| TOP PICK | | Agrium | AGU-T | 105.000 | More upside than Potash (POT-T) because of a more diversified fertilizer base including potash, phosphate and nitrogen. Massive retail system through US and Canada and expanding into Europe. | 2008-07-14 | |
| TOP PICK | | Labrador Iron Ore | LIF.UN-T | 53.360 | 7% royalty and 15% equity in Iron Ore Co. Iron Ore Co. is in the process of spending $500 million to expand production. Strong iron ore needs, particularly in China and India. | 2008-07-14 | |
| TOP PICK | | Petrobank Energy and Resources | PBG-T | 50.730 | Rapidly rising production profile and steadily rising reserves. Good diversification with 1) the Thai process, 2) the Bakken field in Saskatchewan and 3) the 76.5% interest in Petrominerales (PMG-T). | 2008-07-14 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Tim Hortons | THI-T | 28.040 | (A Top Pick Mar 20/07. Down 18%.) Didn’t meet earning target in the 1st quarter. Also a couple of lawsuits by franchisees turned investors off as well as consumer weakness. Still good value in cash flow earnings and growth. Attractive Buying opportunity. | 2008-07-14 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Sleep Country Canada | Z.UN-T | 17.500 | (A Top Pick Mar 20/07. Down 19%.) Sales have been pretty steady but hasn’t grown as expected partly because of weakness in the US housing sector. Sold his holdings. | 2008-07-14 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Glaxosmithkline PLC | GSK-N | 46.790 | (A Top Pick Mar 20/07. Down 10%.) Had a couple of problems with major drugs and doesn’t see this being resolved yet. Sold his holdings. | 2008-07-14 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Westjet Airlines | WJA-T | 12.650 | Airline business has been terrible. This company has been a singular exception with its very sound business model. Whole industry is getting pretty hard hit by rising oil prices. | 2008-07-14 | |
| Comment | | Bombardier Inc (B) | BBD.B-T | 7.220 | Has never been a big fan of this company. Has always been a little concerned with their massive reliance on government subsidies. | 2008-07-14 | |
| Comment | | General Electric | GE-N | 27.180 | For a long term holding of more than 5 years, this company is definitely a Buy. Essentially a proxy for the US economy, which essentially is pretty good. Has potential to do a lot better when times improve. May be nearing a bottom here. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Yellow Pages Income Fund | YLO.UN-T | 8.570 | At these prices has some extremely attractive yields. Yield is well covered and the payout ratio is moderately good. Its long-term viability is good especially when they develop the electronic side more completely. Superb cash flow. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Arc Energy Trust Units | AET.UN-T | 33.300 | Signed an agreement with the Alberta Research Council on carbon capture storage. The large amount invested cuts into the profits available for shareholders. Expect it will continue to be a pretty good performer. | 2008-07-14 | |
| Comment | | Potash Corp of Saskatchewan | POT-T | 230.000 | Likes the agricultural sector. (See Top Picks,) Good stock but he prefers Agrium (AGU-T). Looking for very strong earning gains in Q2 that will drive the stock to new highs in the relatively short term. Demand for fertilizers will continue to rise long term. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Trans Canada Corp | TRP-T | 38.450 | One of the best in the utility sector. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Research In Motion | RIM-T | 108.720 | Got beat up really badly when the 1st quarter earnings came out and they missed by only $0.01 a share even though earnings and cash flow were up dramatically. Their numbers will get back on track fairly soon. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Yamana Gold Inc. | YRI-T | 15.610 | Rising production this year, next and the following year is planned out, so even if gold is flat, they will have rising earnings and cash flow. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Petro-Can | PCA-T | 52.350 | A good stock if you want to have an integrated position and probably the best one to have. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | RioCan Real Estate Investment | REI.UN-T | 19.100 | Prefers REITS to individual property stocks. Essentially shopping malls. Good price. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 17.030 | Prefers REITS to individual property stocks. Essentially office buildings. Good price. | 2008-07-14 | |
| Comment | | Manulife Financial | MFC-T | 34.340 | A superb company. Will continue to do well. Good marketing position in China and will be expanding that fairly rapidly. Good position in the US with John Hancock. Prefers Great West Lifeco (GWO-T) currently. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Great West Lifeco | GWO-T | 26.880 | Good solid life insurance business. Expects their US Putnam holdings to produce some outstandingly good earnings growth over the next 2 or 3 years. | 2008-07-14 | |
