| TOP PICK | | Russel Metals | RUS-T | 30.430 | Chose this for the regular distribution. No net debt. $500 million in inventory. Beneficiary of an uptick in tubular for the oil patch. 6% dividend with a history of paying out all of its earnings in a dividend. Long-term growth profile. | 2008-05-05 | |
| TOP PICK | | Reitmans | RET-T | 17.750 | Dominant women's wear retailer in Canada. 4% yield. | 2008-05-05 | |
| TOP PICK | | A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert | A Commentary | 0.020 | Canadian Banks: - He is playing the junkier end of the spectrum such as Bank of Montreal (BMO-T) and National Bank (NA-T), the ones where people have over discounted problems. Treat them as trades. (Canadian Imperial (CM-T) has one more shoe to fall. Buy this one on the news.) | 2008-05-05 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Calloway REIT | CWT.UN-T | 21.750 | (A Top Pick July 3/07. Down 9% including distributions.) Actually, US real estate is going up. This one is amongst the top quality asset base in real estate and is trading at a discount to its value. Generates over 6% yield. We'll have a growth profile going forward. Still a Buy. | 2008-05-05 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Yellow Pages Income Fund | YLO.UN-T | 10.710 | (A Top Pick July 3/07. Down 17% including distributions.) A couple of US yellow page providers got into difficulty in funding dividends and this was guilty by association. Would be a buyer in the $9 range. | 2008-05-05 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Keyera Facilities Income Fund | KEY.UN-T | 21.410 | (A Top Pick July 3/07. Up to 17%.) Sees a step change in natural gas development west of 5. Going to deep wells and horizontal legs. The multi-fracturing development is bringing out gas that was previously not producible that will go through their facilities. | 2008-05-05 | |
| HOLD | | Canadian Oil Sands Trust | COS.UN-T | 44.500 | Doesn't have any near-term growth because its partners have not decided if they will expand production. As soon as there is an opportunity for growth, which involves capital, he will be increasing his holdings. 8% yield. Well managed. | 2008-05-05 | |
| Comment | | Algonquin Power Income Fund | APF.UN-T | 7.630 | Power generation trust. His least favourite sector as there is very limited pricing power. This one has a water processing business in the southwest US that is quite fascinating. Hopes they are able to surface the value in this business. A business that recycles and reprocesses a scarce commodity like water is one that you can grow a net value with. At an interesting price. | 2008-05-05 | |
| SELL | | Fording Canadian Coal Trust (Inc Trust) | FDG.UN-T | 67.510 | Yield of less than 4%. One-year chart shows a steep climb of 148% and he has a difficult time buying companies like this. He would be a seller on a chart like this. The price of metallurgical coal at the current rate, he feels, is unsustainable. Highly speculative. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | Trimac Income Fund | TMA.UN-T | 7.780 | Outlook for recovery is very good. This is one of the dominant truckers in the bulk business. Well capitalized and management owns a ton of stock. Very well run. 13% distribution, which is fully funded out of cash flow. | 2008-05-05 | |
| Comment | | Futuremed Healthcare Income Fund | FMD.UN-T | 10.270 | Sells supplies to nursing homes, which is a growth industry long-term. Good management team. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | K-Bro Linen Income Fund | KBL.UN-T | 12.280 | Linen supplies for hospitals and hotels. 9% yield. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | Mullen Group Income Fund | MTL.UN-T | 20.430 | Largely concentrated in transportation out west. Their specialty is moving rigs in and out of the oil fields. Drilling environment is becoming pretty dynamic and this is a prime beneficiary. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | CML Healthcare Income Fund | CLC.UN-T | 15.230 | Dominant market is Ontario, which has no capacity to bring on new labs. Changing into a corporation in 2011 does not change them into a growth company, so they will stay as a trust. Good company. | 2008-05-05 | |
| Comment | | Harvest Energy Trust | HTE.UN-T | 23.040 | 15.5% yield. Doesn't like the balance sheet. Too many issues of convertible debt. Have a refinery in Come by Chance Newfoundland, which has been going through a seasonally weak period and will likely come into a seasonally strong period through July and August. Would Sell, but wait until the strong period. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | Pizza Pizza Royalty Income Fund | PZA.UN-T | 9.130 | The dominant pizza chain in Ontario. | 2008-05-05 | |
| HOLD | | Inter Pipeline Fund | IPL.UN-T | 9.580 | The income stream has a very modest growth profile but of a long duration. Has pipeline development on the go. Expect they will be able to continue paying their distribution after 2011. | 2008-05-05 | |
