DON'T BUY

The yield is 11.4%. She used to own this for income, but sold it when they announced they bought the US telecom; BCE will need to spend to build that new company. Meanwhile, capital spending in Canada is rising and eventually peak. Only then, will BCE pay down debt. Yes, the dividend is high, but the street is asking why it's so high. Meanwhile, the Canadian wireless is competitive while immigration is declining, impacting subscriber growth in telcos.

WEAK BUY

She owns pipelines, not energy producers. Crude oil's price has been down this year and the outlook looks weak. Trump is very pro-energy and wants to increase supply. CNQ trades at a premium, but has a strong balance sheet and historically has the flexibility to buy other companies. She can't predict oil prices. It pays an attractive 5.1% dividend.

DON'T BUY

The telco sector has pulled back where debt levels are higher than in others. Immigration will fall in the next two years, which impacts subscriber growth, despite being an oligopoly. Price competition has been stronger than she expected. She avoids the sector.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

Would buy on this pullback. It enjoys an oligopoly, but the economy softened more than the company expected this year. The strike was also a headwind. Operations are doing well. CNR forecast that the goods market would be in a recession this year and they were right, so their comps may improve going forward if demand increases. 

COMMENT

Has done well in the past. It trades at a premium vs. peers. Instead, she owns Chartwell and CAP REIT.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

It dipped in August, but has recovered. Given this, wait for a pullback.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

She missed this one. They did a very good job pivoting to online sales, and they've added advertising to their platform. They've done well, and the softening economy benefits companies like Walmart. Good long-term. Wait for a pullback. They compete well against Amazon and Target.

TOP PICK

It's had a nice move the past week, but is catching up to the group. It remains the leading search engine. The regulatory overhang this year and gen AI's potential competition in search were headwinds. But it's holding in well. GOOG is adding AI in their search, so they're not standing still. The regulatory will remain an overhang though, but it will be a long process. GOOG announced a quantum computing chip while Waymo and YouTube are doing well. The cloud business is up 35% year over year. The sum of the parts could be worth more than what it's trading for.

(Analysts’ price target is $210.37)
TOP PICK

62% of premiums are in the US and the rest international, so they have global exposure. They are growing life insurance in Asia. They have a good track record in assessing risk, then generate investment income through a large bond portfolio and private equity investments. Berkshire announced a stake in CB earlier this year. Trades at a reasonable 12x forward PE.

(Analysts’ price target is $302.57)
TOP PICK

All their end markets are doing well: infrastructure, transportation, property, buildings, advisory services, design. Canada makes up less than 20% of revenue, so they are international. It grows 68% organically. Buying POWER Engineers will give them the leading access to the US power market, so WSP will participate in the energy transition as utilities face more energy demand as data centres build out. Integration is going well. 

(Analysts’ price target is $280.07)
DON'T BUY
Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research

QTRH is now down 16.5% over the last year. Since we last spoke about it, QTRH has been awarded two contracts valued at US$3.4M for system upgrades and maintenance at commercial vehicle enforcement stations operated by the Idaho State Police. While this news is positive, QTRH continues to have negative cash flows while earnings are also expected to be negative again next year. We do not think it is worth buying right now.
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BUY
Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research

It is true that BRK.A/BRK.B is a very competitive alternative relative to other options like owning the SPY ETF. It is especially attractive for investors who seek a value-oriented portfolio. BRK.A is managed conservatively with a portfolio of businesses (wholly owned or through publicly traded securities) with tremendous pricing and staying power. As a group, these businesses generate healthy cash flow, allowing BRK.A to allocate capital to acquire more businesses, creating a compounding engine over time. That being said, BRK.A is quite large, investors need realistic expectations for returns going forward, we think it can do around 10%-12% in a low-risk manner. It could underperform during a strong bull market but it tends to outperform during a flat or declining market. 
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BUY
Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research

Rates coming down further to help stimulate development activities and housing market activity would likely be key. The recent news of Canada slowing immigration over the next few years could be another headwind to rental growth. Overall, it is mainly rates and general improved economic conditions to help the real estate market improve. This will help portfolios appreciate in value, allow REITs to execute on pipeline opportunities, and grow payouts, but there is still work to be done here. 
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COMMENT
Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research

The Importance of Valuation:

At times, companies have great earnings, a great forecast and great management comments. And still the stock goes down. This can confuse investors more than the other four points discussed above: “If everything is great, why is my stock down?” Usually, this is related to valuation. Yes, expensive stocks can get more expensive. But sometimes, stocks are priced to near-perfection. Even a “perfect” earnings report is not enough if investors were expecting “better than perfect.” High valuation stocks can see profit taking on even the best news. Sellers can come in on a perfect report on the belief that “things can’t possibly get better than this.” Some investors will sell when brokers’ target prices are hit, which tends to happen when numbers are good.
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BUY

Is there more upside after the post-election rally? Tesla has more self-driving data than Waymo, data that could work in Musk's favour with Trump. Shares are up 85% since the vote (86% this year). Given Musk's relationship with Trump, investors will ignore PE and pay anything for Tesla shares. Also, today, Tesla saw an analyst upgrade.