| Comment | | Atlantic Power Corp. | ATP.UN-T | 7.030 | Have interests in a number of US power companies. Some regulation changes could react negatively on them but he doesn’t think so. Generating a good level of earnings. 15% yield but payout ratio will be getting slightly smaller as the earnings creep ahead. Not sure what’s driving the price down. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Rogers Communcations (B) | RCI.B-T | 36.500 | Drop in stock price was unexpected but thinks it is in sympathy with the general market more than anything wrong with the company. Tremendous upside from here. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Talisman Energy | TLM-T | 20.460 | Likes oil stocks in general. Has more non-Canadian resources than others. If you are looking for the extra kick that non-Canadian plays get, this is a good way to go. | 2008-07-14 | |
| STRONG BUY | | Toronto Dominion | TD-T | 55.740 | His favourite Canadian bank. Recent drop related to the rogue trader episode, which was a one-time thing. Very tightly managed. No sub-prime or ABCP exposure. | 2008-07-14 | |
| BUY | | Thomson Reuters Corp | TRI-T | 28.710 | A great story. Reuters acquisition will prove to be a superb deal once they get all of the synergies working. Should have significant earnings growth. (Note: If you but on the TSX it trades at about $5 a share more than in London England.) | 2008-07-14 | |
| TOP PICK | | Glaxosmithkline PLC | GSK-N | 55.620 | Growth in revenue, earnings, cash flow and earnings per share shall not better than its peers. Stable of products is very, very good. Good dividend. | 2007-03-20 | |
| TOP PICK | | Tim Hortons | THI-T | 34.710 | One of the classic retail businesses that just keeps growing at a steady pace over time. Relative to its past growth and expected growth, it is attractively priced. | 2007-03-20 | |
| TOP PICK | | Sleep Country Canada | Z.UN-T | 24.000 | Likes as a growth more than as an income trust. Has a spectacular record of growth, primarily from adding new stores and increasing same-store sales. Made a Quebec acquisition, which will be expanded rapidly. Also one in Phoenix Arizona, giving them expansion in the US. Particularly attractive price wise. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Bank of Nova Scotia | BNS-T | 53.590 | Always good to own bank stocks in the portfolio. This one is one of his favourites. Have just announced an agreement to invest in a bank in China, which will be great exposure for them. | 2007-03-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Gildan Activewear Inc. | GIL-T | 65.770 | (A Top Pick Oct 3/06. Up 21.7%.) Still buying. | 2007-03-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Pengrowth Energy Trust | PGF.UN-T | 19.400 | (A Top Pick Oct 3/06. Down 6.0%.) Total return, including distributions, is actually up. Still likes. | 2007-03-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Siemens | SI-N | 106.180 | (A Top Pick Oct 3/06. Up 22.7%.) Considered as the GE of Europe. Still considers this as a Hold. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | RioCan Real Estate Investment | REI.UN-T | 25.450 | Always looks like it is a little bit expensive, but their history says that you should go with it. Long-term play. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Canadian Western Bank | CWB-T | 25.720 | Likes the banks in general. Because this one is based in the West where economies are stronger, it could do better than some of the others on average. A well-run bank. | 2007-03-20 | |
| HOLD | | Epcor Power L.P. | EP.UN-T | 26.560 | Yield of about 9.5%. As a little bit higher debt level than others, but as a utility, the cash flow is pretty reliable. It should continue to prosper because of electricity needs. | 2007-03-20 | |
| HOLD | | Superior Plus Income Fund | SPF.UN-T | 12.880 | Did a lot of acquisitions in the past and some of them turned out to be not very good. Have spun off a couple of them. Payout ratio of about 90%. Earnings are starting to improve, so distribution is probably safe. Still have a lot of work to do. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Penn West Energy Trust | PWT.UN-T | 33.500 | Distribution of about 12%. If oil prices stay or get stronger, the distribution is probably safe. He is positive on the price of oil. Payout ratio is below 50%. | 2007-03-20 | |
