Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST-Q)

High valuation, but paying a premium for a name that has scale and not many competitors. 

Costco and Walmart offer terrific private label products that appeal to consumer starved for value after products were hiked during Covid. True, private label brands aren't growing much, but they keep all prices--including consumer brands--down. The brands are one reason why  Costco and Walmart keep hitting new highs.

World's third-largest retailer. Set apart by narrow product offering, lean supply chain, and good procurement clout. High traffic, repeat business, very high retention at 93%. Very strong same-store sales growth, still not a saturated concept. Great sales growth, earnings growth, compound total return. Despite the run, any day that ends in "y" is a good day to buy. Yield is 0.5%.

Trades at a reasonable valuation. Such a broad company. Their ad business continues to grow and they will remain competitive in data centres (they and Google have the best infrastructure in data centres). Prefers Amazon for its valuation and diversification.

Is down 7%, but buy it when it does down. Investors worry over its 50x PE, and their special dividend is behind them, so what will move this stock ahead? Well, it's the #1 retailer in the world.

The biggest problem is that shares have rallied a lot for a long time and the valuation has climbed too high. Don't buy now, especially considering the weak CAD. You could even take some profits.

(Note the short timeframe.)
Chosen on the theme of defensive retailers. Retailers have been mixed since then, but this one's done well. Otherwise, the sector's been steady and showing growth throughout the year.

Well, that's about his position in this name, which he's been holding since ~$300. Now approaching $1000. He trims, but in a minor way. You'd want to wait for a position to top off.

Excellent company that continues to dominate. Would recommend holding - no reason to sell. Share price not cheap, but company has earned high valuation. Would wait before investing - but if investing - would recommend holding for the long term. 

For consumer staples, he likes to stick close to him. A name that's done very well for client portfolios. Not many names are similar, so it can price accordingly; significant leverage in negotiations.

It's wrong to think its imported foods will get hit by Trump tariffs. Most of its business is driven by membership fees, and they offer low prices to customers. If this opens weak tomorrow, buy.

He doesn't think a recession is around the corner, so he'd favour big-growth COST for continued mid-cycle economic growth in consumer staples.

Has done well. Happy to hold.

One of the favourite names in his portfolio, one of his favourite places to go. Fantastic technicals with higher highs and higher lows. Valuation of 53x forward PE is up there, premium for a premium name in its own space. He's trimmed. 10-12% earnings growth rate, which sounds expensive but it has no real competitors, not even WMT.

Spectacular company, huge competitive advantages. Trades at 60x earnings. Problem is there's nothing he knows about COST that everybody else doesn't already know. He's always looking for an edge that the market doesn't have; if he can't find it, he doesn't buy.