Rogers Communications (B) (RCI.B.TO)

He can’t understand why the government has an insatiable demand for a 4^th national carrier, which they just don’t seem to be able to produce. Everybody says there is no room for a 4^th carrier. Feels the sports franchises they own are not valued in the price of the stock at all. Feels this is a tremendous buy at this price.

(A Top Pick July 4/13. Up 8.65%.) New CEO recently described the company as “a cold plate of spaghetti that needs to be untangled”. He likes that analogy. He likes to buy stocks when the market has an erroneous reaction.

This company is a complete mess, but there are so many great assets inside the company. There are the publicly traded securities they own. Also, has a terrific sports asset where there is a big value. Thirdly cell towers, a huge business in the US, where they are being spun out for $500,000 each. This company has 6,000 cell towers. Yield of 4.26%.

The telecommunications space is having to deal with a very belligerent government that wants to reduce profitability and encourage competition in a market where the public can’t profitably compete. These companies have been able to sustain their dividends and profitability through increased usage of data. More and more we are hearing that new technology and applications are coming around, enabling consumers to bypass the data packages that the cellular packages big companies are providing.

(A Top Pick June 10/13. Up 0.57%.) He had been looking at the fact that there had been a nice setback, and that the stock would be able to bounce back.

Sees slower wireless growth and it will take a couple of years to turn things around. On bad days you could buy it because you get paid your dividend.

Trades at a lower multiple than Bell Canada (BCE-T) or Telus (T-T). There are some positive changes coming out of the Guy Lawrence presidency that has already started to be implemented. Feels the Blue Jays resurgence is going to be a bit of a tailwind for them. Dividend yield of 4.13%.

(A Top Pick June 3/13. Down 0.95%.) Thinks their focus on customer experience will be a good thing down the road. In this space there has been a battle between short-term news and long-term direction. Their acquisition of Spectrum will end up being a big advantage to them down the road.

This is a consistent dividend grower. It is facing a little bit of headwind in terms of wireless penetration. There are other names he prefers in this space.

Earnings are a challenge for them. There is lots of competition. Short term it is a challenge. New management will bring out a new strategy in the next couple of weeks. But they have the cable and wireless infrastructure. Thinks dividend will grow 5% per year and more after the next couple of years. Thinks they have the best structure overall.

Has been out of the whole telecom space for the last few years. Has gone to pipelines and some of the REITs for yield. Canada has 3 strong national players with a lot of regional players so there is a lot of competition. Have a new CEO. They have to shorten the contracts which is creating some short-term increases in churn. She is not looking at getting into this sector.

The government is hell bent on creating a fourth wireless provider in Canada. Thinks people will cut the cord on cable a lot more. He sees them shrinking, although a conservative investor might own them for the dividend.

Would not want to own this one here. His preference would be Cogeco which is cheaper. They have spent a lot of money for different things so they need to execute very, very well over the next little while.

(Market Call Minute.) His least favourite of the telcos. Losing market share and he sees this continuing.

If you’re thinking about a stable company with a good balance sheet and a low payout ratio with room for dividend growth, buy this one. However, 2014 guidance was disappointing. New CEO admitted that it was unsatisfactory. Coming out with new plans in May on how to better grow the business. Cheaper than their peers so it is probably not a bad time buying it, if you believe that management will ultimately unlock shareholder value. He believes this. Try to get it in the $43’s.