TOP PICK
You have to have base metal exposure because demand around the world is rising. Copper prices have been falling so share prices of this company have dropped. PE is ridiculously low at 6X earnings, not including cash. Good exposure globally in stable countries. A perennial takeover target. Good price.
TOP PICK
4% dividend yield. If you own Bell Canada (BCE-T) and it is taken out, and you want exposure to the telecom sector and you want to replace that nice, fat dividend with the dividend tax credit, this is an obvious pick. No longer trading at a huge PE multiple. Solid growth prospects going forward.
TOP PICK
Whistler Olympics has a huge amount of development still going on. Oil sands machinery continues to need maintenance and parts. Perhaps the Mackenzie Valley pipeline will get built some time. New mines are being opened in South America. They make money on service and support.
PAST TOP PICK
(A Past Top Pick. Jan 10/07. Down 10.1%.) Base metals have been remarkably volatile in the last little while. From his point of view, you have to own these stocks. Thinks it has been oversold and is a buying opportunity.
PAST TOP PICK
(A Past Top Pick. Jan 10/07. Up 17.2%.) Feels the whole bundle of underlying assets is undervalued. Break-up value would probably be around $30/$35 a share. Still inexpensive.
PAST TOP PICK
(A Past Top Pick. Jan 10/07. Up 3.3%.) Including distributions, he has had a 12.5 % gain. Feels the 8.5% yield is safe.
BUY
One of the better companies that allow you to play the molybdenum market. Has taken a terrible hit in the last 2 months. All base metals are down on concerns of the US economy, but other economies will pick up the slack. Thinks the metals are a long story.
BUY
Thinks American financials are probably oversold. Trading at a reasonable multiple of book value and earnings. As long you don't think they have some sort of hidden exposure to the credit markets, you're probably safe buying them.
COMMENT
Gold is not his favourite sector. Very hard to predict the price of gold and he doesn't understand it.
COMMENT
Likes their stand on refusing to bail out others who created the mess. Have some other problems in that they made some big acquisitions on US banks. Trading at 12X current earnings and 11.5X forward. This is not his favourite bank.
BUY
Did 2 big deals, one in the oil sands and one offshore, both of which require big capital expenditures. Luckily oil companies are coining cash as a result of high prices. Nonetheless, costs in the oil sands have grown exponentially. Have a pretty good base in heavy oil and the oil sands and has held up pretty well. Feels that oil prices are going to hang in.
DON'T BUY
As a value investor, the PE has always been unpalatable to him. The company has done a fabulous job of growing their earnings, subscribers and expanding into new markets. If the financial sector goes into a de-hiring mode a lot of the people who use Blackberries will be looking for new jobs and not using Blackberries. This could also result in slower subscriber growth.
BUY
Has done very well over the past year. There is a large expansion in the airline industry in China, etc. and a lot of new pilots will be required to be trained. This one is on his radar screen.
COMMENT
“Banks” are an excellent cornerstone for your portfolio. Nice dividend yield, which gives a nice tax credit. Trading right now at very good prices. His holdings are #1 Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) #2 National Bank (NA-T) and #3 Royal Bank.
DON'T BUY
Big questions with drug companies are “How big is their pipeline of drugs and development?” “What’s the patent life of their big drugs?” and “How vulnerable are they to erosion from generics?”.