26 Stock Top Picks and 3 ETF (Dec 7-13)

Opinion about MRU-T: Loblaw is the best, so that's the one he wants to own.

Opinion about ROOT-T: Interesting things happening. New CEO with marketing sophistication trying to transform a business that's struggled since the IPO. Pretty good entry point. Strong brand. If you have the appetite for a small company, more speculative, good name to own.

Opinion about FCFS-N: He sold then when the US Dept. of Justice began investigating it. He bought it to get exposure to gold and emerging markets. Gold is now in focus, but he wouldn't buy a miner or revenue streams, but rather physical gold. Gold is at all-time highs, so buy in tranches.

Opinion about LB-T: Still avoid. Lower valuation than the rest of the banking sector. Bigger issue of something wrong is that they put themselves up for sale, but there were no takers. 

Opinion about CM-T: Great performer. CEO retiring. Pretty good momentum. Likes the path they're on, brand has been revived. Question on Canadian consumer and credit, along with upcoming mortgage renewals. Cautious on all banks. Wait for a better entry point.

Opinion about TD-T: The question asked the guest to compare the two with a view to buying one of them. She prefers Royal Bank right now. It just delivered record results and is growing at 10% year over year. TD has gone through a rough patch and is re-structuring which is eating into profits. She…

Opinion about JPM-N: He trimmed, selling into strength. He's up 38% in this the past few months. Trimmed for pure risk management. Still believes in JPM.

Opinion about GS-N: Short it? He's not a good trader. To paraphrase: "There are bull markets and bear markets, but at the end GS wins." We've seen that this quarter with respect to their trading profits. It's been a great way to play capital markets forever, and all the banks' capital markets divisions are doing…

Opinion about HLMA-LN: Chart shows nice stair steps over time. Fire safety, wastewater detection, healthcare (focused on cataract lenses). Serial acquirer, owning over 50 companies across those 3 segments. Exceptional job buying small companies at attractive valuations and growing them over time. High quality name, and gives Canadians a very different exposure from the usual…

Opinion about AL-N: (A Top Pick Nov 14/22, Up 12%) He is retiring from this. The PE is shrinking at almost the same rate as earning rise, so this means shares will go sideways.

Opinion about XYL-N: Treats, transports, and tests water (drinking and wastewater). Water is a scarce resource; 70% of the earth is water, but only about 2% is drinkable. Aging infrastructure in developed countries needs to be refurbished. Lots of industries require water. One of the few pure-play, publicly traded water companies, and so it trades…

Opinion about SWK-N: A too-high dividend is a red flag, a sell. He was attracted to this for its dividend and he expected an upturn in homebuilding when the Fed cut interest rates. Shares rose at first, then fell because of Trump's tariffs possibly increasing rates. He sold at a small loss.

Opinion about PVG-T: (A Top Pick Dec 07/18, Up 36%) A volatile stock, but he likes the golds, holding 10-20% in a portfolio. Gold has a long runway.

Opinion about BCE-T: Telcos in NA are a mixed bag right now. He'd be a seller. Other things outside of telecom to do with your money.

Opinion about ENB-T: Technical analysts love to give fancy names to chart patterns 😉  The 5-year for this name is showing a cup and handle -- with that rounded bottom, perhaps a little pullback, and then a breakout and consolidation. Also a nice swing trade. Now testing the breakout point, and successfully so. Looks good.

Opinion about CNQ-T: In a flat or questionable oil price environment, this former darling is being sold as a relative trade. Take advantage of that. Best operator in the business. Just inked first natural gas contract off an LNG project in the US. Own it long term and do well. Yield is 5.7%. (Analysts’ price…

Opinion about IPL-T: In the midst of a bidding war. More of a hold than a buy. Prospects for material upside are not very high. Better opportunities elsewhere. If you made profits, take some and invest in something like GEI or even TWM, if you have a higher risk tolerance.

Opinion about PPL-T: About 70% of the business is take-or-pay -- no volume risk or commodity price risk. Another 20% is on fee-for-service contracts, where there is volume risk but no commodity exposure. Rest has commodity exposure to nat gas and oil. Over 10 years, has been competitive with the TSX. Compounding total shareholder returns just…

Opinion about UNH-N: RFK Jr.'s crusade to cut health costs includes cutting vaccines, and that is a serious headwind. The result is that broad healthcare hasn't been this cheap in a long time and you can enter it now. People will still need therapies and get sick. Are better opportunities than UNH in healthcare.

Opinion about PHM-X: They offer home monitoring for patients. They are expected to lose $0.01 per share this year and next year. It is not cash flow positive. There could be better chances about 18 month out. He would wait to see if things improve.

Opinion about VGW-CN: (A Top Pick Mar 15/19, Down 24%) He still holds it in the portfolio, but had taken some out at $4 per share. He is looking to add to the cannabis sector again following the consolidation. He holds an $8.25 target. They are producing a CBD and THC beverage.

Opinion about NVO-N: It was the biggest European company last year. This and LLY are growing double digits and the market is growing double digits. Has owned NVO 9 years and trimmed it 7 times, and this is the first time he's bought more, on weakness. Obesity and diabetes are not going away.  (Analysts’ price…

Opinion about CSCO-Q: 12-month price target of $75, pretty darn close. Reports tonight. Unless they really surprise, especially on the guidance side, doesn't expect it to get much higher. At $71 you could write a 1-2 week call with a strike price of $77.50.

Opinion about MSFT-Q: The company he'd be owning 5 years from now. Partnership with OpenAI is most consequential company of our time. Totally ahead on AI. Absolute beast when it comes to distribution. Wide-reaching tentacles across every Fortune 500 company. Path of least resistance when it comes to adopting AI -- security platform, Office 365,…

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

Opinion about OTEX-T: "Garbage in, garbage out" is a saying that demonstrates how you really need to have your data house in order to optimize decision-making processes. Earnings YOY still shrinking, and so it trades at a low multiple. Organic revenue decline is concerning. They can't M&A their way out of this. 

Opinion about SDG-Q : (A Top Pick Dec 12/18, Up 15%) Linked to the UN Sustainable Goal: educational, healthcare, food, sanitation companies. Lots of exposure to emerging markets with only 35% US exposure. This will do well along with the world ex-US.

Opinion about CHGX-Q : (A Top Pick Dec 12/18, Up 17%) An ETF that tracks the S&P minus fossil fuels and weapons. Strongly correlates the S&P with slight outperformance. You get market returns and do good.

Opinion about SHY-Q: To park USD for a year BIL is a money-market-oriented ETF. For 2-3 years, look at SHV and SHY, to get interest rate exposure. He doesn't expect the Fed to cut rates for at least 1.5 years.