There were three main factors that pushed my move from the safe and secure GIC and Mutual funds market to straight up stocks, and all reasons involve frustration. The US$ Exchange rate has plummeted over the last 5 years I have been in business, since most of my income is from the USA, the $0.50 drop from US$ to CA$ has really hurt. Once I used to get $1.58 Canadian for every $1.00 US. Clearly, that was a boom time, but the rate started to drop and now I get par, or less than the face value of my US checks when converting them to Canadian. Buying stocks with my US currency is a way of trying to improve on a bad situation. Secondly, over the years my Guaranteed Investments (GICs) have not provided yields far enough ahead of inflation to make it worth my while. My mutual funds (bought from my bank) are performing poorly while my professionally invested mutual funds are doing far better, but I need more diversification.

My portfolio reflects what I believe will be big or important in 5 to 10 years, with primary focus on long-term growth rather than short term gains. Reading about a company's plans for 2010 and investing now doesn't really bother me if I believe the company is a good investment in the long run.

Alternative Energy: A primary part of my portfolio is made up of companies that are known to be working on alternative energy sources, or otherwise involved in energy. As emerging markets continue to grow, there will no doubt be a greater demand for energy and above all, a move towards cleaner energy with the current awareness surrounding climate change.
Natural Resources: The Earth can only provide so many resources, most of them non-renewable. This nearly guaruntees that future commodity prices of these resources will rise indefinitely until completely depleted. Of course, finding new supplies of such materials, or synthetic replacements are possible and may tumble value of these commodities, but those breakthroughs are not exactly common.
Agriculture: There are very few industries that affect us more than agriculture. Without the capability to grow and produce food products, we cannot exist. The long-term growth of the agriculture sector is well described in this excerpt from Popular Science, Jan 2008: "Crop yields will need to roughly double in the next 50 years to keep up with the pace of population growth."

