Brendan Caldwell

In general, political events have (at best) a temporary effect on the market. The defining political event of his adulthood was 9/11. Yet markets closed higher at the end of 2001 than they did on September 10, 2001. Markets tend to take things in stride and then move on fairly quickly.

There's conflicting information coming out of the Iran situation. Iran is saying they're not having any discussions with the Americans. Trump is saying he's talking to "Top. Men." (just as in the last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark). Of the two, Brendan actually believes the Iranians; yet the market seems to be accepting the reassurances coming out of the White House.

As the wise New York philosopher, Paul Simon, said, "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."

He's pretty heavily weighted in energy, especially Canadian energy, but hasn't trimmed. It would have been really nice if Canada already had in place the business case to get more of our energy to world markets.

As the wags are saying on the internet, "The difference between this conflict and the Vietnam War is that Trump knew how to get himself out of the Vietnam War." 

This will continue on in some way for a bit. Even if it doesn't, the bigger problem for energy prices would be if there was a slowdown in the economy driven by higher interest rates. The president would very much not like rates to ratchet up in the 6 months before the midterm elections. 

The US being able to keep interest rates low is more of a determining factor than whether this war continues on.

Still heavily weighted in energy, especially Canadian. Financial services have been a bit weaker here, but he likes them and they should continue. As for AI, we'll probably talk about some of the most boring companies in the tech sector during his Past and Top Picks.

Financial services have pulled back a bit. US consumer is less leveraged than in history. Should we see a slowdown, the more credit-oriented consumer debt tends to get hit the hardest. US consumer very vulnerable to higher interest rates.

He's a big fan of the motto "If you love a product, own the stock." If you use their Discover card, and you have a more positive outlook on the US economy, then own this and probably do well.

As the name implies, very much US-focused. Very much a distant third player in the space. 

He owns V and MA, which are considered more international. Credit card companies actually make a vast amount of $$ on the foreign exchange for transactions.

Transitioned from newspapers to information. In the age of AI, information is much more commoditized. On AI concerns, many babies have been thrown out with much bathwater. If you have proprietary data, data will be king -- these companies will probably do better than the market fears.

If an investor has more information than the rest of the market, that's a real inside track on a company. Thinks the energy sector is quite sustainable. Has never owned, but he's now going to take a look at it.

Combination of private equity holdings and public securities, largely focused in financial services. He owns a lot, and keeps adding.

Disclosure:  Investment holding company launched and managed by Caldwell Investment Management.

Holding company for WWE and MMA. Used to own, sold on extended valuation. Again, if you love the company own the stock. Sports should keep being a growth industry until gambling gets out of hand. Buy on pullbacks.

Grocers are under a lot of pressure due to perception of gouging, though inflation and increased energy costs are factors as well. Great niche, great properties.

For him, the preference is Loblaw -- the Energizer Bunny that just keeps going and going. Dominant player. 

Grocers are under a lot of pressure due to perception of gouging, though inflation and increased energy costs are factors as well. His preference in the space -- the Energizer Bunny that just keeps going and going. Dominant player, great economies of scale.

The Brookfield theme is largely about property of one sort or another -- from generating energy to office buildings. 

Big factor in property is interest rates. Concern of higher interest rates in autumn, but he thinks that's unlikely. US is about to have a new Fed chair, with the express view of keeping interest rates lower.

In the property space, he owns GRT.UN.

Owns lots of industrial properties, both around GTA and in the Florida-Texas belt that's growing rapidly. His best idea for the space.

Big factor in property is interest rates. Concern of higher interest rates in autumn, but he thinks that's unlikely. US is about to have a new Fed chair, with the express view of keeping interest rates lower.

Makes $$ from its proprietary products. Actually owns the VIX, and they can charge almost what they want -- when the world is bizarre (CFA technical term ;) this product does particularly well.

Was seen as AI laggard, but AWS has now caught up considerably. Believes it'll still be a winner going forward. It's a lot easier to figure out how to use a new tool with your existing business than to start from scratch, and the dominant players are already there.