Christine Poole

Vaccines and the reopening are. Corporate earnings growth (earning season is starting today) will drive this market. Emerging markets lag, but she expects they will receive vaccinations and she hopes vax rates increase. YOY growth rates this earnings season will be very high. She'll be looking for management's outlook--increases in demand and corporate spending rising. As inflation spikes, where do companies see cost pressures? Are there labour shortages? Will they absorb these costs or absorb them through productivity increases? The consumer saved a lot of money during Covid, so consumers have stepped up spending in the U.S. Prices in hotels and airfares have spiked. Corporations spent on tech to allow work-from-home, and they continue to spend this year back to pre-Covid levels; corps feel more confident. Demand has returned, so companies have to spend to deplete supplies and she expects them to. This is all positive. Ironically, the problem the banks have now is not enough spending; the savings rate is still up. Consumers are actually paying down their credit cards faster, but loan demand will eventually return and there was growth this past quarter. As international travel picks up, credit card spending will increase (during vacations and work conferences).

Pembina and Brookfield are battling over this. Brookfield wants to remove the break-up fee that IPL must pay Pembina, but the regulator let it stand. The bid deadline has been extended to August 6. IPL is trading around the bids of $20. Brookfield Infrastructure may bid higher. Pembina's could be in stock; or you can transition to another energy infrastructure dividend name. Keep holding IPL and let it play out. One of these companies will buy IPL and it could receive a higher bid. Expect a resolution in the next month or two.

It's pulled back a lot in the past year, but is trading at a reasonable PE> She stays away from Chinese-listed companies, because that government is putting oversight on them. See how this all plays out with what the Chinese government will do; they don't want the large Chinese interne companies to get too much control.

They've gone through management changes, cost overruns in their construction business, and legal and regulatory issues which are now behind them. They're repositioning as a pure design-advisory company while letting the constructions projects roll off. So, there's still some risk in cost overruns. She likes this sector, but prefers another company. SNC's valuation is depressed vs. peers. She wants to see how SNC management performs and finds organic and M&A growth. She's on the sidelines now.

For a TFSA or RRSP? A decent income stock. She owns some utilities. They're transitioning out of coal. Continue to hold it. She holds growth stocks in an RRSP for the sheltering. A cash account is the best place to hold an income stock so you can take advantage of the dividend tax credit.

Has long owned this as a core position. They treat water, a water pure play. She hasn't added new money into this and wants to see a 5-10% pullback before buying more. Water is a scarce resource, so hold this stock. Long term, XYL will do well.

She bought this for growth. They report at today's close. They offer long-term growth, fuelled by strong e-commerce sales. Their US sales are now open, and she thinks they're doing well. Expectations are high for ATZ, so shares could pull back a bit and that's when you step in.

Offers growth, but is more of a cyclical.

They dominate in legal textbooks globally. Their business model is scalable. It's full valued now. She owns only a little of this.

(A Top Pick Jul 16/20, Up 27%) Continues to own it. Given this pullback (along with peers) by 20%, this is now an attractive entry point. There's long-term secular growth in green energy. BEP has operations around the world, and the parent company owns 40% of this company. Hydro garners a premium valuation and makes up a big part of BEP. You need exposure in renewable energy and this is one.

(A Top Pick Jul 16/20, Up 80%) Won't buy it at the current $150. Happy to hold it. They grow organically and by acquisition. They bought a leading environmental consulting firm in December which is going well. WSP is in infrastructure, an attractive space due to government spending (i.e. US). The balance sheet remains strong. They will continue to buy companies with geographic diversity.

CAD outlook for the rest of 2021 Forecasting currencies is difficult. The CAD started strenthening against the USD starting a year ago. Maybe that's due to the BOC being more hawkish than the US Fed, and energy prices have surged. She thinks the CAD is rangebound at 75-85 cents. The economy will drive what will happen to the currency. She doesn't see the Canadian economy growing stronger than the US, though both countries are reopening and both will see higher interest rates at some point.

It's done well, but she doesn't buy airlines, because they're cyclical and costs lie beyond their control, namely fuel. If you've done well, then transition into a growth sector like tech. AC is in a cyclical growth sector.