3M Company (MMM) Technology 3M Company (3M) is a diversified technology company with a presence in various businesses, including industrial and transportation, healthcare, display and graphics, consumer and office, safety, security and protection services, and electro and communications. 2% Advanced Battery Technologies Inc. (ABAT) Technology Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc (ABAT) is a holding company engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and marketing of rechargeable polymer lithium-ion (PLI) batteries 1% Agrium Inc (AGU) Potash Mining Provides fertilizer products to a variety of customers in agricultural, industrial, speciality and export markets. 1% Air Products and Chemicals (APD) Chemical APC is the worlds largest supplier of helium products. Growing demand is causing world Helium prices to increase. 0% Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) Retail / Tech Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon.com) operates retail Websites, which enables its consumer customers to find and discover anything they might want to buy online. 2% Aurizon Mines Ltd (ARZ) Gold Mining Aurizon Mines Ltd. is a Canada-based gold producer with operations and development activities in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec. 0% BP (BP) Oil and Gas British Petrolium (BP for short) is known widely for their gasoline, but more and more are being associated with alternative energy and carbon footprint reduction technology. 3% Cameco Corporation (CCJ/CCO) Uranium Mining Cameco is the worlds largest supplier of Uranium, primarily located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. 4% Canadian National Railway (CNR) Transportation Canadian National Railway Company (CN) directly and through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the rail and related transportation business. 1% China Mobile (CHL) Telecommunications Looking at the mobile cell phone market in North America, it is hard to imagine that the market in China will not be booming as well. 2% Clearwire Corporation (CLWR) Telecommunications This company is working together with partners to provide WiMax community-wide broadband internet. 1% Diego PLC (DEO) Beverages (Alcohol) Since I am an amateur alcoholic, I decided it was worthwhile to invest in the drinks business. Diego is the owner of the Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Baileys, and Guinness brands, among others. 2% Eastern Platinum Ltd (ELR) Precious Metals Eastern Platinum Limited (Eastplats) is a platinum group metal (PGM) producer engaged in the acquisition, development and mining of PGM with properties located in various provinces in South Africa. 1% Eldorado Gold Corporation (ELD) Gold Mining Eldorado Gold Corporation (Eldorado) is a gold exploration, development, mining and production company based in Vancouver, Canada. 1% Equinox Minerals Limited (ESO) Mining Equinox Minerals Limited (Equinox) is an international mineral exploration and development company with a focus on base and precious metals. Equinox has exploration activity being undertaken in Zambia and interests in Australia and Peru. The Company owns the Lumwana Copper Project (Lumwana), a copper project located in the North Western Province of Zambia. 2% European Goldfields Ltd (EGU) Gold Mining European Goldfields Ltd. (European Goldfields) is a resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Greece, Romania and South-East Europe. 3% First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FM) Mining First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FQM) is engaged in the production of copper, gold and acid, and related activities, including exploration, development and processing. 4% GameStop Corp (GME) Retail (Technology) GameStop Corp. (GameStop) is a retailer of video game products and personal computer (PC) entertainment software. 2% General Electric Co (GE) Power and Technology GE is an innovative company which is moving in many different directions, with global impact. "Imagination at Work" is their slogan, and have made significant improvements in the sectors from energy and water to electronics and aviation. 3% Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL) Clothing Gildan Activewear Inc. (Gildan) is a vertically integrated marketer and manufacturer of activewear, underwear and socks. 3% Honda Motor Company Ltd (HMC) Auto Manufacturing HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD. is a Japan-based company primarily engaged in the development, production and sale of various motor products. 1% Husky Energy Inc (HSE) Oil and Gas Husky Energy Inc. is a Canadian integrated energy and energy-related company with three business segments: upstream, midstream and downstream. 1% IAMGOLD Corp (IMG) Gold Mining IAMGOLD Corporation (IMG) is a Canada-based gold mining and exploration company. IAMGOLD’s interests include eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty and exploration projects located throughout Africa and the Americas. 7% iRobot (IRBT) Robotics and Electronics Dedicated to robotic appliances, famous for the Roomba automated vacuum. Their future products are meant to do tediuos tasks that people dont like to do. 3% Jinshan Gold Mines Inc (JIN) Gold Mining Jinshan Gold Mines Inc. (Jinshan) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the People’s Republic of China. 1% Kinross Gold Corporation (K) Gold Mining Kinross Gold Corporation (Kinross) is engaged in gold mining and related activities, including exploration and acquisition of gold-bearing properties, the extraction and processing of ore, and reclamation of mining properties. 1% Minefinders Corp. Ltd (MFL) Mining Minefinders Corporation Ltd. is in the business of mining, development and exploration of precious and base metal properties. 1% Monsanto Company (MON) Agriculture Monsanto Company (Monsanto), along with its subsidiaries, is a global provider of agricultural products for farmers. 2% Ocean Power Technologies, Inc (OPTT) Energy Technology Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. develops and is commercializing systems that generate electricity by harnessing the renewable energy of ocean waves. 1% Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (POT) Potash Mining Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PCS) is an integrated fertilizer and related industrial and feed products company. During the year ended December 31, 2006, the Companys potash operations represented an estimated 15% of global production, 22% of global potash excess capacity. 2% Quadra Mining Ltd (QUA) Mining Quadra Mining Ltd. (Quadra) is a base metal producing company. The Company, through its 100% owned subsidiary Robinson Nevada Mining Company (RNMC), owns and operates the Robinson copper mine, an open pit copper mine, with gold and molybdenum by-product credits, located in Ely, Nevada. 2% Red Back Mining Inc (RBI) Gold Mining Red Back Mining Inc. is a mineral resource corporation engaged in operating, exploring, acquiring and developing mineral properties. 1% SunPower Corporation (SPWR) Energy Technology SunPower Corporation (SunPower) is a vertically integrated solar products and services company that designs, manufactures and markets high-performance solar electric power technologies. Its solar power products are sold through its components business segment, or its components segment. 2% Taseko Mines Ltd (TKO) Mining Taseko Mines Limited (Taseko) is a mining exploration, development and production company. Its main assets are the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine and the Prosperity and gold-copper project and the Harmony gold project. 1% Uranium One Inc (UUU) Uranium Mining Uranium One, Inc., formerly SXR Uranium One Inc., is engaged in the mining and production of uranium, and in the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the production of uranium, in Kazakhstan, South Africa, United States, Australia and Canada. 6% Visa Inc (V) Credit and FInancial Who doesnt know what VISA Is? The worlds largest and most accepted credit card company. 2% Viterra Inc (VT) Agriculture Viterra Inc., formerly Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc., is a Canadian agribusiness organized into five segments: Grain Handling and Marketing, Agri-products, Agri-food Processing, Livestock Feed and Services, and Financial Products. 2% Western Goldfields (WGI) Gold Mining Western Goldfields, Inc. is engaged in the exploration for, development and extraction of precious metals. It is an independent gold production and exploration company with a focus on precious metal mining opportunities in North America. The Mesquite Mine is the Company’s sole mineral property. 2% Yamana Gold Inc (AUY) Gold Mining Yamana Gold Inc. (Yamana) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of mineral properties. Yamana’s principal product is gold. The Company has gold production, development stage properties, exploration properties and land positions in Brazil Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States. 1%