| Comment | | Boyd Group Income Fund | BYD.UN-T | 2.740 | Too much debt on the balance sheet 2 or 3 years ago. He understands that they have done a good job in tidying this up to a very acceptable level. Has insider buying, which is always a good sign. This is on his radar screen. | 2008-05-05 | |
| HOLD | | Consumers Waterheater Fund | CWI.UN-T | 12.900 | (Market Call Minute.) Stable income story but not much growth. | 2008-05-05 | |
| HOLD | | Pengrowth Energy Trust | PGF.UN-T | 20.250 | (Market Call Minute.) Too high a payout ratio. Needs to right size its distribution. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | Teranet Income Fund | TF.UN-T | 9.560 | (Market Call Minute.) Land Registry office for the province of Ontario. Great technical capability. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | | Crescent Point Energy Trust | CPG.UN-T | 33.830 | (Market Call Minute.) A hold, but buy it on dips. Went up too fast for him. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | RioCan Real Estate Investment | REI.UN-T | 21.800 | (Market Call Minute.) Great value story. Great management team. | 2008-05-05 | |
| BUY | | Artis Real Estate Investment Trust | AX.UN-T | 14.560 | (A Top Pick Apr 13/07. Down 10% including distributions.) There has been concern about the Alberta economy, which has resulted in this stock selling off. GP and income growths in Alberta continue to lead the nation. Their ability to mark rents to market is well above their industry peers.t | 2008-02-26 | |
| TOP PICK | | Bank of Nova Scotia | BNS-T | 49.000 | Not exposed to loan losses in the US. Have a great credit standard. Their expansion into Latin America and Caribbean is very well thought out. | 2008-02-26 | |
| TOP PICK | | Spectra Energy Income Fund | SP.UN-T | 9.750 | They are a gatherer and processor of natural gas. Has been very much oversold relative to its direct competition such as Alta Gas, Tierra, and Inter Pipeline Fund. | 2008-02-26 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Canadian Oil Sands Trust | COS.UN-T | 41.800 | (A Top Pick Apr 13/07. Up 46% including distributions.) Chose this because of its growth in both cash flow and production. No longer a growth expansion. To get some growth in the oil sands, he took a little money off the table and put it in UTS Energy (UTS-T). Not a Buy at this time. | 2008-02-26 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | The Data Group Income Fund | DGI.UN-T | 9.450 | (A Top Pick Apr 13/07. Down 1% including distributions.) Primarily commercial printing. A stable business. Still likes. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | H&R Real Estate Inv Trust | HR.UN-T | 20.850 | Very high-quality REIT. Principally commercial office where they match long-term leases with creditworthy tenants to long term financing to harvest the spread. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | Consumers Waterheater Fund | CWI.UN-T | 13.950 | Rental of water heaters in Ontario. Has provided a very stable income stream. He doesn't see the growth profile that he likes relative to the business risk. 9.2% yield. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | Penn West Energy Trust | PWT.UN-T | 29.240 | Likes the 2009 and 2010 stories with their development of their heavy oil project at Seal. Have a very challenging asset-base from the point of view of meeting production declines and have not consistently hit their numbers. 18.3% yield. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | UTS Energy | UTS-T | 5.850 | Involved with Petro Canada (PCA-T) and Tech Cominco (TCK.B-T) in developing the Fort Hills project. Should be coming into production in the 2009/2010 timeframe. | 2008-02-26 | |
| WAIT | | Baytex Energy Trust | BTE.UN-T | 21.400 | Has a bias towards heavy oil. Into the heavy oil project at Seal. Prefers over Penn West (PWT.UN-T). Following 2011, the cash taxes will be mitigated to a great degree by preservation of tax pools in the period leading up to 2011. If you are into market timing, you may want to wait until the snow clears. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Genivar Income Fund | GNV.UN-T | 25.190 | Has done a very nice job of growing. Likes the engineering aspect of it for the infrastructure build that they will take part in. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Medical Facilities Corp. | DR.UN-T | 11.250 | If they could get access to additional capital, there are lots of acquisition opportunities in both hospitals and ambulatory care centres in the US. Long-term health care is a growth industry. Post-2011, he expects they will be in some form of a dividend paying US security. | 2008-02-26 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Ag Growth Income Fund | AFN.UN-T | 35.910 | A lot of agriculture stocks hit 52-week highs yesterday including this one. There are tight supplies and low inventories going into 2008. 4.75% yield. Too expensive at this time. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | Progress Energy Trust | PGX.UN-T | 13.390 | This is his favourite stock in the gas area with exposure to North East B.C. tight gas. Be cautious about buying natural gas stocks in February as it is coming into the shoulder season. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | ProEx Energy Ltd. | PXE-T | 14.840 | Likes this as a natural gas stock. Be cautious about buying natural gas stocks in February as it is coming into the shoulder season. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | Encana Corp | ECA-T | 73.850 | Great diversification. Be cautious about buying natural gas stocks in February as it is coming into the shoulder season. | 2008-02-26 | |
