STOCKCHASE

4.150

A purely retail bank in the UK. First-half numbers had revenues of little bit higher, margins are stabilizing and loan losses were down considerably. Expect they will start paying a dividend in the 2nd half of 2011. Trades below Book.

2010-08-26

TOP PICK

141.810

Think they have settled their issues with the SEC. Trades at 1.1X Book. Has one of the best investment banking franchises in the world.

2010-08-26

TOP PICK

BCE Inc.

BCE-T

32.650

Probably not a lot of growth but what is really key is that these companies wanted to be Internet companies, made acquisitions, and then sold them all and have now reverted to being a utility. Throwing off lots of free cash. Great dividend.

2010-08-26

PAST TOP PICK

23.820

(A Top Pick Sept 1/09. Up 1%.) Had very strong numbers and Windows 7 is a very good product but the stock does not go up. There should be some change at the top before the stock moves up

2010-08-26

PAST TOP PICK

George Weston Ltd.

WN-T

82.190

(A Top Pick Sept 1/09. Up 47%.) Sold his holdings at about $74. Fairly valued at these levels.

2010-08-26

PAST TOP PICK

12.470

(A Top Pick Sept 1/09. Down 24%.) Had run up to about $20 but has come back down again. Still likes the story and the US banking industry as a whole. They don't lend money, buy treasuries and the balance sheets are going to look fantastic in a year or two.

2010-08-26

BUY

Royal Bank

RY-T

48.950

(Market Call Minute.) Good time to buy this one. Great company.

2010-08-26

BUY

Altria Group Inc

MO-N

22.610

(Market Call Minute.) A great company. If you're comfortable with cigarettes and has a great yield. Good margins.

2010-08-26

BUY

HSBC Holdings P L C

HBC-N

48.930

(Market Call Minute.) Great global franchise in banking. Very good company and well run.

2010-08-26

DON'T BUY

Nokia

NOK-N

8.720

(Market Call Minute.)

2010-08-26

DON'T BUY

Diageo PLC

DEO-N

65.260

(Market Call Minute.) The only problem is that organic growth is only 2%. Spent about 14% in marketing. Good thing is they throw off $2 billion in free cash flow and increased their dividend by 6%. Fairly valued.

2010-08-26

BUY

A T & T US

T-N

26.700

Great story at these levels. Double-digit earnings growth going into 2011. Smart phone and the phone business is going to grow so is expecting higher margins. 6.5% yield.

2010-08-26

BUY

Telefonica S.A.

TEF-N

64.650

Unique company because not only does it have a franchise on wireless and wire line in Spain, but have the largest franchise in Latin America, one of the fastest growing areas globally. Yield of 7.6%.

2010-08-26

DON'T BUY

General Electric

GE-N

14.500

GE Capital was driving them for many years and that hurt them in 2008. Other parts of the business are very good. Doesn't think it will ever get the valuation that it had 5 years ago. Recent acquisitions have been higher risk.

2010-08-26

DON'T BUY

Vodafone Group PLC

VOD-Q

23.060

Some inroads in China and India but stuck in an awkward situation with their joint deal with Verizon (VZ-N). Grew in Europe but didn't substantially grow in other parts of the world. 7.5% yield.

2010-08-26

BUY

Johnson & Johnson

JNJ-N

57.800

Currency is an important aspect when buying a US stock but you also want to look for a higher rate of return to compensate for the currency risk. This is a great company with a great ROE and a decent yield. Long-term hold.

2010-08-26

DON'T BUY

Annaly Capital Management Inc.

49.450

Very cheap at almost 8X next year's earnings. Make lots of money and lots of free cash flow. Product selling price continues to go down. Was a great enterprise company but didn't make a great product for retail.

2010-08-26

BUY

NLY-N

17.020

Basically buys mortgages. A risk is if short-term interest rates go up substantially. Also bought mortgages at premiums so the BV of mortgages is higher and people will pay down higher rates first. 15.9% yield.

2010-08-26

BUY on WEAKNESS

Manulife Financial

MFC-T

11.680

Difficult story. Would probably buy if it got to $10 again. Missed their capital ratios and investors feel they are very much tied to the equity market. Very hard for insurance companies to operate in this low interest-rate environment.

