Rebecca Teltscher

Editor's Note: This is the first appearance for Rebecca Teltscher who is a long term investor. She feels that markets are not reflecting the causes for concern regarding the economy. Canadian and U.S. banks are seeing labour disputes which could lead to pressure on wages and therefore higher inflation. She is being defensive and more cautious on the market at least in 2024 and is looking for the first shoe to drop this year.The threat of a recession or soft landing has not gone away and the market is pricing in too much perfection. Commercial real estate is a weight on the market as well as other real estate divisions. Also she is underweight in banks.

Half of the business is in retail which accounts for the 4% dividend. The other part is a call on potash prices which are down substantially but should do better in the long term.

She is underweight in materials since they depend on the underlying commodity prices. The dividend yield is only 2% and debt levels are quite high because of many recent acquisitions. Their flagship mine is in Peru which could raise political concerns.

It pays a good dividend of 7% and she is looking for a multiple year return of 5 to 7%. BCE has spent a lot on building fiber networks and supplying it to homes. That expense should be tailing off soon. The stock is off with a small rebound and is interest rate sensitive.  She has a 20 year plan for owning stocks. 

It manufactures car parts and now is not the time for this because of the possibility of a recession. It is highly cyclical so it could be considered a trading stock but not a long term holding.

It is the only consumer discretionary stock they own. She considers it a staple since it provides accessibility equipment to keep people in their homes longer, which they want. Also vertical housing is on the rise in a city like Toronto and there are townhouses now being built with elevator shafts which is part of their business.

She feels it is over-valued at 40X earnings and only pays a 0.1% dividend. They acquire software companies and verticals - management has a phenomenal track record with this. Her concern is that they may have to start making larger acquisitions because of a possible shortage of the smaller ones they have been buying.

Editor's Note: The question was on utilities and her response included Fortis and Emera. Utilities are lower volatility in the long term and come with a nice yield. There is more growth ahead that we haven't seen for the past 5 to 10 years. Rising rates give a better ROE. She likes Fortis and Emera with Emera showing a little more growth and a yield of 6%.

Editor's Note: The question was on utilities and her response included Fortis and Emera. Utilities are lower volatility in the long term and come with a nice yield. There is more growth ahead that we haven't seen for the past 5 to 10 years. Rising rates give a better ROE. She likes Fortis and Emera with Emera showing a little more growth and a yield of 6%.

It is in light oil and has done some acquisitions so the debt levels are higher now. Has a high dividend yield. She prefers Freehold and it comes without the exploration risk along with almost a 7% yield.

Utilities did well March of 2023 and then slowly fell. She is looking for a rebound along with economic weakness since there is lots of room to grow along with possible rate cuts. Utilities will benefit from increased (unprecedented) power demands including the need of AI for lots of power. She likes regulation in the industry. Utilities are inversely related to the 10 year bond. The yield on the TSX Utilities Index (STUTIL-IDX) is 4.9%.

It has a special dividend policy on top of its base dividend. Has a great management team along with great assets. She prefers ARC which has more exposure to liquid rich gas. Gas will still  be needed along with nuclear partly due to coal coming off line and the demand for power. Renewables are good but we don't have the technology for battery storage.

She likes the railways but doesn't own them since they are economically sensitive. If choosing between them she would pick CN since historically it has a better management team and a better dividend - 2% as opposed to CP's 0.7%. Also CP is still digesting its large Kansas City acquisition.

She likes the railways but doesn't own them since they are economically sensitive. If choosing between them she would pick CN since historically it has a better management team and a better dividend - 2% as opposed to CP's 0.7%. Also CP is still digesting its large Kansas City acquisition.

It has a lot of liability as seen during the pandemic. The demographics are good with an aging population but their occupancy rate is still below Covid levels. She prefers Savaria because people want to stay in their homes.