| Comment | | Shiningbank Energy Income Fund | SHN.UN-T | 12.120 | Heavily natural gas oriented. Natural gas is at the lower part of its traditional price range. On average, prices will probably be higher going forward. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Suncor Energy Inc | SU-T | 81.450 | Price of crude is probably at a base level. This company will benefit from higher prices as well as increased production. In their cap-x programs, they have planned increased production of about 12%. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Consumers Waterheater Fund | CWI.UN-T | 14.200 | Something like a utility play, because the cash flow is pretty stable. Could convert back to a corporation quite easily. Also could possibly be a takeover target. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Enerplus Resources Fund | ERF.UN-T | 48.570 | One of his favourites in the oil/gas trust sector. Well managed. Can't remember them ever having to decrease the distributions. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Iamgold Corp | IMG-T | 8.630 | Good management. Getting to be a significant size with its latest acquisition. Has a rising production outlook, which he likes. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | CI Financial Income Fund | CIX.UN-T | 27.050 | Probably the best managed company in mutual funds. Have a good stable of businesses. On a long-term basis, will continue to do well. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Pine Tree Capital Ltd. | PNP-T | 20.900 | This is a pool of small-cap venture companies. Most of them are focused on uranium and mining plays. Has done spectacularly well recently. Expects this will continue. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Alcan Aluminum | AL-T | 61.680 | One of his current favourite stocks. In the metals sector which has been very strong, and which he expects to continue. Great balance sheet and cash flow. Have a big new plant opening in Asia. | 2007-03-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Custom Direct Income Fund | CDI.UN-T | 8.640 | An unusual income trust in that 100% of its business is in the US, so won't be taxed under the new legislation. Produces cheques for individuals and companies. Average household writes 20 cheques a month versus 2 in Canada. Payout ratio is pushing 100%. | 2007-03-20 | |
| BUY | | Thomson Reuters Corp | TRI-T | 49.060 | Has gone through a metamorphosis of a large newspaper publisher to an Internet services provider. Pretty good earnings. | 2007-03-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Adidas | ADS-DAX | 0.001 | (A Top Pick June 20/06. Flat.) Still a great company and a good buy. High quality management and good quality product. Bought Reebok which will give a huge boost to earnings. | 2006-10-03 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Agrium | AGU-T | 29.740 | (A Top Pick June 20/06. Up 24%.) Very good company and still likes it. Has a lot of room to grow. | 2006-10-03 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | BFI Canada Income Fund | BFC.UN-T | 28.860 | (A Top Pick June 20/06. Up 13% plus the dividend.) A good solid business. | 2006-10-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | Gildan Activewear Inc. | GIL-T | 54.410 | Just acquired a US hosiery/underwear company that will be a major side of their future expansion. Very strong company. Great cash flow. Growth rate over the last 5 years has been over 30%. Will be relocating some of their factories to Honduras, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic. | 2006-10-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | Siemens | SI-N | 86.370 | A global manufacturer of electronics and electronic engineering. Great cash flow. Moving out of telecom and into medical engineering. | 2006-10-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | Pengrowth Energy Trust | PGF.UN-T | 20.730 | Rate of growth has been 20.7%. Just acquired Esprit Energy, a natural gas company. Will be buying a block of properties from Exxon Mobil. Strong cash flow. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Loblaws | L-T | 46.610 | There probably will be a time in the next 6/12 months when it will be an attractive buy, but at likely lower prices. Have used all of their cash flow and some borrowed money in their expansion program. Have never generated net free cash flow. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Shiningbank Energy Income Fund | SHN.UN-T | 16.940 | High percentage of natural gas. Cut their distributions a couple of times this year. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Canadian National R.R. | CNR-T | 46.440 | Probably the best run railroad in North America. Generates good cash flow. Railroads are cyclical and fairly heavily tied to economic activity. | 2006-10-03 | |
