Michael Hakes - CFA, MBA

Alleviating nicely. The market's actually moving more to a discussion about labour. Investors were pricing in additional Fed rate hikes for 2026, with labour markets staying strong and with the state of inflation. 

But expectations have shifted meaningfully with the labour numbers that came out yesterday showing some cooling. It was half of what the consensus was expecting, plus April and May job gains were revised down. Labour market's not as robust as we thought up till yesterday.

For the Fed, the focus will always be a combination of both employment and inflation. Inflation is coming off on the oil side, and it seems as though the labour market is more of a driver now. 

Expectations for growth in service industries have come down quite a bit. Expectations for Q2 GDP expectations have come down from 3% to 2.5% annualized, and most of that is due to the service sector.

Super-well positioned to benefit from the super-strong demand for its high-tech optical fibre. These new data centres require up to 10x more fibre than traditionally. Hyperscalers are signing deals with GLW to lock down supply for years to come. Robust plans in the pipeline. Not cheap at ~60x PE.

Also has a solar platform, which is helping to build out the domestic US supply chain.

Don't sell. Has shown over time to be an amazing competitor and acquirer in the space. Though not successful buying 7-Eleven, they were very patient to ensure not overpaying. Paying 17-19x PE for this grower has proven to be a good move.

Owns in his firm's high-yield growth fund. Very well positioned, especially after today's government announcement about a Western pipeline -- Pembina gets a slice of that.

Chart's gone parabolic. Revenues growing 250-300% this year, almost 100% next year. Benefiting from the memory shortage. Demand seems robust, but he wouldn't buy today. Other players are more interesting at this point, though he owns nothing in the memory space right now.

Was owned in his firm's income growth fund; went up so much, it crossed the firm's rule of a minimum 3% yield. So it got sold. Well positioned as Canada's largest aviation provider into our North and other remote areas. Will benefit from increased defense and infrastructure spending. 

Increased dividend 18x over past 20 years. Strong revenue growth this year and next. Slows down through 2027-28, but could go higher as spending increases in the North and backlog increases again. Not cheap at 28x PE. He'd be more interested ~$100.

Trades at 11.5x PE, well off its 10-year average of close to 17x. Flat over last 5 years. Engineering, commercial real estate, and investment management. Sector's sold off on AI concerns. Management touts AI as a productivity/margin lever, with proprietary data being key.

Their fund has held it for years and years. Gemini models show it'll be a leader in generative AI. Trading 26-27x PE, fairly fully valued. 

Trades at only 17x PE, as the street's been concerned that all its capex is not being utilized properly. Starting to sell some excess capacity in the neocloud. Needs to improve ROIC, and stop spending $$ on tangential projects. People are cautious. Monetization is seeing some traction. Likes it at these levels.

Remarkable, consistent grower over the years. Quite consistent 5% topline growth, which translates into high-single digit or low-double EPS growth. Super-high quality. Expensive. Long term, you can expect it to deliver 8-10% returns. Just purchased a "digital-first, Indian, personal care company".

(Note the short timeframe.)  Still likes it at these prices. Regaining earnings power after several setbacks, can still approach $500 as it regains confidence of investors.

(Note the short timeframe.)  Turnaround's taking a little longer than expected, but pieces are coming together. New CEO starts in September, board's settled a proxy fight with the founder, added new board members. Investors want proof of successful product refresh, which has been elusive. US needs to start growing again. US same-store sales slightly flat to negative, Europe and China are doing OK.

At 10x PE, stock's baking in no expectations whatsoever.

(Note the short timeframe.)  Taken out. Buyout offer of $6.50 from private equity, shareholder vote on July 30. 

Still likes it at these levels, he'd put $$ in today. Models quite a bit of upside to over $400. Will continue to benefit from the demand for chips. Expected to grow at more than 60% over next 3-4 years.