2010-08-26

DON'T BUY

Goldcorp Inc

G-T

45.850

Likes gold but prefers Agnico-Eagle (AEM-T) as there is a better opportunity for growth.

2010-08-26

BUY

Westshore Terminals Inc.

WTE.UN-T

18.050

Largest coal terminal on the west coast. A play on China. This is really a tollbooth, as it doesn't run on the price of coal. Almost $100 million in cash and no debt. 9.1% yield.

2010-08-26

BUY

US Bancorp

USB-N

20.970

Very good retail bank and very well run. Super regional.

2010-08-26

WEAK BUY

Total SA

TOT-N

46.640

There is an issue that the world is slowing down, going to be a double dip and oil has not done anything so this is the opportunity for oil stocks. Oil will eventually be higher than it is today. Because of what happened with BP in the gulf, there will be more restrictions, which cuts off the supply. He would prefer a Canadian company because of currency risks.

2010-08-26

TOP PICK

3.410

Good restructuring play. One of the best retail banks in the UK. 24% return on equity in the retail franchise alone. Forced to acquire HBOS in 2008 making them a much larger retail bank. Selling off some HBOS assets on the corporate banking side. Did a large rights issue that kept UK government below 50% and allowed them to run their own company. Can make a lot of money over the next 3-5 years.

2010-06-24

TOP PICK

134.980

One of the largest investment banks globally. Known for taking a lot of risks in the proprietary banking side and will continue to do so. Trading at about 7X earnings with a little more than 1% yield.

2010-06-24

TOP PICK

Cisco

CSCO-Q

22.570

Great story. Has continued to have 65% gross margins even when the tech bubble collapsed. Great management. Made some brilliant acquisitions and strengthened their product range. $39 billion in cash, about $6 a share.

2010-06-24

PAST TOP PICK

Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund

25.000

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 25%.) Great opportunity for their enterprise side to do quite well. Windows 7 is doing very well and they're coming out with a new office product.

2010-06-24

PAST TOP PICK

CGX.UN-T

19.680

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 45%.) Will continue to pay 6% yield after they convert. 3-D side has really taken off. Concessions continue to do well. Very defensive.

2010-06-24

PAST TOP PICK

15.020

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 33.2%.) Great investment bank and great international banking. Has 10% of all deposits in the US. Great credit card business.

2010-06-24

DON'T BUY

CitiGroup

C-N

3.780

U.S. Treasury sold over $1 billion worth of stocks. They do this when they think the price is right and will do it in a timely way over a long period of time. Not a fan of this bank is he can't see the drivers of their growth. (See Top Picks.)

2010-06-24

BUY on WEAKNESS

Whirlpool Corp

WHR-N

94.290

Association of home appliance Manufacturers growth numbers showed 10.2% and this company's numbers were about 9.3%. Great story with a recovery in the US consumer. US cash program for buying appliances is slowly coming off that could dampen it. There will be a chance to buy it lower.

2010-06-24

Comment

Northland Power Income Fund

61.090

Just reported and beat estimates but sales and subscriber numbers were disappointing. Cheap at 11X next year's earnings. Although the smart phone market is growing, this company is not participating enough.

2010-06-24

BUY

Transocean Inc.

RIG-N

49.750

Expect they will have a higher liability on the Gulf spill that people are estimating that he thinks the stock price is already saying that. Buying it at this price makes a lot of sense. There will be continued growth in deep water drilling.

2010-06-24

BUY

BCE Inc.

BCE-T

30.960

Great company. Management has done a great job of bringing down the costs. Have also looked at the individual businesses to see what the return of capital is. Good growth in wireless. Service side has increased incredibly.

2010-06-24

Comment

Telus Corp

T-T

40.880

Good company but feels there's more growth in BCE (BCE-T).

2010-06-24

BUY

NPI.UN-T

13.930

7.8% yield will stay the same after they convert. Some really good growth in this business. They not only run their plants, they also develop their plants. Cash flow will be very tight over the next couple of years because of projects coming on but this will result in a lot of growth. Not a fan of their German wind projects.

2010-06-24

WATCH

BP PLC

BP-N

28.740

Stock will move based on a lot of the news around it. Did the right thing by not paying their dividends. Think they will pay out less on the Gulf spill than people expect and will take them a longer time than people expect. Once the bashing by the US government stops, the stock will probably base here and probably go up.

