PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick May 29/2017, Down 3%) Exited a few months back. Healthy business, but asset purchase 9 months ago, US single family housing portfolio. One risk is that it's valued on a cap rate basis, so rising interest rates will hurt the perceived value of the assets. Well-run business. If it pulled back, they'd consider re-entering it.

COMMENT

Can you explain the price of Enbridge buying ENF? Can retail investors try for a better deal? Premium is not large, but company is extolling virtues of accretion, and ENB pays an attractive dividend. If institutions are on board, hard for retail investors to get their say in. When companies consolidate, there are usually some savings.

WATCH

Maybe this is finally the bottom. They’ve been watching it, because they’re value investors. Haven’t taken a position yet because lots of debt on balance sheet, lowered earnings guidance, trying to decide which assets to sell. Getting booted out of the Dow could cause selling pressure.

COMMENT

Get in now for a dividend investor? Can’t go too far wrong with Royal Bank. They favour US banks right now, not Canadian. US economy and housing doing better, whereas Canada has housing mortgage risks. Long-term steady dividend payer, as long as you take a long-term view, a good core name to own. May want to mix in some blue-chip US banks like JP Morgan or Citigroup.

DON'T BUY

Great Canadian success story, with lots of US contracts. Some near-term NAFTA risk, significant tariffs would be a vulnerability on their Canadian manufacturing facilities. More fully valued now.

DON'T BUY

Is recent dip an opportunity to buy? They’re not in chip stocks. They’re not at cheap valuations right now. Semiconductor space is vulnerable because of its competitive, commodity-type business. Has had a fairly good run, pretty steep valuation.

PARTIAL BUY

Entry point now? The way to think about it is that it’s like a utility. One of their favourite technology investments. When the name is synonymous with the task, that’s a dominant position. Stock has had a great run, but it’s not expensive at 16-17x PE. They’re innovating, investing in all kinds of businesses, they have YouTube which isn’t fully monetized yet. Market pullback is a good time to look at it, but it’s also a difficult market. A great company. You could start a position now and take a very long-term view. Comfortable it’ll be higher in 5-10 years.

PARTIAL BUY

Entry point now? The way to think about it is that it’s like a utility. One of their favourite technology investments. When the name is synonymous with the task, that’s a dominant position. Stock has had a great run, but it’s not expensive at 16-17x PE. They’re innovating, investing in all kinds of businesses, they have YouTube which isn’t fully monetized yet. Market pullback is a good time to look at it, but it’s also a difficult market. A great company. You could start a position now and take a very long-term view. Comfortable it’ll be higher in 5-10 years.

WAIT

Impacted by NAFTA? Diversified manufacturing base, so no big NAFTA impact. Housing market continues to look strong. Cheap stock, nice dividend, nothing bad to say. Risk is if correction in OSB prices, how will stock react in near term? If stock corrects, good time to buy. Volatile, based on underlying commodity. Well run, excellent management, lots of free cash flow. A good core holding in this industry.

COMMENT

Merger with Canfor? Cheap, well-run, but there’s softwood lumber deal risk. Market has already reacted to the softwood deal. They’ve heard M&A speculation, but unlikely with Canfor. Not a lot of M&A in public companies, instead, companies just buy smaller US mills. Outlook very strong, and upcoming earnings should be good, especially given strong lumber prices.

TOP PICK

Earnings have gone up significantly, trades at less than book value, stock buybacks, increased dividend with more to come he thinks. Will continue to benefit from rising interest rates, deregulation, strong US economy and housing market. Earnings growth expectations significant over next years. Good way to play rising rates, cheapest of big US banks. Has been out of favour, but doing a good job in capital allocation and growth. (Analyst’s price target is $82.89.)

TOP PICK

Fifth largest brewer in Canada. New facility only operating at half capacity, so room to grow. Strong management team. A big, efficient producer which could roll up the smaller brewers. Could also be a takeout target in future. (Analyst's price target is $ 4.71.)

TOP PICK

Make smaller-scale electric transformers, with a pretty dominant market share, and could benefit from future increased number of electric vehicle stations. Really well run, clean balance sheet, 2.5% dividend. Sell to US customers in transportation, mining, power, oil & gas, infrastructure, where their end markets are strong and should be strong for several years. Low valuation, significant insider ownership. Good cash flow, could increase dividend and increase earnings significantly. A hidden gem in a niche sector. Canadian company that benefits from strong US economy. (Analyst’s price target is unknown .)