Nadeem Kassam - CFA, MBA

Maybe not obvious, but it definitely aligns with what we've seen over the past 10 years in terms of seasonal weakness during February/March. Hard to pinpoint just one factor.

Three underpinnings are quite supportive of the outlook for the year.

Economic backdrop -- global growth trend for 2026 and into 2027 is relatively healthy. Global economy expected to grow at a faster clip than over the past 3 years. Canada's economy is accelerating closer to its historical pace. On the macro side, employment and inflation are supportive.

Corporate fundamentals -- across the US, the eurozone, and Japan have been coming in well above expectations. Guidance for the remainder of the year has been very strong. 

Markets -- broadening out.

In the US, there's a one-time tax break coming around April that will provide a boost.

For the Canadian consumer, we're seeing about 100 bps of interest rate easing and downward momentum in terms of inflation. That will benefit the Canadian consumer, as will some of the spillover effect from fiscal announcements.

The key thing to know is that the effect of monetary policy is immediate (floating rate mortgage, line of credit, etc.). However, it's imprecise. 

Fiscal policy is very precise, but it makes its way into the real economy at a much slower pace. It can have a lower material impact over a longer period of time. Think defense spending, housing, key federal projects, support for the auto sector. These will be tailwinds for the consumer in the years to come.

It depends -- on your time horizon and your return expectations. Laggard in renewables. Execution challenges. Recent dividend cut. Looks cheap, so worth a second look. 

His preference in the space is BEP.UN.

His choice in the renewables space. Fairly good tailwinds behind it.

Take a step back and look at the entire sector -- impacted by regulatory changes on immigration, and competitive pricing has weighed it down.

Operational outlook seems reasonable, but not overly excited about it. He prefers RCI.B.

Regulatory changes on immigration have impacted the entire sector, and competitive pricing has weighed it down.

His choice in the telco space. Opportunities to monetize MLSE. Among peers, its balance sheet is the most compelling going forward.

Drawdown related to AI pressures on software. Looks relatively compelling, but think twice about what you're trying to get from the stock. A growthy stock, tends to be volatile. Great business, outlook looks fairly reasonable.

Can use AI to leverage benefits of its business.

No concerns about AI for this name. Results reported recently were bang-on. Azure grew 39% YOY. Tremendous backlog and demand from corporate clients. Recent pressure is emotional, not fundamental. Add when opportunities over coming months.

Well positioned going ahead. Earnings growth likely to accelerate faster than peers. Compelling on valuation and earnings outlook.

Factors weighing on stock include AI. M&A is great, but de-leveraging has been a headwind. Slow organic growth. Management shuffle. Other companies provide better businesses, better execution track record, industry-leading solutions, and trusted management.

Room for some recovery, so you could wait for a bounce. Better opportunities to deploy capital.

Strong performer last year. Not cheap despite pressure on shares. Probably primary bet for AI exposure in Canadian tech. Good quality. Expects further volatility. Likes, but needs further downside to get excited.

Once you get in, a long-term hold.

Loves it long term. Core holding. One of the best names among the hyperscalers. If your view is that AI will disrupt every single business out there, you need the type of ecosystem support that you get from AWS. Encompasses more than 50% of online retail sales.

Today was a blowout quarter -- surprised consensus, stock's reacted. Headwinds from CUSMA. Auto supply chains aren't easily replaceable (no matter what the US president says). Great name to own here, and add on weakness.

Hard to tell if they're overspending. What he can say is that their history of deploying capital can help us decide. Early days, and general consensus is that it's a bit of sticker shock.

MSFT, for example, is expected to spend ~$130B over the next 12 months. He looks at their capital allocation decisions of the past compared to generated returns. Majority of the Mag 7's have generated upwards of 20-30% ROIC.

For those of the Mag 7 that have reported, he's seen strong underlying trends such as strong corporate demand and business fundamentals that support the buildout and justify the spending.

Demand is high, and it's being driven by a lot of consumer and real-time usage of AI across the global ecosystem. Strong demand, and he sees strong visibility to monetization efforts. Won't happen overnight, but tidbits of numbers here and there support the long-range view.