2010-06-24

DON'T BUY

General Electric

GE-N

15.080

Not been a fan for a long time. Grew by acquisition and when they weren't allowed to acquire Honeywell (HON-N) it didn't allow them to really grow. Will never get the high multiples that it did prior to that. Although GE Capital is healing itself, it is still a very large part of their business so is still under performing. Businesses they have gone into are higher volatility.

2010-06-24

BUY

COGECO Inc

CGO-T

30.500

Great assets. Capital expenditure is going down. Can provide a lot of products to clients. Slightly defensive in many ways. Would like to see the 1.3% dividend increased. Good story. He prefers BCE (BCE-T).

2010-06-24

Comment

Pepsi

PEP-N

62.400

Great company. Unlike Coca-Cola (KO-N), it is not just a juice company but also has a food business. Bought back their bottling companies, which he feels was a bad deal from a return on capital basis. Also a lot of the foods are not really good for you. Well run.

2010-06-24

BUY

Telefonica S.A.

TEF-N

58.390

Great business. Although Spain is having a lot of economic issues, a lot of their growth is in Latin America. Growth is coming from their wireless business. Currently trying to buy out the joint venture in Brazil from Telecom Portugal. Very cheap. Almost a 9% free cash flow yield.

2010-06-24

BUY

Altria Group Inc

MO-N

19.620

Incredibly well run company. Quite cheap at the present time. Great yield at over 7%. Very low capital expenditures. Tons of free cash flow. Growing internationally. You have to deal with the issue that if this is a tobacco company.

2010-06-24

BUY

Fort Chicago Energy Partners

FCE.UN-T

10.600

No problem in meeting their dividend. In a great sector. Transportation of gas will continue to do well over a long period of time. Has another 15%-20% upside.

2010-06-24

BUY

Diageo PLC

DEO-N

64.310

Have 9 of the top 20 liquor brands globally. Raise their dividend every year. Great consistent company over a long period of time. Capital expenditure is very low and they throw off lots of free cash. A lot of potential upside, probably 20%-30% if not more.

2010-06-24

TOP PICK

Westshore Terminals Inc.

WTE.UN-T

15.040

Largest coal terminal in North and South America on the west coast. There is no commodity risk. $90 million in cash, no debt and pays about 10% yield.

2010-05-19

TOP PICK

3.300

British retail bank. Made an acquisition in 2008-2009, which made them much. Trades below Book Value and add about 8X next year's earnings. Good restructuring story.

2010-05-19

TOP PICK

Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund

140.100

Trades at 7X earnings and 6X next year's earnings. Earnings have gone up in the last little while even with all the regulatory issues. Great global franchise.

2010-05-19

PAST TOP PICK

CGX.UN-T

20.120

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 46%.) 6% yield, which should continue after they convert to a corporation. Still a buy.

2010-05-19

PAST TOP PICK

16.310

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 45%.) Have a lot of great assets. Merrill Lynch will work out for them but will take a bit of time. Think they can make $4-$5 a share over the next 4-5 years. If it trades at 10X earnings, it is a $40-$50 stock.

2010-05-19

PAST TOP PICK

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust

28.240

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 40%.) Great story. Good products coming out. Still a buy.

2010-05-19

Comment

Google

GOOG-Q

494.430

Fantastic franchise but they have to spread their tentacles of a lot more and get involved in a lot of different areas such as mobile data and smart phones. Will continue to have higher margins and they'll grow their business but the issue is they are much more under the scope of authorities.

2010-05-19

STRONG BUY

Telefonica S.A.

TEF-N

57.840

Spanish telecom company that has fixed line and mobile in Spain but also a great, very large franchise in Latin and South America. 1st quarter was poor in their fixed line but growth is coming on their mobile side. Trading at 5.1 to EBITDA. Free cash flow yield of about 11.9%. 9% dividend yield.

2010-05-19

BUY

AX.UN-T

11.300

Great company, well run and good management. REITs will not have a change in their tax structure. 9.4% yield.

2010-05-19

DON'T BUY

CitiGroup

C-N

3.810

Prefers others since this is in an awkward situation as the things that made them lots of money previously, they no longer have the capacity to do that again. Not a big US retail bank but a New York retail bank.

