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1550+ opinions with 4.81 rating (one of the best performing expert)

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COMMENT
Portfolio thoughts.

He's diversified globally. In a 30-stock portfolio, he'll have 4 Canada, 13 US, and 13 international. We had the risk-off period when all the fear from tariffs was out there. And now we've had this big market rally back, given that they want to reduce tariffs. The moral of the story there is that you cannot time the markets. So don't be sitting in cash, you have to be invested because of what happened Monday, when we had a 1-day rally of 3-4%.

Be diversified. Whether we get stagflation and rates go higher, or a bull market again with rates going down, you still have to be invested.

COMMENT
Picking stocks.

It doesn't matter where a company is domiciled, it's where the revenue streams are coming from. Look at the companies, not just at the price.

When you're thinking about buying a stock, you have to answer 3 questions. 

  1. Why am I buying this stock? Need to write down 5 reasons why. What do they do, what are the metrics, what is the future for them?
  2. What are the risks involved with holding the stock?
  3. How does it fit in my portfolio? You want to avoid correlation risk as much as possible.
COMMENT
Focus on ROIC.

It gets you through the slow times, the bad times, the down markets, the recessions. Companies that can earn a return on invested capital (net operating earnings after tax compared to the amount of capital that's invested) is a huge sign of how management's allocating capital -- well or not.

There are lots of tools out there for investors to check this themselves -- annual reports and financial websites.

DON'T BUY

Cement business in Mexico. Extremely price sensitive and economically sensitive. Does well when the economy is going great guns, and poorly in recessionary times. Up in the short term, but last 20 years the returns have been between 0-4%. Credit rating of BB High, which is junk, so will always pay more for debt.

In Mexico, he owns KOF.

HOLD

Coca-Cola bottler in Mexico, largest in the world. Convenience stores, gas stations, and pharmacies in Mexico, Latin America, and South America.

RISKY

If you wanted to take a gamble in Mexico. The "Alibaba of Latin America". Extremely expensive, but the returns have been there.

BUY

Deal to get off injectables and over to tablets. Went up too far, too fast, now has fallen. LLY has 60% of revenues in US, NVO has 60% outside US. Concern is that LLY's product helps people lose more weight. But Type 2 diabetics are still growing worldwide, especially in China and India.

Trades ~16x PE, lowest it's been in almost 20 years. He's buying more. The value is there, and the company's not getting any credit for its weight-loss drug. Don't hold both LLY and NVO, as it's correlation risk.

BUY

Big market with the aging population. Very cheap. FCF this year is up about 15%. Revenues are growing about 6%, compared to 2% for global GDP. ROIC is 13%, WACC is 6%. Tariffs are not helping. New CEO. 

Don't think about the price, think about the company. Stock price only matters on the day you buy it and the day you sell it. Everything in between is noise. Since Covid, medical device companies have had a rough go. Elective surgeries have slowed down, hospital funding is stretched. 

DON'T BUY

Have to compete with shipping to the closest store. Unionization threat. E-commerce has pretty slim margins. AWS cloud computing growth isn't what it once was 5-10 years ago -- law of diminishing returns. He likes companies that take care of their staff and customers, and this isn't one of them. Dividend not great. Tariffs will bring lots of volatility to the Mag 7. More of a trade. Not for retirees.

He owns MSFT.

WEAK BUY

Takes about 10 years to build a foundry, and you need access to water. So there goes Texas, Arizona, etc. In Japan, a foundry was rejected because they didn't want to divert water that's needed to grow food. Overhang of geopolitical risk of China invading Taiwan. Only 10% of foundries are in the US.

Great products. Leader. Alternative in Europe is ASML, which he owns. He wouldn't own both. No problems with TSM, but you have to understand geopolitical and cost risks.

HOLD

His holding in the space instead of TSM.

DON'T BUY
Recourse for dividend cut?

Price competition, so pricing power has disappeared. Profitability flat. Building out 5G network increased debt. Immigration has slowed. All that had a huge impact on FCF and ability to pay dividend. Latest acquisition doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Wouldn't touch. He owns Telus and CCA.

For a class action lawsuit, you have to get investors together and prove that there was intention to mislead.

HOLD

Dividends are not in doubt, but there has to be some way to pay down debt while growing the business. Right now, all you're getting is the dividend but very little growth.

HOLD

Dividends are not in doubt, but there has to be some way to pay down debt while growing the business. Right now, all you're getting is the dividend but very little growth.

PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Dec 19/23, Up 29%)

Allowed to hop on Wi-Fi networks of the other telcos, so it's becoming a more asset-light business. Passes through higher margins, and can continue to grow dividend more than 10% a year.

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