| HOLD | | Trinidad Energy Services | TDG.UN-T | 11.450 | One of the best operators of the types of rigs needed to drill tight gas wells. These are high-cost wells so you need the best operators to keep costs down. Have been expanding in the US and building capacity so it is a bit of a growth story. Converting to a corporation has shaken some holders, so would Hold for 2 years until this was over. | 2008-02-26 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Superior Plus Income Fund | SPF.UN-T | 12.180 | 12.8% yield and distribution appears to be sustainable. Went through a period where they expanded too much with a little too much leverage and they had to shrink the number of businesses they were in to pay down debt. Doesn't qualify for his balance sheet ratios. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Yellow Pages Income Fund | YLO.UN-T | 11.790 | The downgrade by Blackmont (?) was clearly an issue for the stock. It was based on weak operating results in some US print analogs, but they don't have the same business model as this company. The business model to drive the Web strategy is a very good one. Partnered with Google in Canada. If you have a 1 to 2 year timeline, Buy. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | Crescent Point Energy Trust | CPG.UN-T | 27.400 | Well run company that has locked on to the largest position of an oil play in southeast Saskatchewan, the Bakkens. The technology used will deliver very good finding and development costs. 8.75% yield. He has taken some profits off the table. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Pizza Pizza Royalty Income Fund | PZA.UN-T | 9.470 | Very competent operator. Share price bounces in the $9 to $10 range. 9.7% yield. He is comfortable owning this one for the long term. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | CI Financial Income Fund | CIX.UN-T | 23.500 | Very good entry point. Extremely well run. The selloff is cyclically related. People are concerned about the health of the asset management industry. He is a bull on this industry long-term and believes in buying them in cyclical troughs. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Alliance GrainTraders Income Fund | AGT.UN-X | 10.000 | Lentils, beans exported into the middle and Far East markets. Under the radar screen, so is cheap. | 2008-02-26 | |
| Comment | | Enerplus Resources Fund | ERF.UN-T | 42.050 | At the forward current strip he is quite comfortable with their distribution at today's levels. If there is a material downtick in oil and gas there might be some risk of a minor trim. This is one of the longest duration asset-base of the conventional oil/gas income trusts with a very high quality. This is his #1 oil/gas position. | 2008-02-26 | |
| WAIT | | Contrans Corp | CSS.UN-T | 8.500 | And economy cyclical. Involved in the trucking industry. Carries no debt. Management owns a ton of the stock. Have been great operators through the cycles. Thinks the recession risk is already priced into the stock. He senses that there will be an opportunity over the next 3 to 5 months, where it is currently at a very good entry point. | 2008-02-26 | |
| HOLD | | Pengrowth Energy Trust | PGF.UN-T | 18.700 | (Market Call Minute.) Too high a payout ratio. | 2008-02-26 | |
| WAIT | | TransForce Inc. | TFI-T | 8.990 | (Market Call Minute.) There will be an opportunity over the next 3 to 5 months. | 2008-02-26 | |
| SELL | | Cinram | CRW.UN-T | 5.900 | (Market Call Minute.) Doesn't like the business. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Newalta Income Fund | NAL.UN-T | 17.910 | (Market Call Minute.) Garbage is always in fashion. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Precision Drilling Corp. | PD.UN-T | 22.470 | (Market Call Minute.) Would buy this for the recovery in the gas market. | 2008-02-26 | |
| BUY | | Badger Income Fund | BAD.UN-T | 21.480 | (Market Call Minute.) | 2008-02-26 | |
| TOP PICK | | Brookfield Properties | BPO-T | 24.840 | The best real estate available to a Canadian investor. Excellent price. Feels that rents will be going higher within the next year. | 2007-08-13 | |
| TOP PICK | | Allied Properties REIT | AP.UN-T | 20.500 | Brick and beam. Option value on downtown Toronto. They are the dominant landlord in the region which is experiencing very rapid redevelopment. Distribution is safe. | 2007-08-13 | |
