BUY ON WEAKNESS

WIll robotaxis form part of their passenger network along with regular cars, or will robos form their own customer base and compete with Uber? Competitor, Waymo already operates in San Francisco and is expanding to cities like Atlanta and Miami. This news has hit Uber shares. Remember that freight Uber Eats makes up half of Uber's business. Would consider this at 24x PE and growing 15% topline. The robo threat exists, but won't impact Uber for years.

WEAK BUY
With AI coming

Owns only a little Telus and telcos. The dividend is safer than BCE's, but less than Roger's. Telus should be okay, because they invested in fibre optic to the home before others. So, will be lower capex and operating expensives, and more cash flow. Is comfortable with their dividend.

DON'T BUY

Tariffs are impacted them, but the auto parts sector is already out of favour. EV sales have levelled off. Magna lower their guidance again and again last year. They're nearing a bottom now. Prefers Linamar for its much lower EV of 6x, and they have diverse businesses, like agricultural equipment.

BUY

Prefers Linamar to Magna for its much lower EV of 6x, and they have diverse businesses, like agricultural equipment.

COMMENT

BC softwood has always been a target of tariffs. This group has been expanding operation in the US to lessen the impact. IFP has the highest percentage of production in the US. Contrary to Trump, Americans indeed need Canadian lumber -- 23% of it comes from B.C. Tariffs will make lumber more expensive to Americans, though American lumber companies will make more money.

WEAK BUY

Share prices have held up very well over 5 years, not reflecting a feared shipping recession. More upside as this recovers, though less than TD.

BUY

Growth plans are getting traction. Looks better than before. Because of a jump in the costs of car repairs last year, people deferred getting those repairs. So this business is coming back. Also, BYD's scanning and calibration business is growing, a lucrative one they used to outsource. Are building their own locations and buying fewer businesses, which give them a better return.

TOP PICK

A top provider of robotics software, particularly in agentic AI (which functions less on human prompts that generative AI). Growth looks good ahead.

(Analysts’ price target is $15.79)
TOP PICK

Their December results beat, but they lowered 2025 guidance by 1.5%. Shares fell 20%, an overreaction. Investors are worried about Adobe's pace of AI progress, but things should improve this year as they create more optimal pricing, including affordable rates for poorer customers. Their express product will compete with Canva. Meanwhile, they're targeting the enterprise market with GenStudio, an AI factory for advertisers. Note: the CEO of Eli Lilly recently bought $1 million of Adobe shares, as he sits on the board.

(Analysts’ price target is $576.85)
TOP PICK

Is the 3rd-largest energy infrastructure company in Canada and has the largest footprint in the Montney and its natural gas. They have several projects on the go that will support growth for the rest of the decade. Their payout ratio is decent and less leverage than TC Energy and Enbridge, so they can sell-fund projects. Pays over a 5% dividend.

(Analysts’ price target is $61.83)
COMMENT
J. Powell testifying before Congress.

The message coming from the Fed is that it's on hold for rate cuts. He'll get a lot of questions as to whether he's worried about inflation, which will elevate the discussion around inflation to the 6 o'clock news. Last week the Michigan Consumer Sentiment numbers came out, and inflation expectations took a massive jump up. That sentiment is a big part of keeping long-term inflation anchored.

If inflation expectations don't change, a lot of people are worried about President Trump's policies around tariffs. That's going to start to really enter the narrative.

COMMENT
Markets.

Right now, the market sees the threat of tariffs as a Trump negotiating tool. Every time there's a new headline about inflation, markets go down, but then quickly get bought up. The market's in a buy-the-dip mindset at the moment. But for the last couple of months, we haven't really seen any higher highs.

We're on the cusp of that again this week. Can the market expand to the upside here? Or are we going to trade back down to the bottom end of the multi-month trading range we've been in since the US election?

COMMENT
Earnings.

Not great, but OK and a bit better than expected. Over the next week or two, we're going to see more consumer-oriented names like MCD report. Really important what they'll have to say about whether consumers are in good enough shape to further expand the market multiple. He argues that it's going to be a tougher task at this point than a lot of the bulls think.

The bottom end of the income spectrum is really hurting in a big way in many sectors. Now, MCD is a go-out-to-eat trade down; it's less expensive than a Denny's or an Olive Garden, for example. So if MCD, which is already at the lower end of a meal out, is telling us that the lower income folks are struggling, then you really have to sit up and take notice. But the market's pretty much ignoring it for now.

WEAK BUY
Parking cash with safety.

The more in money market you are, the safer it is because the time to maturity of holding assets is lower. So the shorter the duration, the safer. The more government, the safer, but also a lower yield.

For an enhanced money market yield, he really likes ZST.

WEAK BUY
Parking cash with safety.

The more in money market you are, the safer it is because the time to maturity of holding assets is lower. So the shorter the duration, the safer. The more government, the safer, but also a lower yield.

For an enhanced money market yield, he really likes ZST.