COMMENT

General Market Comment. The announcement by the Federal government to begin First Nations consultations over the Trans Mountain pipeline is hopeful that there can be a solution, but it will take more than two years, he feels. Unfortunately, Canada is suffering from handing three million barrels per day to the US at half the price of world market. Meanwhile, Eastern Canada imports 1 million barrels per day at world market prices. Hopefully, Trans Mountain can eventually be built and exports can eventually go to Asia. This is peak pessimism in the market. China and European market are facing headwinds currently, which is causing a more defensive holding position by money managers. This leads him to feel we are in the seven inning of the bull cycle – expecting another 10-12% growth in markets per year over the next couple of years.

COMMENT

Is natural gas a better buy than oil? He thinks growing LNG demand, reduced coal demand will aid the market for the next 20 years. With LNG on the west coast, our market will open to Asian markets. He thinks Shell will expand an LNG plant into phase II and Chevron will likely enter as well. His favourite names are ARC, Tourmaline, and Kelt on the E&P side and Trican on the service side.

DON'T BUY

This is a tough business to be in as construction and design are low margin businesses. The last couple of quarters showed some operational hiccups. He needs to see these issues turn around before investing. He thinks there are other ways to play the infrastructure wave, such as Brookfield or SNC Lavalin.

WEAK BUY

He thinks now is a good time to get half your position in. Most material stocks have not acted well this year. Late cycle in the bull trend, he thinks commodities will get another year or two of potential upside. He is watching this one right now.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

He likes this company as it has a great brand and, technically, the chart is great. Its main attribute is the location of its retail outlets in key markets, close to end buyers. A good stock to buy on weakness. He would be a buyer below $200.

HOLD

There has been some management turnaround resulting in the selling of assets and a reduction in the dividend. The Quebec economy is doing well. He likes that it is trading below NAV, but it will take some time to get back to full value. He would suggest diversifying with some other REITs. Yield 6.2%.

WATCH

It is tough to recommend this company when they don’t have earnings or cash flow now. He is looking hard at it, but still feels it is overvalued. He would watch if for a couple more quarters to see how it converts their strategy into cash.

BUY

They have gotten caught up in the slowing Chinese market. At the current valuation, the stock is at a good level to buy. He would average down. He expects once there is greater certainty with trade in China there will be good upside to this blue chip stock.

HOLD

Management recently did a strategic review of the company, effectively putting itself up for sale. He bought into it around $19 per share. He expects this could be an acquisition target. He likes the exposure to world market prices for oil. He thinks there is upside to $25.

BUY

Generally with NAFTA behind us and LNG being developed, he sees Canada being a favorable investment again – including the banks. BNS-T has been the biggest dog in the bank sector, due to its exposure into some difficult international markets. He likes the valuation the best. It may be time to buy.

BUY

He thinks the dividend is safe. It is the regional airline for Air Canada. They raised money to deploy into the leasing business. He thinks it is undervalued and should trade over $8 per share. Yield 6.5%.

RISKY

They teamed up with members of the Tragically Hip band into the cannabis space. He thinks this space is over-valued and would a speculative holding at these levels. Larger cap names are more likely partners with non-cannabis companies. You should own these in a basket or a fund. He would prefer Canopy, who has a partner with Constellation Brands.

BUY

He thinks it is undervalued, due to the recent rise in interest rates. He likes the growth potential to participate in natural gas going west into the LNG project.

BUY

A key holding for him. They have good technology behind their business to assist in the growth of online banking. A great asset to have in your portfolio. As the 10 year rates go higher, it will bode well for their business. He still thinks it is cheap.

TOP PICK

They had already had a run up ahead of the announcement for west coast LNG. He thinks this company has the most immediate upside potential due to its link to camps and catering. They will be building modular homes, buildings and other structures and have a good land holding to develop a great growth strategy near Kitimat. Yield 2.6%. (Analysts’ price target is $3.56)