| TOP PICK | | Student Transport of America Ltd. | STB.UN-T | 11.600 | Making an offer of all holders of their subordinate debentures for an exchange to common shares. A well-capitalized equity with a high dividend in a year from now. Good price. | 2007-08-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Focus Energy Trust | FET.UN-T | 17.800 | (Past Top Pick Dec 29/06. Down 2.4%.) Still likes. Buy on any weakness in gas prices. | 2007-08-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Atlantic Power Corp. | ATP.UN-T | 10.570 | (Past Top Pick Dec 29/06. Down 6%.) Consistent with the interest sensitive sector of the trust market. Took some profit when it was high. Has outperformed many of the power peers. Still likes. A Buy. | 2007-08-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Canadian Oil Sands Trust | COS.UN-T | 31.230 | (Past Top Pick Dec 29/06. No change.) Was a disappointment. An oil weighted name and he had a bullish view on oil but this one did not respond. Offsetting it was the increase in the Cdn$. Long term Hold. | 2007-08-13 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Daylight Energy Trust | DAY.UN-T | 7.510 | Like all oil/gas trusts, this is affected by commodity prices and currency. This has natural gas exposure. Reduced their distribution recently. Have some debt that needs to be refinanced. Very impressed with management and it's on his Watch list. Not impressed with the financial structure. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Bonavista Energy Trust | BNP.UN-T | 29.910 | On a strict cash flow to distribution plus capX, they are paying too high a distribution. However, have a number of outstanding exchangeable shares and dividend reinvestment plan, so their net cash in/cash out is okay. Excellent management. | 2007-08-13 | |
| Comment | | Cargojet Income Fund | CJT.UN-T | 12.640 | A niche trust that will be taxable in 3.5 years, so you have to look at what the business will be like at that time. Because he was bullish on energy prices, he expected their cost prices to go up, which didn't happen. He would still prefer to be defensive. | 2007-08-13 | |
| Comment | | Mullen Group Income Fund | MTL.UN-T | 18.800 | Their prime business is transportation, oil rigs, oilfield equipment, etc.. 2nd quarter was dreadful for oil/gas servicing industry, but they posted some pretty good numbers in a weak environment. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Livingston Int'l Income Fund | LIV.UN-T | 17.650 | Earnings came out and they were acceptable. Near a 52-week low which is probably due to the general malaise. Good long-term buy. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Penn West Energy Trust | PWT.UN-T | 30.850 | Has yet to hit their production numbers. Disappointed quarter after quarter. Have some great properties and some great option values that will surface 2, 3 years down the road. Bias when it is cheap and sells when it goes up. Prefers others. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | The Data Group Income Fund | DGI.UN-T | 10.660 | Were a little bit light on their cash flow numbers. This is weakness in the southern Ontario economy showing up in their sales. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Vermilion Energy Trust | VET.UN-T | 37.200 | Allocates about 40% of their cash flow to distribution and about 50% to maintain and grow production with the balance going towards debt repayment. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Lakeview Hotel REIT | LHR.UN-X | 5.000 | Manages limited service motels. Well run. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Northern Property REIT | NPR.UN-T | 22.790 | Northern Territories of Canada are one of the fastest-growing economies and population. A mix of residential, commercial and some retirement homes focused on fast-growing communities in western and northern Canada. Good price. | 2007-08-13 | |
| HOLD | | Arc Energy Trust Units | AET.UN-T | 20.100 | Great company that pays a double-digit yield of 12%. One of the finest developers of oil/gas properties. | 2007-08-13 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Cinram | CRW.UN-T | 20.790 | This is a business that he doesn't know what it would look like 4 years from now. Entertainment content is in the midst of transition. Will there be a continual demand for DVDs and CDs, can the margins continue to be maintained or will excess capacity chop the margin. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Enerplus Resources Fund | ERF.UN-T | 45.300 | A bit more gassy (58%?) than oil. Very close to a 52-week low. A very good long-duration asset base. Distribution is reasonably well covered. | 2007-08-13 | |
| WAIT | | Harvest Energy Trust | HTE.UN-T | 30.570 | Purchase of the refinery in Newfoundland turned out to be good. Used excess cash flow to pay down debt. Right now refining margins are relatively weak. Seasonally, you should buy it in the fall for run-up in refinery margins that occur in April, May and June. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | CI Financial Income Fund | CIX.UN-T | 25.330 | One of the best fund companies in Canada. Good price. Well-run company. | 2007-08-13 | |
| BUY | | Baytex Energy Trust | BTE.UN-T | 18.230 | Good energy company. Treat the correction as a buying opportunity. | 2007-08-13 | |
