Vail Resorts Inc (MTN)

He is very impressed by this company, which has become a consolidator of the ski industry. They offer a pass that lets customers ski at any of their resorts, which lets customers hedge their weather risks. The stock has done unbelievably well.

(A Top Pick April 17/17 - Up 11.6%.) Sky name. Earnings are not going to be as good as expected but they are going to benefit from tax changes in the US and have tremendous pricing power. Best moat in the world: a mountain. Can’t go and build a mountain. They have this pass now that for 900 dollars you can sky in any of his properties for a year.

(A Top Pick Jan 4/17, Up 33%) They made another acquisition in Vermont. There is no end to snow this year so they will do well. He still likes the stock. Their pre-season ticket sales are up 15% year over year.

The moat is the mountains. They own world class, top properties and are looking to expand. It is not cheap, but they have a good track record of increasing their dividend. (Analysts’ target: $210.00).

Consumer services area of discretionary. This company closed the Whistler Blackcomb acquisition. They have 6 of the 10 top 10 ski resorts globally. They are good at data crunching. It is an unbelievable chart, although very rich. Wait for a bad weather season.

Reported results about 3-4 weeks ago, and everything was ticking along very, very nicely. Thinks they recently bought something in the New England states. They continue to buy in Europe. Just as much business is done in the off-skiing seasons, so it an all-season structure. He likes this, and has owned it in the past.

Made an acquisition of Whistler, which was important, because previously they were entirely subjected to the weather conditions of Colorado. By moving north to an entirely different weather system, it basically doubles its capabilities. The weak Cdn$ is very attractive for both American and European skiers. Vail is basically becoming a 4-season resort operator. Millennials spend a lot of money buying experiences rather than hard goods. He expects the earnings to go up strongly once they consolidate Whistler. Dividend yield of 2%. (Analysts’ price target is $183.71.)

Takeover of WB-T. He does not think there will be another bid. He has not finished researching whether to hold the resulting stock after the takeover closes.