Thursday Investment Advice on the Radio

Initial jobless claims in the US were worse than expected this morning and markets have sold off. In addition a bleak outlook by Cisco is weighing on technology. Canadian equities are lower with oil leading the way down approaching the US$76.00 per barrel. However, we are seeing some strength in gold prices which might help the Materials sector. Suprisingly, even with futher oil weakness the Canadian dollar is little changed around the US$0.9550 level.

Credit Suisse reported that while the S&P 500 has had a nice run since March '09, US equity fund flows have actually been negative. To emphasis the point, from the 2009 low to the 2010 peak, the S&P 500 gained 68% while US equity mutual funds suffered outflows of $42 billion; however, ETF asset increased by over $170 billion, potentially indicating a preference for ETF's over mutual funds. For an active investment approach using ETF's call me at 868-5525 or visit yourlifeyourplan.ca