Latest Top Picks

Stock Opinions by Kevin Hall BComm, CFA

COMMENT

Markets: After a bit of a quiet period, the markets are beginning to rally. The policy tools will come back into the forefront and QE3 may occur, but they are hesitant to enact it. The impact is reducing as time goes on. There is lots of runway in dividend paying stocks. Especially if they are growth, dividend-paying stocks. In the REIT space there is a difference in the space and you are seeing some dividend increases. Overall, they have been pretty dramatic out-performers but fundamentals remain strong. He has been trimming some profits as they continue to run and out perform in general.

Unknown
WEAK BUY
Bank of Montreal

Doesn't own this, predominantly because of their US exposure. Prefers Toronto Dominion (TD-T) to take advantage of a sustained US recovery, then Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T). You will do okay with BMO but it is not a top bank pick for him.

banks
WEAK BUY
Manulife Financial

SLF is preferable because of a safety of dividend. Risk reward is quite appealing.

insurance
BUY

This is the name he would recommend in natural gas stocks. Lowest cost producer. The gas story is a weather driven story.

oil / gas
BUY
Power Corp

Power fin and/or power corp., depending on fund. This one gives you better value on a historical basis.

mngmnt / diversified
COMMENT

Banks as a fixed investment alternative: Thinks there is good value in them today. Europe concerns are well known and discounted. They are not a direct substitute for fixed income investment. Should outperform fixed income short term. TD and BNS are his preferences if you don’t use an ETF.

Unknown
HOLD
BCE Inc.

You will continue to see good commitment to the dividend. They are cutting cost and raising the dividend. Not a lot of growth. He owns it for the wireless business.

telephone utilities
DON'T BUY

Chartwell is his preference in this space. You’ll do okay. 7% yield is safe. He likes the seniors’ housing landscape.

other services
BUY
Finning Int

Good dividend growth story. One of the largest CAT dealers around the world. Had trouble with inventory management software, but that is moving in the right direction and is now behind them.

wholesale distributors
SELL

Rode it down during the scandal. He exited in the spring. Feels there will be a continuing overhang due to RCMP investigation. Potential to be dragged through the mud in the Quebec investigation. Better opportunities out there.

contractors
BUY
Barrick Gold

Market is expecting further stimulus to come through. Came out with a pretty tough Q2. A lot of these stocks are looking at focusing on return on investment, earnings per share growth, share growth. They highlighted this on their conference call. Continue to like it.

precious metals
HOLD
Enerplus Corp

Dividend is safe. Cut within the last couple of months. Market was indicating the cut was necessary but stock has rallied back. You missed it to potentially capture the upside. They are improving the balance sheet. They are moving things in the right direction.

oil / gas
DON'T BUY
Veresen Inc

Sold it earlier this year. Prefers Pembina and Altagas. Pipeline is steady revenue stream but coming to the end of its contract period. Lots of softness in Nat Gas liquids pricing. They make a lot of money in price spreads between liquid and non-liquids. That has been reducing recently.

pipelines
SELL

Not aware of any proposed change to structure. Caller said it was becoming closed end. He thinks it is at the lower end of the quality end of the space. Issued a lot of equity over the last year or so. Would prefer a Canadian REIT. Better than the growth-by-acquisition model.

property mngmnt / investment
DON'T BUY
Pengrowth Energy

Better names within the higher yield energy space. Good management team. Transitioning business over last couple of years. Trying to re-position and transition business. Prefers other names.

oil / gas
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