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COMMENT
The market has bounced back quickly. He's surprised. It's like the last gasp; we've seen this before prior to past downturns. We had a sudden downdraft (December 2018), then a bounce (January-present), then things hit reality. Reality is tthere's a disconnect between high markets and economic realties around the world, particularly amid trade wars. Economists are lowering expectations for global growth. Be very cautious by holding more cash than usual, be careful what you invest in, and take profits. He expects no move by the U.S. Fed today, not in this market.
DON'T BUY
They sold a big part of their financial side last year, so they have a lot of cash. They increased their dividend. Otherwise, how will they deploy this capital? It can't only be share buybacks. They dominate in legal, accounting and finance, though the latter had depressed margins for a long time as they competed with Bloomberg. Maybe with their new partners, they will do better in the finance side. The stock has recovered too fast for him, so he'd wait.
publishing
printing
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Feb 21/18, Down 2%) All the Canadian banks have been down this period, but based on relative valuation, he'd pick BNS now. Pays a good dividend. Its relative valuation has slipped because it is exposed to Latin America. That said, this is a core holding of his and he owns a lot of it.
banks
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Feb 21/18, Up 21%) At the time he picked this, there was concern about them being able to expand their pipelines, but they have maintained their core business very well. Their buyback of U.S. assets has straightened out the company's business structure. They will regularly raise their dividend in the years to come. This is a core holding.
oil
gas pipelines
HOLD
As a value investor, he thinks the rails are expensive, and he doesn't think the economy will grow that fast to justify a big increase in rail stocks. Rails are good, steady players, though, and are managing costs well. Now, they're too expensive. He'd step in at 10-15% below current share prices.
Transportation
PARTIAL SELL
A success story, expanding their acquisition over the years. It's priced as a growth stock and beyond valuations he would consider. They've done well with convenience store with strong margins. U.S. fuel margins rose higher than the street expected, too. But if you own this, perhaps move into something more conservative--take some profits.
food stores
COMMENT
Worth buying preferred shares? Be very short in the curve with preferreds. He wouldn't look at perpetual preferreds. Most preferreds are issued at a base price of $25, but they are extremely sensitive to interest rates. Look at reset-rate preferreds; they will roll their dividends up in the coming years. If they are called, they'd be called at the $25 price. Caveat: if a company runs into trouble and their dividends become questionable, yes, they may continue to be paid, but he's seen $25 prefers selling for $15--be very, very cautious. Example: Bombardier's preferreds have been all over the map.
RISKY
