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Stock Opinions by Lorne Steinberg

COMMENT
Message to investors.

There's always something a bit unique, as no two situations are exactly the same. The last time we went through a shocker was during Covid in March 2020, and the market fell over 30%. The message he sent to clients then was whenever you look back at times like these, you always say that you should've bought great companies when they were on sale. That's eternally the message.

Warren Buffett says buy when there's blood in the streets. If you buy great quality (and this is the moment to buy great quality because it's cheap again), you'll be well served when you look back at your portfolio 5 years from now.

COMMENT
How to navigate the falling knife?

An "all or none" approach is probably the wrong thing to do, as it just leads to paralysis. If someone had, say, $50k to invest, just be disciplined and put in $10k (or whatever's comfortable) a month and start buying today. If you wait until calm returns and things improve, you'll have missed the first 25% move.

COMMENT
Control what you can.

Buy the world's best companies. Anything from Canadian bank stocks to any of the great technology companies. They've all been hammered, and this is your opportunity. Dividend yields are higher because you're paying less for these stocks. Great management teams will figure out how to navigate these situations.

COMMENT
Reducing equity exposure now is a big mistake.

It's always a mistake to sell when the world is panicking. Don't forget Warren Buffett's advice to buy when people are panicked and sell when everything looks rosy. These quality companies were great 10 years ago, and they'll be great 10 years from now. If you can buy them on sale, why wouldn't you? Investors should be loving these times.

DON'T BUY

Very fast-growing. Fear is that if we enter a recession, how many of the borrowers won't be able to pay back loans? That's a risk. With other things on sale, he'd pass. Management's done a spectacular job.

DON'T BUY

Medical equipment. In trouble years ago with large sleep apnea settlement. Struggling since then. With everything down, better places to look.

BUY

Canadian banks are cheap. If you don't buy now, then when? Yield is over 5%.

DON'T BUY

Over time, every major car company will have a slew of electric vehicles and TSLA won't be the only game in town. Brand's been damaged a bit from Musk's activities. Still not cheap. Better places to go with less risk.

DON'T BUY

Now a whole slew of competitors in the weight-loss space. He'd prefer a more diversified pharma company.

BUY
FFH vs. BRK.B

FFH is in his Canadian dividend strategy. BRK.B is in his global strategy.

Both are insurance-driven companies that are partly holding companies. Diversified businesses. Breakup NAV (not that they'd ever be broken up) is significantly higher than current share price. And that makes both of these a buy. Both are in the lower-risk category of companies.

BUY
FFH vs. BRK.B

FFH is in his Canadian dividend strategy. BRK.B is in his global strategy.

Both are insurance-driven companies that are partly holding companies. Diversified businesses. Breakup NAV (not that they'd ever be broken up) is significantly higher than current share price. And that makes both of these a buy. Both are in the lower-risk category of companies.

DON'T BUY

Downstream operations have been extremely weak. Look at the dividend history. They've cut the dividend in the past, so not a stable dividend payer. Dividend looks high because stock price is low. Look elsewhere.

COMMENT
Energy sector.

You have to buy the sector when it looks awful and prices are low. He has minimal exposure, owning just one stock in the space. When things are weak, you really appreciate having a low-cost producer.

WAIT

Not cheap enough for him. Likes that it's a monopoly business. Loves the business and the business model. If we get a recession, stock has a long way to fall.

COMMENT
Real estate.

Shortage of housing in Canada. But in Toronto, for example, so many condos are coming on that prices are softening and even rents are softening. The only REIT he owns is CAR.UN.

Office buildings are going through an evolution, and we don't know how it's going to end. Not cheap enough to make a bet on the office space. Malls are certainly going through a worse evolution, being replaced with condos and apartments. The steady area has always been apartments.

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