Latest Top Picks

Stock Opinions by Werner Muehelemann

TOP PICK
Produce jammers for roadside bombs. Have won a lot of contracts but haven't received the purchase orders, which is why the stock has come down. Latest quarter was a bit weak. Revenue that had been expected in 08 will probably come in 09. Trading at around 7X earnings. Will double earnings from 08 to 09. Reducing debt.
consulting
TOP PICK
ADF Group
Manufactures huge steel products for high towers. Product is so specialized that there is not a lot of competition. Producing at about 50% capacity so there is good upside in terms of getting new contracts and increasing margins. Doing about 20% EBITDA margins and stock is trading at about 8X this year's earnings. Have good visibility in their backlog until about 2008/2009. Probably no debt by the end of the year.
metal fabricators
BUY
Sierra Wireless
Essentially do wireless modems for laptops. Probably has the most volatility in the Canadian market in terms of stock price and earnings. Competition is growing. Had great results in the recent quarter. Not expensive. Treat it as a trading stock, i.e. on a short-term basis.
electrical / electronic
DON'T BUY
ZCL Composites Inc.
Main business is doing fibreglass tanks for gasoline companies. Some US states have laws that tanks must be fibreglass. Huge potential in North America. Has seen some sales ramp up and earnings have come up as well but not as well as the market expected. Expensive at 25X or 30X earnings. Would buy it at 15X earnings.
misc industrial products
BUY
One of the most interesting companies in the engineering and contracting space. Probably have one of the best histories in terms of profitability and margins. Very well managed. Long-term hold.
REAL ESTATE
COMMENT
Main technology is trying to develop a drug for Alzheimer's. Have had good success to now. Still not a commercial product so there is still a lot of risk. Good potential. Has been looking at this one.
medical services
BUY
Chinese company trading in Canada. Industrial powders used in technology consumer products like hard drives, etc. Not expensive at 12X earnings. Good growth. Fear is that if there is a slowdown in the US it might hurt sales. Good technology.
misc industrial products
COMMENT
Zoomed
Communication device going from doctor to pharmacy. Have had good success. Good customer base. Still at the early stages. A micro cap and still needs to be well financed in order to expand its technology to be used in every hospital in North America. Good track record to now.
electrical / electronic
DON'T BUY
Have a technology that is essentially fibre to the home. Seems to be better technology at lower cost. Still at the product testing part, so sales as yet. Could have good sales if it works and it becomes a leader. Investors became too bullish and that's why the stock has run up.
computer software / processing
DON'T BUY
D-Box Technologies
Technology that can be used in video games and in home movie theatres. They are going everywhere trying to sell the product. Product used to be very expensive and they are now trying to bring the costs down. Concept is nice. Question is, how much are people willing to pay to have this seeking while watching the movie.
Consumer Products
DON'T BUY
Changing power systems of rail changers. Technology has been good but weren't able to make any profits. Have been selling at a loss. Trying to restructure and now that they have a financing in place they possibly can be more successful in getting sales. Would like to see some sales ramp up.
transportation equip & components
BUY
An earpiece technology company, which can be used for Bluetooth, hearing aid, etc. Signed something with Wal-Mart. Technology works great and they are having some success on the hearing protection side. Still to be seen as a mass-market consumer product. Speculative play.
Consumer Products
TOP PICK
Waratah Coal
A thermal coal project in Australia. Still not producing. Have a huge land base. They have drilled and potentially found 1.7 billion tons. Will be a huge project. There is a port available but they need to find a partner to build a railway. Also need to get permitting.
other mines
TOP PICK
Made a big acquisition last fall, which essentially will more than double the company. They are guiding up $160 million of EBITDA. Trading at around 5X earnings and is extremely cheap. There are only 2 players.
consulting
DON'T BUY
2 Gold projects in northern British Columbia. Very big deposits. Stock came down because one of their projects had too high a capital cost. He is not a big believer of this area for the moment.
precious metals
Showing 1 to 15 of 143 entries