2010-05-19

DON'T BUY

Apple

AAPL-Q

248.340

Great story but one of the problems he has is that it is a highly valued stock, which everybody loves and analysts keep pushing up earnings estimates. You are paying a very high multiple for basically an electronics company. Priced for perfection. Pricing may come down on their products.

2010-05-19

DON'T BUY

China Mobile Hong Kong

CHL-N

47.530

On China's mobile/fixed line market there is lots of price competition. Data and smart phone business is exploding there. They still have a 2G network so there are a lot of problems.

2010-05-19

WATCH

Banco Santander SA

STD-N

10.830

Spain is one of the more difficult countries in Europe right now with almost 20% unemployment. Well run bank with some great assets. Situation in Spain will probably get worse so you will be able to get this at a lower price. It will bounce back and do well.

2010-05-19

Comment

A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert

67.700

Great product. Suffers from a couple of different things from Apple (AAPL-Q). Apple has AI phone allowing a great number of apps to be written. RIM has many different kinds of phones. Cheap stock.

2010-05-19

BUY

Veolia Environnement

VE-N

26.350

French environmental company with water (35%), energy services, transportation and waste management. Had a lot of debt and new management is trying to bring it down. Reducing costs and selling off non-core assets. Lower margins in the water business. Europeans are liberalizing their rail business in 2012, which should help them. Good entry level.

2010-05-19

PARTIAL SELL

Bank of Nova Scotia

BNS-T

50.270

Everybody should hold a Canadian bank in their portfolio but they are getting to the higher level of their valuations now. If you own any Canadian banks, you could take some money off the table.

2010-05-19

DON'T BUY

New York Times Co.

NYT-N

9.110

Possible short? (He doesn't short stocks.) Newspaper industry is under a lot of pressure. Losing subscribers and the digital world is taking away a lot of their business.

2010-05-19

Comment

Credit Suisse Group

CS-N

40.380

Have done an incredible job compared to the other Swiss banks during 2008-2009. Downsized their investment side considerably over a period of time, which has really helped them out. He would prefer UBS AG (UBS-N) at this level.

2010-05-19

BUY

A Commentary

0.020

(Market Call Minute.) Natural gas? Likes natural gas and you want to be buying companies at these levels.

2010-05-19

DON'T BUY

Suncor Energy Inc

SU-T

31.150

(Market Call Minute.) Doesn't like this one. But a very different company when they got Petrocan, which he didn't like anyways. A lot of execution risks.

2010-05-19

BUY on WEAKNESS

BP PLC

BP-N

45.270

(Market Call Minute.) Have taken off $25 billion of market cap, which is far more than what it will cost them. Yields 6% with a PE of 6 or 7.

2010-05-19

TOP PICK

4.180

One of the best performing retail banks in Britain for many years. Did an in-market merger very cheaply and these are always very cost-effective for banks. Margins have improved and loan losses are looking better. One of the best restructuring place in Europe.

2010-04-22

TOP PICK

Manulife Financial

MFC-T

19.380

Insurance industry used to trade at a premium to the banking industry but is now at a discount. Has very strong franchise in Canada, US and internationally. Having capital is not a problem for them anymore.

2010-04-22

TOP PICK

159.050

Benefiting from its global investment banking franchise. They are in the top 5 in every field of investment banking.

2010-04-22

PAST TOP PICK

Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund

31.390

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 53.5% excluding dividends.) Still likes because of Windows 7 and other products that are coming out.

2010-04-22

PAST TOP PICK

CGX.UN-T

20.760

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 42.3% excluding distributions.) There is great growth in the movie business. Recession proof. 6.5% yield.

2010-04-22

PAST TOP PICK

Annaly Capital Management Inc.

18.540

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 64.1%.) Merrill Lynch and Countrywide are going to work out for them. Growth potential in earnings is pretty high. Dividend is going to come back.

2010-04-22

STRONG BUY

Sunlife Financial

SLF-T

31.010

A great story here. About 4.5% yield. Trading at a discount to the banks so there are some good growth prospects. (See Top Picks.)

2010-04-22

Comment

Volkswagen AG

VOW-GR

0.000

(Volkswagen on the German exchange.) Rather than buying European stocks on your own, you are better off with an ETF that covers Europe. Also be aware of the currency issues.

