The way things are shaping up, it will be the mining sector and energy sectors--again! More specifically, gold and oil and gas, (just make sure you're not buying into an income trust!). We could base this opinion at least partly on past performance.

Apparently, in the past six years, for the period between November and February, mining stocks listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange yielded an average return of 19.8%. It is also impressive that for the past eight years, energy stocks listed on Canada's major stock exchange yielded an average return of 16.1%.

Aside from seasonality effects, there are other things driving mining and energy sectors up. As economies on both sides of the border are slowing down, and as both dollars are hitting soft patches, investors are likely to turn to gold again as the only viable alternative to real money.

In addition, geopolitical instabilities are still likely to play a role in driving oil prices up. But, more importantly, the balance between the demand and supply in both sectors appears to be tipping in favor of the demand, as the supply loses the pace.

For example, the OPEC has decided to decrease oil production until prices stabilize to a more desired level between $65.00 and $70.00 a barrel. With prices at that level, the gold sector is likely to be caught in the momentum as well.

Note that currently, both sectors are considered pariahs as far as "smart money" is concerned, so there are quite a few cheap, but quality stocks out there.