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US Economy. We had a very disappointing first-quarter GDP number, and people became concerned. Then we had what amounted to quite positive employment news for June. Tomorrow we have retail sales and existing home sales, which will give further clues. He feels the US economy started to pick up steam in March, April and May, and we should start to see those results coming through. Everybody knows the US Federal Reserve are going to stop buying bonds by the fall, and it is really just a question after that, as to when they start taking rates back to what they would consider to be a normal level. The uncertainty is not of direction, but is of timing.

Markets. You have to be a stock picker in today’s market. Everybody recognizes that the indices in the US are at all-time highs, and close to all-time highs in Canada. You have to work a little harder and dig a little deeper. If you have strong companies with strong balance sheets, and if the market has a correction you can shrug it off.

Makes toilet paper. If there is ever a staple product that is not going to go out of business, toilet paper is going to be high on that list. Company commissioned a giant new plant in Tennessee, and is now coming up to full operation and what is expected in terms of margin. He expects to see free cash flow expand. Has a good yield 4.5%, which he expects to continue going forward.

What are your reasons for not being a fan of gaming stocks? When buying stocks for his clients, he envisages his name across a factory door, and questions if he would want his name on certain products. These companies pray primarily on the weak of will and the unsophisticated. There are no safeguards such as they have in casinos, for people with gambling problems.

This is the controller of Sobey’s stores. It also has a controlling interest in Crombie REIT, an owner of shopping centers across Canada. Sobey’s has recently taken over Safeway in Western Canada. The grocery business is a low margin, nickel/dime business. Very competitive. If you look through this company and try to value the assets, you will find that the value of the assets is higher than the stock price, $80-$90 a share. He thinks they have some synergies coming out of the Safeway acquisition. They are closing quite a few stores because of too much capacity and duplication. They’ll no doubt save a lot of money on logistics and administration. He sees increasing margins.

Used to make all its monies through infant car seats and “put it together yourself” furniture. It has now become a big force in the bicycle market. Last year the stock got slammed because of very cold, wet spring weather, and didn’t sell as many bicycles as expected. This year things are going better. He is quite bullish on the stock.

A midstream company in the Alberta energy corridor, and do all kinds of things, from moving oil by truck, tankage and pipelines. This area has been a really hot sector. However, with natural gas at such low prices, can this kind of company continue to thrive and continue making that kind of money by providing services? This company seems to be doing a very good job, and certainly bears consideration.

He can’t understand why the government has an insatiable demand for a 4^th national carrier, which they just don’t seem to be able to produce. Everybody says there is no room for a 4^th carrier. Feels the sports franchises they own are not valued in the price of the stock at all. Feels this is a tremendous buy at this price.

(A Top Pick July 15/13. Up 16.94%.) If you are an income investor, this is a conservative investment that pays good and rising dividends. It gives you the dividend tax credit. The stock should rise with the market over time.

(A Top Pick July 15/13. Up 31.68%.) Likes this primarily for its international exposure. Very big Latin America exposure, Southeast Asian exposure and not much US exposure. In markets that have tremendous upside with growing middle classes.

(A Top Pick July 15/13. Up 12.99%.) Likes this because of its size, its stability and its basic business practice, i.e., you buy a big building, rent it out for 20 years, mortgage it for 20 years, and live off the spread. Feels the stock is worth $25-$26.

Are “old tech” plays like Oracle and Cisco good investments? All these companies are migrating their operations to the Cloud. Cisco is replacing a lot of its hardware switching with soft switching. Companies like Microsoft have proved to be quite agile. These companies are all at very low multiples, at less than 12X earnings, and generally have very strong balance sheets. Probably less growth, but probably more stability.

A lot of people think this is the smartest bank in the US, and this is why the stock has done so well. It may have done too well as the stock has had a tremendous move this year. Feels it is fully priced.

The thought is, if you buy lifcos now, and interest rates go up, they’ll make more on their bonds, then they will reap profits and you’ll be rewarded. The problem is, nobody knows when that is going to happen. This is not a bad bet.

Thinks of this as a chronic under performer in terms of its operations. Made a big acquisition in the US, and the jury is kind of out on it. The 1^st couple of quarters looked really great, but on analysis, it turned out that it was a reversal of loan losses on the portfolio.