Stock Opinions by Alexander Lane, B Comm, C

TOP PICK
Based in Chile. Largest, lowest cost producer of potassium nitrate, lithium carbonate and iodine. Potassium nitrate is more valuable and stable than potash and very important fertilizing. Lithium carbonate used for powering small electronics and possibly future electric vehicles. Iodine is needed for medical purposes, especially radiation treatment. Possible takeover target.
chemicals
TOP PICK
Global engineering, construction and power equipment. Very exposed to energy, particularly in building refineries and petrochemical complexes. Builds the largest clean coal plants globally because of their technology. Had a lot of trouble when they acquired a lot of companies and created a lot of debt 6 - 7 years ago. Contracts are now starting to flow again.
contractors
TOP PICK
Sodexo
(French exchange) French outsource catering services and facility management. Also has a voucher business. It is important to have secular growth companies in any portfolio. Grows year in, year out regardless of the economic cycle.
food services
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick June 29/09. Up 22%.) Great infrastructure story that is going to continue to grow. Generated 114% ROE last year. Incredibly cheap. Great management. 6% yield. When they convert they will continue as a dividend paying Corp. with effectively the same yield.
REAL ESTATE
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick June 29/09. Down 7.3%.) Thought the growth margins would start gravitating back towards 30% and last quarter they did. If you X out all the unusual items they did about $.13. They will do about $.50 so this is one of the cheapest stocks out there.
Telecommunications
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick June 29/09. Up 20.5%.) In the Montney region and one of the best shale gas plays in North America. Have Storm Ventures Int., which may go public and they have Horn River as well.
oil / gas
BUY
WSP Global Inc.
Good infrastructure play. Likes the way they run their business. More on the front-end engineering and design. Cheap.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS
BUY
Owns a 7% overriding royalty interest in Iron Ore Company of Canada as well as a 15% direct interest. Distribution is sustainable and shouldn't be affected by their current version to a corporation. 5.3% yield.
Financial Services
BUY
Opti Canada Inc.
Oil sands with a 40-year project life. Built and in its ramp phase. There are complications as you get to the ramp phase. Just did an overhaul of their water and injection facility and over the next few weeks he expects they will be back on track. Had some balance sheet issues that they resolved with an equity issue. Very volatile.
integrated oils
BUY
Eldorado Gold
One of the highest margin gold companies globally. Did a large acquisition, which will grow their production profile. Very solid balance sheet. Believes gold will continue to go up and this company will benefit.
precious metals
COMMENT
Gold. All-time high was $1032 set about a year ago and he believes it will break through this. If it does it should continue up to the $1200-$1300.
Unknown
COMMENT
Iamgold Corp
Top performer of the mid-cap golds out of the bottom of the market. Fixed a lot of their issues and have a very good growth profile. Also an attractive acquisition candidate. A little more expensive so would prefer an Eldorado (ELD-T) to this one.
precious metals
COMMENT
Caterpillar
A lot of exposure to residential construction. Had some issues because of their finance arm but they managed to get through it okay but the ability of their customers to buy have had difficulty getting financing. Would prefer the dealership companies such as Toromont (TIH-T) or Finning (FTT-T). If you have a 5 or 10-year view it could be a good entry point.
machinery
BUY
Toromont Industries
Incredibly cheap. Looking at the 22-year dividend history is one of the best dividend growers in Canada. Very predictable stream of growth. 2.6% yield.
machinery
COMMENT
Finning Int
South American mining exposure is more cyclical and more depressed than Toromont (TIH-T). Also their UK heavy equipment operation is experiencing a lot of competition right now.
wholesale distributors
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