| Comment | | Precision Drilling Corp. | PD.UN-T | 20.800 | He tends to avoid the service sector except for production related companies rather than exploration companies. Good balance sheet. This one will suffer more in down periods, but will recover more quickly. | 2007-08-13 | |
| TOP PICK | | Calloway REIT | CWT.UN-T | 25.390 | Inflation advantaged. When inflation goes up rents go up. The value of the asset goes up with inflation. Good price. | 2007-07-03 | |
| Comment | | Canadian Oil Sands Trust | COS.UN-T | 32.100 | Intending to pay down debt in the order of $1.3-$1.4 billion area. With the current production and current commodity prices, there could be another couple of distribution increases over the next year, but not much beyond that. | 2007-07-03 | |
| BUY | | Freehold Royalty Trust | FRU.UN-T | 14.590 | These are the old freehold lands that were attached to the CN Railway. They get a royalty on companies that want to explore on their lands. Very low-cost production for them and high net back. | 2007-07-03 | |
| BUY | | North West Company Fund | NWF.UN-T | 18.870 | This is the right way to run and income fund. They pay out less than net income. There is no return of capital. They invest actively in improving their stores and inventory turns. | 2007-07-03 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | | CI Financial Income Fund | CIX.UN-T | 27.440 | With treat it as a buy in the $26.50 area. One of the best marketers of investment funds in Canada. | 2007-07-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | Yellow Pages Income Fund | YLO.UN-T | 14.050 | About 7.75% yield. Sound business model. Their print book drives their web strategy, which is a growth strategy. One of the higher-quality income funds. | 2007-07-03 | |
| Comment | | Penn West Energy Trust | PWT.UN-T | 35.780 | Natural gas prices are very weak. Oil prices are not as strong as people think. Production will be a little bit weak due to severe weather in Alberta. Has one of the most diverse asset bases. | 2007-07-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Boardwalk REIT | BEI.UN-T | 49.490 | It needs the up tick in rents in Calgary and Edmonton to validate its current share price. He has sold some of his holdings. | 2007-07-03 | |
| BUY | | BFI Canada Income Fund | BFC.UN-T | 28.350 | A great company. | 2007-07-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | Keyera Facilities Income Fund | KEY.UN-T | 18.950 | Run gas plants that process sour gas; take natural gas liquids off, etc. Very stable and growing cash flow. Expected to be a potential takeout candidate. | 2007-07-03 | |
| BUY | | Consumers Waterheater Fund | CWI.UN-T | 16.640 | Not a bad business. | 2007-07-03 | |
| BUY | | Medical Facilities Corp. | DR.UN-T | 11.200 | Run private hospitals in the US. A great business model. | 2007-07-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | | Vault Energy Trust | VNG.UN-T | 5.240 | Higher cost production. They have a capital allocation problem. Distributions plus Cap-X is greater than their cash flow so they need an external source of capital to fund some of their distribution. Too much debt. | 2007-07-03 | |
| TOP PICK | | Canadian Oil Sands Trust | COS.UN-T | 29.220 | Has lagged in the commodities and with other oil sands players. Has most of its capital expenditures behind it and is coming into production. | 2007-04-13 | |
| TOP PICK | | The Data Group Income Fund | DGI.UN-T | 10.300 | Predictable and doesn't require a lot of capital and free cash flow can be maximized. Good management. 1.5% yield. | 2007-04-13 | |
| TOP PICK | | Artis Real Estate Investment Trust | AX.UN-T | 17.000 | Retail, industrial and office. 60% of properties are in Alberta. | 2007-04-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Medical Facilities Corp. | DR.UN-T | 10.700 | (A Top Pick May 12/06. Up 15.8%.) Still likes. | 2007-04-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | New Flyer Industries Inc. | NFI.UN-T | 9.600 | (A Top Pick May 12/06. Down 1.6%.) Developing buses that will increase fuel efficiency. Probably be a takeout within 12 months. He sold for tax losses. | 2007-04-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | | Primary Energy Recycling | PRI.UN-T | 8.950 | (A Top Pick May 12/06. Down 8.5%.) Recycles waste energy in steel mills. Dropped in price when it was no longer a takeout candidate. Good price. | 2007-04-13 | |
| BUY | | Arc Energy Trust Units | AET.UN-T | 21.300 | Amongst the best of the energy trusts. Great management team. | 2007-04-13 | |
| HOLD | | Bonnett's Energy Services Trust | BT.UN-T | 11.640 | Energy services. Integral in drilling new oil/gas wells. When down sharply on drop of energy prices. Will benefit from drilling in late 2007, early 2008. | 2007-04-13 | |
| BUY | | Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund | CGX.UN-T | 16.680 | Have made a neat business out of on-screen advertising. | 2007-04-13 | |
| BUY | | General Donlee Income Fund | GDI.UN-T | 9.570 | Manufactures aircraft parts. Backlog is good. | 2007-04-13 | |
