Alexander MacDonald Portfolio manager

He is looking for a soft economic landing since the CPI numbers are encouraging and there has been the lowest two month increase in inflation seen in two years. Rent is one of the biggest drivers of inflation data and the real time data of new leases being signed in the U.S. is starting to come down. There is a lag effect to interest rate increases so an extra 25 basis points increase here and there won't have a big impact especially when compared to the huge increase over the past year. Investors will look for signs of keeping rates where they are or a start to cutting them.

Since last summer there has been a recession in advertising for television and this has been a problem for Chorus. There are longer term headwinds since subscribers are moving more to streaming services. Chorus has STACK TV but it is an uphill battle against some of the big companies. It sold its animation studio to help reduce debt load but debt is still pretty high. The stock is too risky.

They make fuel cells for large vehicles. It has traded sideways for most of its history. There are two major questions regarding hydrogen: where does it come from and how do you transport it since it has to be highly compressed.

They sold their position earlier this year. It continues to have some debt issues from an acquisition. It is spinning off its renewables which make up the high growth side and the CEO is leaving. It pays a 6% dividend but there have been too many mis-steps.

There is a transition to EV's going on and GM is starting to get into this. However it is hard to be nimble when it is such a large company. The internal combustion engine market will continue with most cars still belonging to this category. He is not buying at these levels but is watching.

It provides energy services in Alberta as well as some in the U.S. He doesn't own energy services or exploration companies. Sticks to pipelines.This type of company does well when the sector does well.

It is the largest life insurance company in Canada and is strong in Asia where there is high growth. It has traded sideways recently as well as long term. Its dividend is over 6%. They sold their shares and rotated into another life insurance company

It is a pharmaceutical company with an insurance division as well. There is a regulatory overhang on pharmaceutical companies that can limit profit. He doesn't know where the the next growth catalyst is so doesn't own.

It was spun out from Brookfield and has good management. He likes it but doesn't own based on valuation.

Editor's Note: This is Alexander's first time on Market call so there are no past picks. Instead he added to his general comments from the beginning of the show. One topic was the spread between the 2 year bond yields and the 10 year bond yields. If this spread is inverted it has always been followed by a recession for the past many decades. However, the two events are not always correlated. Things may be different this time since we have gone through a pandemic, (with its consequent slowdown) which hasn't happened in over a century. The supply chain is improving and the labour market is strong with very few cracks so he is anticipating  a probable soft landing.

This is a core holding. It is a pharmaceutical and medical devices company. There has been some mild concern about a bit of a patent cliff and asbestos claims from a baby powder product. However it is a defensive company with a solid balance sheet and Triple A rating. There is a spinoff coming which will be available to shareholders. When asked about Lilly, he prefers Johnson and Johnson.

It is an over-the-top streaming company. He likes the space and owns Disney along with its successes and some setbacks.

He likes it and the gas distribution business should do well in Canada. It has great assets and is one of the only ways to distribute hydro-carbon assets to markets outside of Canada.. He is comfortable with the debt and it pays a dividend of over 7%

It transports mostly oil and natural gas liquids. It is looking at acquiring the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline across the Rockies as well as an LNG terminal in B.C. The dividend is 6%.

It is one of the better ones and is active in conventional oil, gas drilling operations, and the oil sands. It has a dividend of 4% and is good at returning money to shareholders.