Photowatt International, which is in the solar power business. Will be spinning off a portion of this as an IPO.

2006-12-11

TOP PICK

ATS Automation

ATA-T

12.880

Likes their solo energy subsidiary, Photowatt. They are booked to spin off part of it in an IPO. A very exciting area to be in. Upside potential is very attractive.

2006-10-31

PAST TOP PICK

9.470

(A Top Pick Jun 28/06. Up 53.8%.) Sold it on the way up. A good, long-term investment. One of the few independent nickel companies left standing.

2006-10-31

TOP PICK

5.980

With all the mergers and takeovers, it will probably be the largest independent nickel producer left standing. A believer in the long-term commodity cycle. Nickel is one of the things that are in strong demand in Asia. Would be a good buy at five dollars.

2006-06-28

TOP PICK

4.790

Likes the nickel prospects long-term. He's in this for the long haul. Gaining international exposure. It will be one of the few nickel plays left standing after all the mergers and acquisitions. Had a disappointing third-quarter because of currency and production problems.

2005-12-20

BUY

29.520

Represents the entire bond market. A real proxy for the bond market. His outlook is for falling rates in the first-half of 2006.

2005-12-20

TOP PICK