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

You want defensive stocks right now. Big thing is Jean Coutu, and integration will create earnings and cash flow growth. More difficult issue is how to expand that brand beyond Quebec, and this is already priced into the stock. A defensive name, and you can do quite well. Yield is 1.7%.

For tax-loss selling? It's disappointed the market. But it's time to look at it. They should take the company private; the share price is so low, so disastrous since its IPO. Existing owners could buy it all back. Overall, retailing is a difficult space now.

It's part of the S&P500 midcap so it moves in tandem with it. They had a very good quarter and their Latin American operations continue to grow. Retail sales and pawn fees have been rising. If they receive more jewellery, and the USD goes down and gold prices go out, they might be a beneficiary.…

You have to question everything including the possibility of anyone cutting the dividend back. He thinks they will come through this and thrive. He would look at buying a basket of the larger banks for the security of more diversified operations.

Canadian bank for dividends? For a 10-15 year time horizon, the Canadian banks are a pocket of value. They are trading less than 10 times forward earnings, which already include loan loss provisions. They have high asset qualities. Buying here is a winning formula for the long term. The dividend will pay you to wait…

Canadian bank for dividends? For a 10-15 year time horizon, the Canadian banks are a pocket of value. They are trading less than 10 times forward earnings, which already include loan loss provisions. They have high asset qualities. Buying here is a winning formula for the long term. The dividend will pay you to wait…

A lot of negative sentiment has been out there regarding banks. BAC is a strong business, he favours JPM. They are both well diversified and have good valuations. The US banks were cleansed of the their toxic assets back in 2008-09. He would buy both.

US financials? They own JPM as they have a well diversified business and strong balance sheet. GS is more a capital market sensitive company, which puts more pressure on them. She suggests having Canadian and US banks in your portfolio.

(A Top Pick Dec 07/18, Up 66%) Nobody wanted to buy British stocks. Around 60% of Halma's revenues come outside the UK, so they're paid in other currencies as the pound falls--profits then rise. They make smoke alarms/detectors. Strong long-term potential, though no one has heard of it. Dividend is growing 17% annually. But earnings…

(A Top Pick Jun 24/19, Down 22%) Going forward they are in the enviable position amongst competitors. The average age of aircraft leased to airlines is 3.7 years. Older planes are retired first. So they will hang on to their AL-N aircrafts. Airlines will be in a weaker position to purchase aircraft so will be…

Clean water is mega-trend around the world, an issue Canada takes for granted. But around the world, governments need to upgrade water infrastructure, which Xylem does. (Analysts’ price target is $79.59)

This company has paid a dividend for 144 consecutive years. Primarily a tool and storage business and they own a 20% interest in a lawn and garden business, which they hope will grow to account for 20% of annual revenues. The tariff situation did not help them. It should do well when the economy picks…

(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.

BCE and Telus Owning either is fine. It's splitting hairs to choose one over the other. Tech stocks are the big focus of investors now. The current 5% dividend yield + 5% dividend growth rate = your likely return. Be patient with them, because these stocks won't leap in a given day. Positives: both are…

Likes it. Fantastic dividend of about 8%, which will move around with oil markets. Doesn't think the dividend is in trouble.

We are past the 'best-before' date and core investments in energy are going to be less and less for institutions and individual investors. You want to wait and see what a second COVID wave will look like as we get into the flu season. The futures curve points back to $50 in 2027. There will…

He sold it two years ago. They cut their dividend 70% in April which surprised many. A lot of their revenue was contracted and not so much exposed to oil prices. They were building a propane processing plant in Alberta, but this $4 billion project strained the balance sheet. The current dividend is sage, and…

Sell Banks for Pipelines? He likes this strategy. Balance the weight between both he suggests. Pipelines are economically sensitive these days, due to their weightings in the energy ETFs. ENB, TRP and PPL have been particularly sensitive. He thinks the valuations warrant investment here.

(A Top Pick Jan 23/19, Up 7%) Things will get dicey if Democrats move up, and health care stocks will come off. 13-15% growth rate. Modest dividend. 48 consecutive quarters, 10 years, of consecutive earnings beats. Long-term, a great stock. Fundamentally, a great company.

This is combined entity of Patient Home Monitoring and Biomed. They develop monitor services for the home. They have cleaned up their accounts receivables and it trades at less than 6 times earnings compared to competitors at 13 times. Yield 0% (Analysts’ price target is $0.50)

(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.

International sales were up 11% and US at 1% due to pricing issues there. They are picking up market shares which gives them pricing power and allows them to go into India and China to earn higher margins. Getting out of the US is important for them. Once you get a moat around their product,…

5G? CSCO has a 14 times PE ratio and 2.8% dividend yield. They have been able to grow by buying a lot of companies. 5G spending may get delayed in to 2021, so this may reduce earnings this year. They have made acquisitions to be able to compete with their peers.

Capitalizing on work from home theme, cloud business. Expected to continue to fly in the post-pandemic world. Impressive free cash flow. 16 consecutive quarters of positive earnings surprise growth. Paying a bit of a premium for a 15% growth rate, but not a lot of names are dominant as they are. Yield is 0.95%. (Analysts’…

(A Top Pick Dec 14/18, Up 109%) Makers of screen technology out of Idaho. Their technology shortened the width of the screen, which allowed manufacturers to add more technology in the same phone body. He sold out at $207. It will give another opportunity to buy in, but there is more competition coming.

Has long owned this cloud computing stock. It's acquisitive. 75% of revenues are recurring. Q1 results reflect the work-at-home trend has benefited them. They have 100 million+ users across the world with 90% of revenues outside Canada, namely the U.S. They do an amazing job of synergizing companies they buy. Over decades they outperform the…

(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.

(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.

He wants liquidity to be able to take advantage of continued volatility going into 2019. This pays about 2% yield. Think of it as cash. It is an option to step in and do some buying later.