Christine Poole

Consumers are in good shape, though US income subsidies are ending. Consumer sentiment has weakened which may moderate spending, but household incomes have returned to pre-Covid levels while savings rates have soared. Consumers want to travel (domestically for now), eat in restaurant and go to ballgames. Consumers make up 70% of the US economy, so these are good trends. Governments are now reluctant to impose lockdowns (she doesn't see this happening), because vaccines are taming the pandemic. Instead, governments will use vaccine passports, but this will be a catalyst to get people vaccinated. Also, companies are mandating their workers get jabbed, which will also erode vaccine hesitancy. Today we saw low US CPI/inflation numbers, is moderating. Most central banks feel inflation is transitory. It's taking time for supply to return to norm, given ongoing supply shortages. It's important that developing countries get vaxxed, or else shortages will endure.

A great company. She's looked at Adobe, but the valuation gives her pause. Their cloud business is strong and they transitioned well to a subscription model. If you own, hold on, or buy on weakness. Their product offering is unique and faces little competition, and their customer base of creative professionals uses Adobe as their go-to.

The dollar stores as a whole are suffering from expensive freight costs and supply constraints. DT is introducing products above $1 and have lessened their forecast given higher costs. DT has been rolling out higher price points, which is good, and offering a wider selection in American rural areas. Its 16x forward earnings valuation is far better than Dollarama's 24x forward earnings. Expect higher operating costs for 6 months until the shipping and supply problems are solved.

She likes their near- and long-term prospects. WSP shares have done well in the past year. They made key acquisitions in the environmental space. Good balance sheet and strong ESG score. She trimmed her position in recent months, but she still likes this. It's a well-run company in a good business.

She's owned this for years and will continue to. During Covid, their occupancy rates dove obviously, but now she expects that to slowly recover--was 90%, now at 77%. She originally bought this for the need for long-term care for an aging population, and this trend hasn't changed. CSH operates 90% of its business in private seniors housing and only 10% LTC facilities. CSH handled the pandemic relatively well; vaccination rates for their residents and employees are high.

The Liberals' plan to tax financial companies and impact on shareholders. The banks are insurers are a key part of Canadian investor portfolios. If the plan happens, these companies will manage this tax in the end. These companies make a lot of money, though the tax is not a good capital markets development.

They're trying to diversity their end markets, are trying to buy a car company (as is Magna) to enter the auto market. Expect them to do more acquisitions. There are better stocks within tech.

She likes US financials as economies recovers and loan demand returns. Savings rates are high. USB is high quality. You can build positions in any US bank to take part in the economic recovery and when interest rates rise.

(A Top Pick Sep 15/20, Up 8%) She'd buy it here. 90% of their earnings come from the US. Pays a nice nearly 4% dividend and should grow 10% this year and continue to grow in coming years through a capital program. They've struck deals with Chevron and JPMorgan to reduce their carbon footprint.

(A Top Pick Sep 15/20, Up 15%) She's owned this for years and continues to buy this diversified healthcare name. Pharmaceuticals account for roughly 50% of revenue. They continually reinvest in their R&D. Many products are #1 in their categories. Boasts a rare triple-A balance sheet and pays a 2.6% dividend that they've increased for 59 years.

(A Top Pick Sep 15/20, Up 31%) The gains are surprising. They've invested in long term areas, namely e-commerce. Costs to protect employees from Covid will roll off. Shoppers during Covid flocked to the top supermarkets, though are now returning to the discount chains, which Loblaw also owns. She's waiting for a pullback to add more shares. Loblaw is expanding into primary care health clinics and expanding into e-health, both of which are good.

Telecoms enjoy an oligopoly, all good income stocks. Rogers pays 3.5%, though she owns BCE. Rogers is fine, though it lags its peers. The Shaw deal is a good, long-term move for Rogers.

A small-cap green energy company. This sector will continue to grow and INE is expanding into the US. They issued some equity. Buy any green power producers on pullback.

The stock has been on fire, getting even more expensive. They are buying more companies to expand. LSPD has been using their high share price to issue shares and buy companies. The valuation is way too high for her.

They're transitioning out of coal. It's a decent income name, though already owns enough utilities like AQN and Fortis.