Paul Harris, CFA

He sold some of it in the first run-up. You can hold but he would sell if oil still goes up - not sustainable at these levels. If oil goes down he would buy more. It is one of the best companies and is very good at acquiring other companies. It has increased its dividend and free cash flow.

There is lots of volatility with this stock. It has positioned itself well in the last while. It has lots of free cash flow with no need to spend a lot of money on AI. It can use AI for its own benefit, helping and setting up business clients. Also to cut costs. Buy on a pullback.

They have a new CEO so he is holding. The new CEO has a lot of experience dealing with regulation rules in the banking industry and he wants to see a new plan to grow the business. He would like to see the dividend cut and an increase in cash flow along with a lowering of debt. These are difficult times for all telecoms but it is an interesting space and more competitive than cable. The Internet is faster with Telus and BCE.

In general the stock market tends to sell and ask questions later. He feels this is the case with Thomson Reuters. It is a great business and can use AI effectively. It will take time but it has long term shareholders that believe in the business. and the Thomson family is a strong advocate. They are not selling and are willing to let the company do what it needs to do.

Data Centres have an incredible need for energy and this has brought back interest in renewable energy. Lots of money is going into renewables and this has created a renaissance in the sector. Fossil fuels still play a part. He owns BN which is undervalued, and the renewables.

The dividend today is safe and he sold before the dividend cut. There is an opportunity here for BCE and Telus to be more competitive. BCE needs to cut its non-core assets such as real estate, media, etc. It has expanded into the US on the telecom side. The Internet and mobile components are good. It is not expensive and pays a dividend. He feels a turn-around could take longer than expected.

The question was on whether the gap in value between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola could narrow. PepsiCo covers foods as well as drinks. However people are eating fewer snack foods and there is less space on the shelves for them. Coca-Cola is doing better since it is just drinks and they have executed well over the past several years. The gap between the two would be hard to narrow and could get worse.

The question was on whether the gap in value between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola could narrow. PepsiCo covers foods as well as drinks. However people are eating fewer snack foods and there is less space on the shelves for them. Coca-Cola is doing better since it is just drinks and they have executed well over the past several years. The gap between the two would be hard to narrow and could get worse.

It is a great Canadian company which grows organically and by tuck-in acquisitions. It trades at a high multiple but you could buy at these levels since he feels it is pretty cheap. It is one of the larger companies in the space and will prove to be a great business long term.

It is in the pet and livestock business. He sold because he didn't like management being kind of opaque about their issues and new products. It was not executing well and people are not buying as many pets.

They have bought back 10% of their shares and have grown over the past 6 or 7 years. Has a strong revenue growth of 10 to 12%. It has executed well but has received no credit from the market for this so is trading at one of lowest multiples historically. AI will benefit Adobe but it will take time.

The question was on buying gold. He doesn't own gold or gold companies. If you want gold it is best to buy an ETF to reduce production risk. It is OK to buy gold up to 5% of your portfolio. Gold is not likely to have the massive run-up it has had before.

It is better at running their domestic business, have a good dividend and price. Higher interest rates help life insurance companies a lot. Traditionally insurance companies are buyers of debt to offset portfolio risks. Debt reduces risk over equities.

They have  done a great job of buying other businesses and have really accelerated their growth. They have executed incredibly well and are in the mix re AI. It is hard to buy here so wait for a pullback.