Telus Corp (T.TO)

He owns some, but thinks you basically should move on. You will have better total return in the US in the financials, regional banks especially.

Great dividend yield. They grew their wire line and wireless businesses. They split some of the CAP X with BCE-T. They have a great pricing strategy. He likes the stock here. They are more of a pure play.

Has liked the telecom area. His chosen company has been Bell Canada (BCE-T). This company has also been an excellent one. However, it does have a bigger exposure out west, especially in Alberta. The whole group will suffer when interest rates go up.

A lot of analysts and managers have gotten very negative on the sector recently because growth going forward is going to be slower than it has been and valuations are at the higher end. He won’t argue with that, but compared to the rest of the market, valuations aren’t really that high. Also, you are getting a 4%-5% dividend yield. He doesn’t worry about who the 4^th player in the sector is going to be. Doesn’t think there is going to be very much downside. You have earnings protection.

This would be his 2^nd choice after Bell Canada (BCE-T). The yield isn’t as big. A very smart management. They are doing all the right things. This is the kind of stock you want to have if you are a little bit concerned about volatile markets, which he is. A good stock to put in your portfolio and put it away and clip the dividend.

He is not concerned about the short term move. You have a decent dividend and good growth prospects. A wonderful history of increasing dividends.

The group has been sideways for a little bit. Looking at the earnings, he thought Rogers (RCI.B-T) was the worst of the 3, and BCE (BCE-T) was the best. This is a better entry point for the stock than it has been for a while. As long as you are getting mostly dividend and a little bit of growth and looking for mid to high single digit returns, then it is fine.

He is favourably disposed to the Canadian telecom scene. Prefers BCE (BCE-T). The whole group had a rough quarter, but are coming back a little now. There were some worries at one point about interest rates going up, and that hurt the stocks. There had also been some regulatory worries. This one has a greater exposure to Western Canada, and therefore a greater exposure to Alberta. That has been a worry to the stock, but to him that is more of a short-term worry.

He owns all the Canadian telcos. The primary reason for that is he doesn’t see a whole lot of competition, especially with foreign players coming in. Good space. In terms of future growth, they have been spending money and investing in broadband networks.

This has a pretty diverse business, so doesn’t expect they will have a huge hit because of the energy market.

The government does want to encourage competition. But new entrants are up against 5 very well entrenched companies. It is especially hard when everything is bundled into one package. He likes BCE-T for income and T-T for growth. You should own both.

Classic utility stock, doing well in the summer time. We are outside of the period of seasonal strength, but right now we are seeing a period of strength anyway, so it is probably okay. The trend is your friend.

Likes the telecom area. Likes the slow, but steady growth and the dividend. This is an exceedingly well run company and he is looking at adding to it, however they have an inordinate Western exposure (energy).

Telus (T-T) or Bell Canada (BCE-T)? He is not in the telecom space. This is an oligopoly and is pretty competitive. This one has outperformed Bell in the last little while. There is nothing wrong with either one of them. Because there is a good yield on both of them, they might have a bit of yield sensitivity if the bonds do start to back up a bit. Wouldn’t chase these, but would buy on pullbacks. They are both quality companies.

Of all the operators, she thinks this is probably one of the better ones. They generate a lot of cash flow. One of their objectives is to increase their dividend every year. Have done quite well, partially because they do provide yield. This is more of a safe, defensive bet.