Latest Top Picks

Stock Opinions by Danny Tomka

DON'T BUY
Stock has done well and the assets have done well, with lower interest rates primarily driving the value with occupancies relatively benign. Sees the whole group in a peak valuation and would stay clear. He has no real estate holdings.
property mngmnt / investment
DON'T BUY
Has had a great run, primarily on the US acquisition. Last numbers were pretty good. Margins were a little lower than expected on the gasoline business. Primarily an acquisition story. They've got to a size now where they need a meaningful acquisition, but there doesn't appear to be a target out there. Trades at 18 X earnings which is a little rich on an operating basis.
food stores
TOP PICK
Sprint Nextel
Recent symbol resulting from Sprint acquiring Nextel. Has a small local exchange which will be spun out making it 100% pure wireless. Attractive valuation. Rising free cash flows.
Telecommunications
BUY
Great West Lifeco
A good operator. A long history of consolidating history. Increasing profitability.
insurance
DON'T BUY
In the major pharmaceutical companies you see low multiple stocks yielding 4/5% and it may look like a good bet. Use caution as it is a risky bet. Revenues over the last couple of years have been under pressure. On this one, about 3/4 of their earnings is being paid out in dividends.
biotechnology / pharmaceutical
BUY
Bank of America
The outlook is high single digit earnings growth over the cycle with nice dividends. Has been impacted because of the integration of their credit card acquisition and people are worried about it. Approaching 5% yield which is very attractive. This is his 1st choice with Citigroup (C-N) being his second.
banks
BUY
Citigroup Inc.
The outlook is high single digit earnings growth over the cycle with nice dividends. 1st choice would be Bank of America (BAC-N) with Citigroup being second.
banks
TOP PICK
A mid size health insurance company and it's all about cost containment. Premiums should be growing faster than costs. Have been able to react when costs have been rising. Trades around 14 X's and growing about the same pace. Had pulled back recently due to an acquisition they had done.
medical services
DON'T BUY
Ford Motor
Doesn't know what to make on the big auto companies. If unions roll back on some of their demands at General Motors (GM-N) you could see the same thing happening at this company. The industry is under siege. They're losing shares to the Japanese all the time.
Automotive
HOLD
Power Corp
Has done very well over the last few years. Great operator. Great asset.
mngmnt / diversified
TOP PICK
Doing a great job of reformatting their stores in what they call a 20/20 concept which is basically getting more square footage. Same store sales of 3% to 4%. Has done a good job in the financial services area. Thinks they can grow earnings 12/15% over the next 5 years.
specialty stores
SELL
Loblaw Companies Ltd
A great company and has been a great performer. The most recent quarters has seen some margin pressures. Stronger competition.
food stores
WEAK BUY
Nortel AS
At this point it looks attractive. Could see it at $5 12 months out. Highly volatile industry.
Telecommunications
WAIT
A great company with a great asset. Long track record of adding value. In the very short term, would be surprised if it moved significantly up from this point unless there was a spike in oil prices. The 1st phase of Horizon, which comes on about 3 years from now, much of that is discounted in the $40 range.
oil / gas
BUY
Target Corp
The last comp. was about 9%. A step above Wal-Mart in terms of quality. Kept their costs low and opened new stores. Feels it has legs.
clothing
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