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Markets. Has been having trouble finding things in Canada to buy. US has a lot more stocks to potentially buy and this was the area where his bids ended up landing. He rarely buys stocks at this time of the year. Most of the time he does his buying in November and December when tax loss season is on. At this time of year, he was always looking for more to sell, either the big gainers or if he has something that would make a good tax loss.

There isn’t a Canadian bank that he finds of any interest at this point. Some conservative people who invest in a different way would say to buy bank stocks because you could get appreciation and you will get dividends. He is much more interested in US financials.

Likes this but has become a little more concerned about it recently. Lost about $30 million last quarter but most of that is in write-downs. Sold off a non-agricultural division for almost $15 million. This gives them enough money for their transition to Kansas City. Management has been buying a lot of shares lately. Has a price target of $3.24, which should take years.

Just announced a dividend increase. They have quarters where they lose money because basically they are delivering heat to houses and corporations. Possibility of tremendous capital appreciation and he can see it doubling from here. Dividend yield of 6.7%.

Water heater rental company. Can see the price of this being double digits. Competition is very strong in their industry. They keep on paying a nice dividend. Wouldn’t buy at this time.

Problem with the gold sector is that a lot of the people in the industry are mavericks and can be too optimistic. When things are going really well, that is often when they do takeovers and take on a lot of debt. When gold comes down in price, and things are tougher, that means they are in a worse financial position. Debt on this company’s balance sheet is just brutal. If it got down to $3-$4, he could be looking at it more carefully but right now they are going to get less in terms of revenues.

This is on his Stock Watch list. Have done a wonderful job in terms of their turnaround. Sold off a tremendous number of assets, partially because the Dutch government wanted them to. Spread out too much with too many tentacles in too many places. If it got down to around $5.50-$6.50 he would be more interested but even the current price is a pretty good price point.

Owned this one for years and has been wrong about it for many years. One of the few companies in his portfolio that is down. Just announced a small takeover. Thinks they are on the right path.

(A Top Pick April 17/12. Up 3 2.21%.) Probably the only US bank that he would still look at buying at this point. Thinks it can go over $30. Their profit quadrupled. They are taking care of business in terms of lawsuits. Just laid off a lot of workers.

(A Top Pick April 17/12. Down 3.76%.) They key is the C series. Will it ramp up and when? Supposed to be flying in June and has already had one delay. He has this one as a Hold.

(A Top Pick April 17/12. Up 11.04%.)

Cut and then reinstated their dividend and it’s a pretty nice payout. Management is fairly conservative. Revenues have slipped quite a bit as there is a lot of competition. Have absolutely no debt and cash in the bank, which is a good thing. Dividend yield of 8%.

Have been on a big acquisition spree. Announced another one that got finalized today. Have acquired over 10 companies in the last 3 years. Revenues are about $25 billion. This company has really recovered from the recession and their financials are in much better shape. Can see this one tripling. There are only 2 companies in his portfolio where he is down and this is one of them.

Now down to about where he had bought it at. A lot more competition in the states. On their own in Delaware but have competition next door in Pennsylvania. Have pared their debt back from about $88 million to about $58 million. Eliminated the dividend to deal with increased competition. Has a target price of over $7.74.

Energy. There is only one data point he can put his finger on to explain the weakness in oil and that was the Chinese GDP number that came out and missed. It was supposed to grow by 8% but only growing by 7.7%. Beyond that, for oil to fall 5.5% this week and 11% this month, he can’t find a fundamental reason. This has been a frustrating thing for almost 2 years now. Many of the companies, both in Canada and the US, have been very strong but, because of the leaning towards income investments, fund managers have been in a net redemption mode for about 1 to 1.5 years. Right now, the oil/gas sector is massively, massively out of favour. Market will probably be volatile for the next 3-4 months.