| SELL | | IBM | IBM-N | 81.650 | A very strong company but is mature so high percentage growth is unlikely. Will continue to languish. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Encana Corp | ECA-T | 49.090 | Heavily weighted in natural gas. Natural gas supplies are diminishing and demands are increasing. A good entry point. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Talisman Energy | TLM-T | 16.850 | Heavily weighted in natural gas. Optimistic that gas prices will rise. A good entry point. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Enerplus Resources Fund | ERF.UN-T | 53.300 | The oldest oil/gas trust. Has grown steadily over time. Stable distributions. They hedge their commodity at higher prices. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Nortel | NT-T | 2.450 | A difficult business. Have a lot of debt to cope with. Have a large chunk of legacy baggage. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Bombardier Inc (B) | BBD.B-T | 3.600 | Got to the point where their debt levels were unmanageable and he sold. Haven't generated any free cash flow for 4/5 years. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Telus Corp | T-T | 63.530 | There is probably another $10/15 in value as it moves through the trust conversion process. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | BCE Inc. | BCE-T | 31.400 | Has a telephone business that is going to be gradually weakening long-term. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | iUnits REIT's | XRE-T | 15.230 | Probably a good time to get into real estate, as REITs tend to go with interest rates. Feels the near-term trend in interest rates is probably to go lower. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | CM-T | 86.120 | Three favourite banks are the Commerce (CM-T), Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and the Royal (RY-T). This one has already paid out its Enron liability. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Royal Bank | RY-T | 49.970 | Three favourite banks are the Commerce (CM-T), Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and the Royal (RY-T) | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Toronto Dominion | TD-T | 67.040 | Three favourite banks are the Commerce (CM-T), Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and the Royal (RY-T) | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Power Financial Corp | PWF-T | 34.800 | A pretty good company, but prefers a bank stock. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Cameco Corporation | CCO-T | 38.410 | The biggest and best uranium producer in the world. Uranium is still in a very strong demand situation. Probably a good time to buy. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Freehold Royalty Trust | FRU.UN-T | 18.300 | Structured differently than most energy trusts. Don’t operate anything, but hold royalties instead. The negative is that when production declines, your royalties are reduced, so they have to continue to buy more and more royalty interests. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | CI Financial Income Fund | CIX.UN-T | 28.900 | Very good company. Converting to an income trust has proved up a lot of extra value. One of the better managed mutual fund companies. Exceptionally strong in marketing. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Tahera Corp | TAH-T | 1.810 | Prefers diamonds to gold. Diamonds have tended to trade off of gold so with gold down, diamonds tended to go with it. A good operation. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Microsoft | MSFT-Q | 27.370 | A mature company with a lot of cash, but doesn't see it doing anything spectacular in terms of market performance or earnings growth. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Petro-Can | PCA-T | 41.910 | If there is strengthening in the price of crude oil, there is no reason why it couldn't be back towards its old high. | 2006-10-03 | |
| BUY | | Davis & Henderson Income Fund | DHF.UN-T | 19.150 | The business of manufacturing cheques is supposedly declining but it is doing so at a very, very slow rate. | 2006-10-03 | |
| Comment | | Methanex Corp | MX-T | 27.800 | A good hedge to natural gas prices. They are a huge consumer of gas, so if you believe gas will go up, this would be a short and vice versa. | 2006-10-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | BFI Canada Income Fund | BFC.UN-T | 26.000 | Waste management company. One third of their business is Canadian and the rest is US. Have their own landfills. Strong revenue and cash flow. Yield of 6.5%. | 2006-06-20 | |
| TOP PICK | | Agrium | AGU-T | 24.080 | Announced lower 2nd quarter forcasts. A fabulous company. Very strong. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Suncor Energy Inc | SU-T | 75.790 | A very great company with good potential. Their strategic planning calls for growth in production of about 12% a year for the next 5 years. | 2006-06-20 | |
| TOP PICK | | Adidas | ADS-DAX | 0.001 | (Trades on the German exchange.) An international sporting goods company out of Germany. The lead sponsor company of the world cup. Bought Reebok in January which was a good complement. Cash flow is growing extremely well. | 2006-06-20 | |
