Over three years, it's been sideways. He sold his shares because valuations were stretched. The CFO is retiring, they're shutting some US stores, and strong competition overseas. True, they've gotten into juices and other areas which has helped, but consumers can always switch to another brand. Be careful with this now. Watch their next report; their last quarter was weak.
(Past Top Pick, June 29, 2017, Up 0.4%) The U.S. financials have slipped since the January peak, but he'll continue to hold this. Trading at 0.9x price to book, one of the cheapest among its peers. Last week, they passed their stress test, and said they will raise their dividends. Also, they will continue to buy back shares. But if the tide changes with a U.S. slowdown, this will get hurt. But it's good for now.
(Past Top Pick, June 29, 2017, Up 32%) He bought this when Amazon announced it would get into this space, so he bought it cheap. he recently sold it at a profit. It's a little expensive now. Buy on a dip. High valuation despite good same-store sales. If Costco improves their digital sales, they will compete well against Amazon.
He likes this long-term. He took profits last fall. Their parks and studios are doing well, but ESPN is a worry with a lot of cord-cutting. That's why the stock has been stock the last few years. Disney is trying to acquire 21st Fox as a response. They had to do this, had to get into streaming. Can they execute well to go against Netflix?
This is pretty simple and straightfoward: it covers the S&P 500. There's no hedging in this. It comes down to how you look at the markets now. Himself, he really likes the S&P 500 as a place to invest in. The wild card are rising trade tensions. He believes there will be a resolution at some point. VFV charges only 8 basis points.
He holds this. They're diversifying into the Rec Room and golfing. The stock is basing now. The dividend is safe and generous at 5.8%. Maybe put a stop loss based on your risk tolerance, maybe using the old lows. Yes, it's been a slight disappointment, but there are better movies this year that'll help their box office.
Canadian vs. U.S. stocks: Given the exchange rate, is it worth buying U.S. stocks? He gets this question a lot. He says it's not a loss necessary. The U.S. has performed better than Canada in the past decade. He still likes the U.S. and holds most of his equities there. Tax reform and fiscal stimulus are tailwinds. NAFTA will be tougher on Canada than America. The S&P has returned twice as much than the TSX over the past two years.
He likes this long-term. It's like Amazon, mostly in e-commerce and the Cloud. Current negative sentiments about Chinese companies are only temporary. Compared to Tencent Holdings, Alibab is pretty close in terms of valuation and growth rates. He likes and owns both names. Alibaba has a huge runway, given the huge population of China.