BUY
Pullback here, valuation is very attractive. Ton of free cash flow. Terrific play on US growth. He thinks the US is going to be a great long-term performer, so this is the place to be. A must-purchase for all his clients.
COMMENT
Time to buy Canadian telcos? Best performer last year was Rogers. BCE and Telus are the dividend payers. Looks as though interest rates now will not go up. Wireless and internet demand are huge, valuations are somewhat attractive, growth isn't going to be huge. But if you're looking for some anchors in a choppy market, buy one or two of these names.
DON'T BUY
Smaller-tier Canadian bank. Don't fool around, own one of the top-quality banks instead. Declining loan growth, issues with mortgages, which impacted the balance sheet, and it's in the penalty box. Earnings are not growing at the moment. Sell, and buy National or TD or any of the others.
HOLD
Stock's been going nowhere forever. Results have been pretty good, and there have been dividend increases. Management has no sense of urgency to creating value. Two assets are not in growth mode, Great West Life and IGM Financial. Owns it for the dividend. Not excited about much else.
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Jan 09/18, Down 6%) Can't control the market. Earnings were up 10% in 2018, dividends were raised twice. You have to own a bank, and this is their preferred one, trading at 9x earnings, grow earnings 6-7% this year. What's not to like?
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Jan 09/18, Up 11%) A lot of the gain is from currency. Mostly a US company. Recurring revenues. Thesis is there's a long runway of growth, they have the scale and the buying power to serve condos. Not cheap, but he likes it because of the growth.
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Jan 09/18, Down 1%) Known as an executive search firm, but now most of the revenues come from consulting. Earnings were up 20% this year. Market cared about fear, not earnings. Expect 10% or more in earnings growth this year. Still positive on US growth, and Korn/Ferry will benefit.
COMMENT
In 2019, will traders look at the fundamentals again? Market will be more volatile going forward, because that's normal, but we won't see the big swings. When things settle down, they will focus on fundamentals again. When the market goes down, it feels good to own cash and bonds, but they won't win forever. You need to have stocks that have growing earnings and growing dividends.
BUY
Absolutely likes US banks. Thinks you can own both Canadian and US banks. JP Morgan has held up better than Goldman, though his clients own both. He'd absolutely buy BAC or JP Morgan, because recession fears are overblown, interest rates will go up slowly in US and this will benefit the banks. Valuations are quite attractive, balance sheets are better.
COMMENT
How to play gold? Never buy gold. He's interested in buying companies, they have pricing power, good balance sheets, can compound capital, and can control their own destiny. That doesn't happen with gold companies.
BUY
Has owned it since 2001. Keyera disappointed the market last year, when it said it would have to spend significant maintenance capital. Short-term thinking put pressure on the stock. Terrific buying opportunity. Not the greatest company, not his number one pick, but for income seekers, it or Pembina deserves a place in your portfolio.
BUY
One of the best companies in the world. Great earnings growth, terrific balance sheet. Not cheap, but right now it's on sale. Rare to get a great company on sale.
WATCH
Trades in tandem with Visa. Looking at it, because they'd like exposure to emerging markets and MA is better positioned for this. Not cheap, but right now it's on sale. Rare to get a great company on sale.
DON'T BUY
Had a change of heart about commodity companies. They don't have a lot of control over input price of oil. Terrific balance sheet, dividend increases. There are worse places to put your money, but he wants less cyclical choices with more pricing power. Yield is 2.49%.
COMMENT
Software company, which acquires other software companies. Similar to Constellation, which is a better opportunity than this one. Smart acquirers. They say they have lots of M&A opportunities, so as long as you're comfortable with that strategy (and he is with Constellation), you should do very well. Big runway of growth, but there's lots of competition, so do your research.