23 Stock Top Picks and 5 ETF (Feb 01-07)

Has a strong global brand: Disney, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and Lucas Film. Their acquisition of 21st Century Fox that just closed boosts their content offering and distribution capabilities for the forthcoming Disney+ streaming service which should do well. Pays a dividend yield of 1.6%. (Analysts’ price target is $128.50) (Christine Poole)

A great company that makes medical devices and does hip replacements. A surgeon that uses their equipment won't suddenly switch to another brand; the doctor will stay with Stryker. A problem is that sometimes the FDA approves medical devices too quickly--though that isn't a problem with Stryker. This is a good long-term hold. (Paul Harris,…

A well-run blue chip. The price fells after a poor Q3. But it's moving into organics and just announced a new poultry operation with a new facility in London, ON. Trades at only 8x EBITDA. Great value. Solid balance sheet. (Analysts’ price target is $38.22) (Colin Stewart)

The biggest U.S. home builder that's acquired other hold builders. They operate mostly in the U.S. south (west and east). Trades at 7x earnings and below book value. Cheap. (Analysts’ price target is $57.10) (Gordon Reid)

HD vs. LOW. He chooses Home Depot. Operationally, HD does a fabulous job. Lowes has underperformed. Demographics are working for both. Tailwind of about 5-10% in revenue. Not as susceptible to the Amazon effect. Lowes is a safe place to be, but muted on the growth. (Chris Stuchberry)

Add to a position? Loves it, but he just took some profits. The banks do better when rates rise and the housing market is improving. Neither is the case. The banks will sit in this range for a while. He also holds BNS for its yield and they operate in Latin America, which he likes.…

He likes the company. It is one of the better components of the financial industry in the US right now. Casualty insurance has been rated a market-perform recently. He thinks there is a hard pricing in personal lines. It is a conservative business. They can raise prices every 12 months. There are three big players.…

You had a sharp move in 2015 and it has been flat since and is at the lower end of that range since. It is heading to the 2010 level of $300 during the next recession. He likes the company and management but there is more downside than upside due to market conditions. (Larry Berman…

With a cap on interest rates, he thinks the profitability of the space will be predictable both in Canada and the US. It is over-weighted to data centres and towers. Yield 3.26% (Cameron Hurst)

He liked this so much because the old Wynne government in Ontario re-imposed rent controls which discouraged the construction of new apartments. CAR.UN has excellent management, However, will the Ford government remove rent control and encourage developers to go into high-end apartments? If so, it could take 5 years to create an oversupply of apartments,…

Buy it on pullback and nearly bought it early last year. A good company. Their long-term chart reflects value creation based by earnings, cash flow and dividend growth. This is the best railway in North America. He likes and may buy at $5-10 lower. (Brian Madden)

It's done quite well, and she missed it. It's fully valued now, so wait for a pullback. She prefers this company in this space, because they're purely services, not construction and so not exposed to cost overruns. They've acquired to grow. (Christine Poole)

He bought in the last couple of weeks with his target being $220. US defense budgets will hang in under Trump. The outlook in missile defense and the middle east will hang in. They are also a leader in intelligence, software encryption and so on. (Analysts’ price target is $207.05) (Bruce Murray)

The rails are stickhandling through the economy very well. Uncertainties include China refusing some crops. This is an economy stock, and the economy is chugging along at 2%. Oil shipments out of Alberta should continue for a while. Efficiencies in new track laid continue to creep into the system. The rails will do well as…

With this new 4-year cycle, transports will do well including AC. True, we'll continue to see weak world economic data, but this data is always backward-looking while the market looks forward. This ia great chart with a long sideways consolidation, then has broken to the upside. He is targeting $40. (Analysts’ price target is $41.31)…

(A Top Pick Jul 24/18, Up 8%) He continues to rank it highly although he no longer owns it. (Robert McWhirter)

(A Top Pick Oct 17/18, Down 2%) Cloud content management. Manages Fortune 500 companies data. Stock dropped on lower growth. He thinks longer term, it's going higher. (Chris Stuchberry)

Big data alone will represent 30% of all data stored in data centers and Google is the leader here. Decently price with a PEG ratio of 1.61. They have great non-advertising revenues streams. A gem. 5.5% position in their portfolio. (Analysts’ price target is $1368.82) (Kim Bolton)

He owns this personally -- a bit speculative for his clients. A play on 5G technology. The growth in the antenna space is great. The outlook is great long term. Small cap. A speculative buy. (Norman Levine)

(A Top Pick Dec 15/17, Up 9%) They had a couple of clients who delayed rolling out their services, but the stock has still done well. He still likes the growth potential. They are sitting on $200 million in cash. (Peter Hodson)

From what he hears from his kids, he thinks users will move away from Facebook, like Snapchat. Data concerns will be a negative. (Jaime Carrasco)

Software as a service. It is the strongest sector, period – in the last two years. It makes software that is used to manage workflow such as for companies that provide IT servicing. It is growing rapidly. 35% year over year. They have running room in front of them. (Analysts’ price target is $233.32) (David…

Visa vs. Mastercard He's owned both for 10 years. Now, Visa is slightly cheaper, but neither are cheap. 24x earnings for both. But growth is also high in the high-teens. PEG ratio is 1.3 for both. You can't go wrong with either. (Don Lato)

Consensus says that the EMs will be the place to be. XEC is: China 30%, Korea 14%, Taiwan 12%. India 10% and Brazil 7%. MER of 0.25%. These countries are doing fine. This is a safe way to invest in the world. (David Cockfield)

Not without its volatility. Some leaked documents on pension reform causing it to move today. Good support and he likes the technical confirmation. Yield 2.5% (Cameron Hurst)

(A Top Pick Apr 11/18, Up 25%) It is high quality with a 1.0 beta. He would stick with it as the fundamental still hold true -- aging population, diabetes, etc. There are 29 million US adults with Type 2 diabetes and another 84 million are pre-diabetic -- almost 1 in 3 adults. (Cameron Hurst)

A simple single-ticket solution instead of buying a basket of ETFs. It's cheap and diversified. This may be too simple and not for everyone. It's good for people who find investing unsavoury. (John DeGoey)

Equal weight indexes is something they like. He likes Europe. The market weight index tends to be lumpy with the large companies in it. Many companies serve in emerging markets. Trades on NEO not on the TSX. (Terry Shaunessy)