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To a degree he's seeing similar themes between the two. Canada is obviously more impacted by tariffs and international trade, including the north-south trade.

What's interesting is the reaction to some of the earnings, and that's a bigger tell for the overall market. Earnings disappointments have been absolutely punished and even, in some cases, earnings beats on higher-valued tech stocks. Take, for example, PLTR and META -- results are perceived as just not good enough, and they're selling off. For him, that's an underlying weakness in the overall market. 

We've all been saying for a while that valuations are stretched and wondering what the catalyst would be to bring that to an end. Doesn't know that there's been one single catalyst, maybe a lot of potential ones. Below the surface, he thinks the market's doing way worse than the averages would tell you. In the US everyone looks at the S&P 500, and it's so weighted to a couple of stocks that have not broken down such as GOOG and AAPL. Below that, it's been pretty ugly.

Do the generals finally fall, or what happens? For him, it's a warning sign that this continued move upward is hitting some resistance.

The data that we are getting continues to be weak. Whether IFM data, some of the corporate data, or ADP data from the other day. All of this shows that employment is not deteriorating dramatically, but it's not getting better either at this point.

As well, he's listening to commentary from some of the CEOs of the more cyclical companies. Transportation, rails, and some delivery companies are good barometers for the overall strength of the economy. Low-end consumers, and consumers in general, are getting hit. Fast-food restaurant chains like CMG are missing numbers, and that tells you there's weakness in the consumer.

For the longest time, all that mattered for the consumer was that they were employed. When he looks at the employment numbers, they're deteriorating a bit. The wealth effect (such as gains from the stock market) can keep the consumer strong for a while, but that's like the last leg to stand on. The pegs that have kept everything moving higher keep getting knocked out.

He and his team now have a much more cautious view.

He's taking money out of cyclical sectors, away from the consumer. Certainly taking the tech bet down in a large way, though he's not out of tech. Got out of all the semiconductors.

Increased his long-bond exposure, which is a nice hedge to economic weakness. The long end of the bond curve should do a bit better in both Canada and the US. He's taken financials down, as they're too tied to what's going on economically and there's some risk there.

Infrastructure names in Canada look pretty good, as that area was highlighted for capital spending in the federal budget the other day. As well as the energy sector.

He's in town to do this show, and wandering around downtown last night he's really hearing a buzz around investing in Canada. People are getting more positive than they've been in decades about a reversal of the flow of money out of Canada that we've seen for the longest time. The biggest indicator was OVV coming up to buy NVA -- when's the last time you saw $$ moving back to Canada in the energy sector?

Valuation has become a lot more attractive. Branding is very strong, and that should continue. Wouldn't necessarily throw in the towel. (He's not really the guy to ask, as he wears the same workout gear every morning until you can't put it together anymore ;) 

He lightened up earlier this year, but is now coming back to it. Lost EchoStar contract. Latest rumour is that Globalstar contract is also at risk. That's 2 x $2B contracts, massive. Market's assuming the worst right now.

He looks at the other side. All the telcos are now offering dirct-to-cell satellite, a growth area. More infrastructure spending was detailed in the recent federal budget. A Canadian-domiciled company. Pretty good backlog. He bought some this morning, legging into his positions.

Down, but not that much. Expensive stock, so this name would be front-and-centre in a correction. Still, Azure growth was 40% last quarter. Continues to deliver. You can see why they're winning all this cloud business (his office switched to MSFT servers, and now all of a sudden every problem is MSFT's, not John's anymore).

Competitive market. Unknown what ORCL will do as the fourth player. Bigger question for the hyperscalers is how to monetize AI. Owns other names that are cheaper.

What worries him about investors today is the amount of passive investing, similar to the late 1990s when people don't understand what they're buying. As much as you can overshoot on the upside, you can overshoot to the downside. A move, when it comes, could come quickly and sharply for all these companies.

We currently have the highest level of equity exposure in the US, over 70% of financial assets are in stocks right now. A level that's almost unheard of. The market has some risk.

Volatile. Valuation high. Annual growth rate is high 20s-30%. Unique position in the market. Reminds him of AMZN 8-10 years ago. Now generating better operating profit and operating profit margins. Should start to see a lot more of the growth flow to the bottom line.

Continues to like. No reason to sell. He owns a decent position, though not "index weight".

Numbers just came out and were in line, though US side was a little sloppier than Canadian side. Remote health is a growing industry. Trades at 10x operating cashflow. Wants to see them divest some US assets and focus on Canada.

Likes it here for the long term. Undervalued relative to historical trading levels. Dominant in key markets. Up today on rumours of selling phosphate division, which is the smallest out of phosphate/nitrogen/potash.

Pharmacy benefits managers starting to do a bit better. Berkshire getting involved is a positive. US health insurance still a difficult market. Potential criminal charges are a huge negative. PE ratio is in the high teens.

For him, a better play in the sector would be CVS.

A good way to play the sector. Drug stores, but also pharmacy benefits managers. Sector should see a pickup, as worst of insurance operations is past. Trades ~12x forward PE (much cheaper than UNH).