26 Stock Top Picks and 3 ETF (Dec 14-20)

Opinion about OLED-Q: Patent on cellphone screens, from which they collect royalties. Good business as long as the patent goes on.

Opinion about NTNX-Q: Very trendy stock. What the markets wants right now - despite valuation. Would wait for weakness before buying. 

Opinion about CSCO-Q: Was upgraded today. Trades at 16x PE and a 6% free cash flow yield. Earnings should grow 5-9%. It's been flat for a while, but so was MSFT. Stocks need time to consolidate.

Opinion about V-N: Largest payment processor in the world. Still lots of growth potential outside NA for transitioning from cash to digital. Value-added services, such as cybersecurity, are now almost 25% of revenue base. Robust network. Don't discount them because of stablecoin, will be actively involved.

Opinion about AAPL-Q: Is -6% the past year and -19.7% this year, and has been trading sideways as the rest of tech has been roaring. The company last gave tepid guidance because of Trump (25% tariff on iPhones), and gave an adverse ruling against their app stores. The stock is out of favour, uncertain, but…

Opinion about PE-N: (A Top Pick Sep 01/20, Up 56.4%)Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly Our PAST TOP PICK with PE has resulted in the company being acquired by Pioneer Natural Resources. We are considering the position now closed at the last market closing price of $16.93. Combined with the previous recommendation to cover 50%, the…

Opinion about WPX-N: The best valuation opportunities are in Canada, he thinks. He would sell WPX for the tax loss and buy Parsley instead, who has better exposure to Canada.

Opinion about BTE-T: (A Top Pick May 23/24, Down 48%) It's down because of the fall in oil prices, pure and simple. He sold this around $4. The stock will excel if oil returns to $70+, but not at $60. He will revisit this at better oil prices later.

Opinion about WCP-T: WCP vs. ARX He'd skew toward ARX, as it's the best-run intermediate O&G company in Canada. On most fundamental metrics, WCP is cheaper. It depends on your own investing style. He's often willing to pay up for management that he considers superior. In a 5-10 year timeframe, you can't go wrong with…

Opinion about VET-T: If you own, sell it and buy names like WCP, which pays a higher dividend.  VET's bases are scattered around the world. VET poorly executes.

Opinion about SGY-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research SGY is quite small at $510M, but the stock is very cheap. With a 10% dividend, a buyer (or privatization) could eliminate the dividend and use internal cash flow to pay for the whole company in about three years. But, that doesn't…

Opinion about TRP-T: He owned it for a while. Had a big run-up last year but thinks it is pretty much done now with a lot of insider selling. Tends to have big swings.

Opinion about LXE-X: They're in northeast BC where Tourmaline is consolidating land and assets, near LXE. So, LXE will become topical. LXE has reached an inflection point after acquiring a lot of land and pushed the Montney play to the northeast. Now, they need a lot of capital to move to full development. They're talking…

Opinion about SPY-N: SPY is the oldest and the biggest. Buy more, hold forever. Starting to be overtaken by VOO, perhaps because of the slight difference in MER cost. Worthwhile contacting the ETF company itself for a tax opinion on which account is best to hold it in.

Opinion about TLT-Q: On every dip to the $85-86 range, he's been maximizing his duration exposure into the recent weakness. He's overweight right now.There's a narrative developing where Trump wants to issue less coupon debt and more bills to finance his big, beautiful bill. That manipulation of the yield curve could spark a very strong…

Opinion about XEC-T: Tilted portfolios towards developed and emerging international. Best returns will come from here.

Opinion about WEED-T: Good for marijuana exposure. Speculative, but quality. 

Opinion about LLY-N: He trimmed. Is trading at 33x PE, down from 55x. Is the front runner in the GLP-1 business with 60% market share.

Opinion about RY-T: Yield of 3.5% is not as high as it once was, given the move in the stock price. About 15-16% ROE, and it retains half of that. If that can continue, should be able to grow the bottom line in mid-high single digits. Valuation is above historic averages. Better opportunities in the…

Opinion about PWF-T: (A Top Pick Dec 04/19, Up 13%) He'd buy it again. Nice value stock. Nice yield. Trading at discount to book. Would benefit from rising interest rates, which he expects. Cheaper than all the banks.

Opinion about AFG-N: (A Top Pick Dec 20/18, Up 30%) A mid-cap specialty insurer. It can charge higher premiums as it is in niche markets. Their investing was very successful and they had lower insurance payouts.

Opinion about FTS-T: Dividend choice for an 18-year-old to hold forever. Young investors don't care as much about dividend stocks, but they're really important. It's like collecting rent, instead of making money only once you sell a stock. The earlier they start, the more they reap the benefit of the compounding effect that takes place…

Opinion about TECK.B-T: He likes metals and is buying. Likes copper and precious metals. There is support for Teck going back to late 2023 and it recently bounced up. It's a swing trade. This might hit $60. The chart looks positive, but be ready to sell if the chart fails.

Opinion about MAG-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research We think MAG fits the bill. Its Mexican (safe) mine only recently went into production, and 2024 will be the first year of material revenue/cash flow for the company. The stock is acting well this year as it gets re-rated as a…

Opinion about NTR-T: Bumpy. Q2 is a crucial selling season for them, and supply/demand dynamics in potash will be key. Reintroduced it to portfolios in January this year. Fertilizer cycle has bottomed and is slowly turning up. Vertically integrated with downstream farm supply stores. Operational improvement in South America to improve margins.Trading at half of…

Opinion about CP-T: Likes the railway sector. Oligopolies; infrastructure will never be rebuilt. Its acquisition of KSU will likely be the last acquisition in that area. Somewhat cyclical, but its transport of so many essential goods means it will always have underlying business. Decent pricing power, as rail is less expensive than trucking.Stock pulled back…

Opinion about BIP.UN-T: Infrastructure is a great asset class. Brookfield is world-class, great at being value investors. A lot of the return tends to come from yield as opposed to growth. Good income generator with good underlying assets. For the long term.

Opinion about FDX-N: It reported last night. Their B2B has been stuck in neutral, though B2C is okay. FedEx missed numbers, but they have cut costs. The price now is an opportunity, but won't rally until we see how the tariffs shake-out. FDX depends alot on cross-border shipping.

Opinion about UNS-T: (A Top Pick Jun 30/21, Up 12%) He trimmed a lot of his shares recently. It's a turnaround story, having brought in new managers doing a good job. He's seen many companies in auto supplies run into supply chain shortages--demand is there, but not supply, so this is a near-term risk. Long…