| WEAK BUY | | Trans Canada Corp | TRP-T | 31.990 | One of the old traditional utility stocks where people go in hard times. Went through a lot of reorganization and are now a very strong company. Good place to be if you are looking for a shelter. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Teranet Income Fund | TF.UN-T | 9.800 | Has a very positive outlook for its future. This is a business that is a long way from maturity and has room for growth. Large enough and stable enough that the downside should be limited and the upside should have some room. | 2006-06-20 | |
| WEAK BUY | | Corby Distilleries Ltd (A) | CDL.A-T | 23.000 | An industry that’s not widely followed. Usually looks too expensive, but in this market sell off, it might be a time to take and entry. The long term outlook is moderately good. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Penn West Energy Trust | PWT.UN-T | 39.710 | One of his favourite oil/gas income trusts. Very low payout ratio. Has a very large exploration land position. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Talisman Energy | TLM-T | 17.100 | A very strong company. More internationally diversified than its peers. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Canadian Natural Rsrcs | CNQ-T | 52.560 | One of his 3 top favourites. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Encana Corp | ECA-T | 52.350 | If you believe in natural gas, this is the one to own. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Cameco Corporation | CCO-T | 40.800 | Has had a spectacular performance in the face of uranium price increases. Have had very good earnings and cash flow results. A slight negative is that it’s pricey, but the outlook for uranium is higher prices. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Goldcorp Inc | G-T | 29.540 | The best gold stock performers have been those with rising production profiles along with the rise in the commodity price. This is one of those. | 2006-06-20 | |
| WEAK BUY | | Westjet Airlines | WJA-T | 11.150 | Not a fan of airlines. A bad move when they increased their costs by moving their eastern hub from the low landing costs of Hamilton to the highest in the world, Toronto. Fuel costs are also rising, but have been able to hedge theirs. Smart operators and run a very good business. In the short/medium term, stock should go higher. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Royal Bank | RY-T | 44.770 | Likes the banking sector. His favourite is Toronto Dominion (TD-T) with Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) and Royal (RY-T) following in that order. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Bank of Nova Scotia | BNS-T | 44.880 | Likes the banking sector. His favourite is Toronto Dominion (TD-T) with Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) and Royal (RY-T) following in that order. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Sunlife Financial | SLF-T | 43.980 | Favourite is Manu Life (MFC-T) with Sun Life being his 2nd choice. Doing very well. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Canadian Oil Sands Trust | COS.UN-T | 29.020 | Stock price will be based on the price of oil. Construction of their oil sands operation was pretty much financed by debt. They’ve paid a lot of this down very rapidly and are now almost normalized. Payouts will be bumped dramatically which is probably priced in. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | Trinidad Energy Services | TDG.UN-T | 15.880 | As long as energy stays high, the contract drillers will continue to do well. This company has an exceptionally good record over the last couple of years and should continue to do well in the next year or two. If there is a downturn in oil, there could be some weakness. | 2006-06-20 | |
| BUY | | TSX Group | X-T | 42.290 | Has been a fabulous performer. Very positive on the stock market going forward. There is a fair amount of mergers going on around the world and this stock could be involved in some activity in the next little while. | 2006-06-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Toronto Dominion | TD-T | 56.400 | (A Top Pick May 30/05. Up 9.2%.) Likes the banking sector. This is his favourite. At a good price. | 2006-06-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Teva Pharmaceutical | TEVA-Q | 35.670 | (A Top Pick May 30/05. Up 4%.) Trading at a lower multiple and is a bigger stronger company than it was a year ago. Has more new business going for them. Still attractive. | 2006-06-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Vermilion Energy Trust | VET.UN-T | 30.970 | (A Top Pick May 30/05. Up 34%.) One of his best oil/gas trusts. Has got a little more expensive. One of the few oil/gas trusts with activities outside of Canada. Low payout ratio. | 2006-06-20 | |
