Latest Top Picks

Stock Opinions by Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA

TOP PICK
BCE Inc.
(A Top Pick Jan 25/08. Down 37%.) Extremely cheap at these prices. 6.5% yield. $2.8 billion in cash.
telephone utilities
TOP PICK
Barrick Gold
World's largest gold company. Flat production this year over next but have a raft of projects. Great prospects and solid balance sheet.
precious metals
TOP PICK
Bank of Montreal
10% yield so you are paid to wait. Just issued more equity that allows them to have Tier 1 capital of better than 10.4%. This puts them up in the top 2 banks in Canada in terms of balance sheet quality. Good price.
banks
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Jan 25/08. Down 67%.) Announced orders had slowed and came out with an earnings warning for 2009. Plants are still running full out. Trading at 8X earnings and with no debt, should be a safe buy.
clothing stores
PAST TOP PICK
Nufarm
(A Top Pick Jan 25/08. Down 33%.) Agricultural products. Feels the 5% yield is sustainable.
chemicals
BUY
Augusta Gold
One of the best gold companies with growth history. Trades at a little bit of a premium to NAV. Very solid management.
precious metals
COMMENT
Gold: In times of uncertainty, investors should look at gold. If you believe there is any form of inflation becoming through this injection of liquidity, gold should help you.
Unknown
COMMENT
Baytex Energy Corp
Investors should be careful about oil/gas companies. They will all have to cut distributions further if they want to stay in the normal range. 16% distribution
oil / gas
BUY
Royal Bank
Raised $2 billion in equity and several hundred million in preferred shares. Solid balance sheet. Tier 1 capital. Good hold on a long-term basis. Dividends are secure. (See Top Picks.)
banks
BUY
Bank of Nova Scotia
One of the more conservative banks. Has the best history of earnings increases. Just acquired a major position of CI Financial (CIX.UN-T) from Sun Life (SLF-T) with shares, so didn't have to do an equity raise. (See Top Picks.)
banks
BUY
Husky Energy
Great asset base. Have a refinery so they benefit even when oil prices go down. Cut back on their budget so still have free cash flow. Very solid company. 7.25% yield could be at risk.
oil / gas
DON'T BUY
Oilexco Inc
Tried to do a convertible debt issue and it got pulled. Definitely have some financial issues. Not for the faint of heart.
oil / gas
COMMENT
Suncor Energy Inc
Oil sands. With oil prices down, its price collapsed. Will trade of oil prices. Had a big US following, which sold off when they didn't want to own oil. Thinks the selloff was overdone. Needs higher oil prices.
integrated oils
DON'T BUY
Laden with debt. Took on debt to buy Financial Post. Slow down in their Australian assets. Advertising is down on newspapers and television. High risk.
Broadcasting
DON'T BUY
Canadian Oil Sands
Dividend fluctuates on cash flow and at $40 oil they are going to have to cut the distribution. At $60 oil you might be looking at a $.50 distribution and at $40 oil you might be looking at $.10. (Sold his holdings recently.)
oil / gas
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