2010-04-22

BUY

McDonalds

MCD-N

71.030

Trades at about 15X earnings. Quarterly numbers were incredible. Same-store sales globally were up 5.2% and in US were up 4.2%. Coming out with some very innovative products in the next little while. Increased margins by about 200 basis points. Try to buy it cheaper if you can.

2010-04-22

BUY

ArcelorMittal

MT-N

42.260

Had a lot of issues with debt on their balance sheet and were very close to some covenants on the debt side. Expecting some good growth in the economy and steel will do well. Also own a lot of iron ore, which used to have prices set once a year but is now done quarterly.

2010-04-22

BUY

Oracle

ORCL-Q

26.240

Has done a very good job of consolidating an industry that had many players. Have been able to make all their acquisitions work out. The power of this is coming through their future earnings potential. They now have a sort of oligopoly.

2010-04-22

Comment

Canadian Oil Sands Trust

COS.UN-T

30.760

The Chinese purchase of part of Syncrude probably makes this company more valuable but not sure the market is going to give them value for this.

2010-04-22

DON'T BUY

Suncor Energy Inc

SU-T

33.860

Can see a lot of growth from this, so doesn't own it. Still a lot of merger risks.

2010-04-22

DON'T BUY

CitiGroup

C-N

4.870

Will probably go up but his problem is that it is basically a New York bank and doesn't have the power of a retail franchise, which gives a good return at very low cost of capital.

2010-04-22

BUY

NLY-N

17.250

Involved in mortgages with an interesting method. They fund themselves on the low end of the curve and lend on the high but if rates start to go up in the US they will start to get hurt. Don't take on as many credit risks as people think. High yield.

2010-04-22

BUY

Expedia

EXPE-Q

24.530

Trading around 16X earnings. Recent numbers had some margin compression, partially caused by having a bunch of “marketing spend” because of going into a difficult period in travel. Thinks this will come off and margins will increase. Great free cash flow yield of about 9%.

2010-04-22

WATCH

Ahold (Amsterdam Exchange)

71.470

A big player in the smart phone and smart phones are growing. They have to come out with some new products to be more competitive with Apple (AAPL-Q). Have to change their interface to get to the web.

2010-04-22

Comment

AH-AEX

12.740

(Amsterdam exchange.) Food stores. Very good company. Own a large franchise in the US and a good franchise in Europe. Margins are getting better. Better to look at things in Canada where you don't have the currency risk.

2010-04-22

BUY

Bonavista Energy Trust

BNP.UN-T

24.020

One of the best managed companies in the industry. Low-cost producer and continues to grow their production.

2010-04-22

DON'T BUY

Nokia

NOK-N

12.990

Good balance sheet so dividend is not at risk. Issue is that it was a leader in its field, had great supply chain management but has fallen by the wayside and has not come out with competitive products. Have a lot of sets in Asia but average selling price goes down every quarter.

2010-04-22

TOP PICK

3.850

One of the best banking restructuring stories in Europe. At its core it is really a retail bank. Not involved with investment banking. Forced to acquire HBOS in 2008, which gave them lots of cost synergies. Just announced they will be profitable in 2010. Could possibly go up 30%-40% in current environment. Cheap.

2010-03-25

TOP PICK

30.010

Windows 7 has done very well and they booked $1 billion in revenues in the last quarter and have another $2 billion they can book in the next little while. Several new products coming out in 2010. Expecting great benefits from the Yahoo deal.

2010-03-25

TOP PICK

BCE Inc.

BCE-T

30.760

Almost 6% yield and has great ability to increase its dividend. Trading at about 12% free cash flow yield.

2010-03-25

PAST TOP PICK

Cisco

CSCO-Q

26.430

(A Top Pick March 26/09. Up 53.8%.) Still likes. Great balance sheet and lots of cash. Made several good acquisitions during the downturn. Kept its margins up. New router product should be very good.

2010-03-25

PAST TOP PICK

Johnson & Johnson

JNJ-N

64.570

(A Top Pick March 26/09. Up 22.2% excluding dividends.) Trading at one of its lowest historic multiples. 3% yield. The pure pharma companies are suffering from a lack of new drugs but this one is well diversified.

2010-03-25

PAST TOP PICK