26 Stock Top Picks and 3 ETF (Dec 14-20)

Opinion about OLED-Q: Patent on cellphone screens, from which they collect royalties. Good business as long as the patent goes on.

Opinion about NTNX-Q: Very trendy stock. What the markets wants right now - despite valuation. Would wait for weakness before buying. 

Opinion about CSCO-Q: Stock's been performing decently. Technical structure looks OK. Price is above 200-day MA, which is moving higher. 17x forward PE for only 8% earnings growth, where typically in tech you want 10-20%. Not pricey, but not cheap. For growth, you want an NVDA or AMZN.

Opinion about V-N: (A Top Pick Oct 22/24, Up 22%) Hasn't trimmed. In a portfolio, not all stocks move at the same time. Some take leadership, while others take a breather. Visa's been successful at gaining market share, inflation also helps. Trades just south of 30x PE, and analysts give it 13% growth. A stable…

Opinion about AAPL-Q: At this point, pretty fully priced. iPhone 17 seems to have a lot of traction, taking many by surprise. Lots of new features, plus it's in a replacement cycle. If you own it, write some short-dated, 1- or 2-week calls with a strike price of ~$265-270. Not much runway left.

Opinion about PE-N: (A Top Pick Sep 01/20, Up 56.4%)Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly Our PAST TOP PICK with PE has resulted in the company being acquired by Pioneer Natural Resources. We are considering the position now closed at the last market closing price of $16.93. Combined with the previous recommendation to cover 50%, the…

Opinion about WPX-N: The best valuation opportunities are in Canada, he thinks. He would sell WPX for the tax loss and buy Parsley instead, who has better exposure to Canada.

Opinion about BTE-T: Has gone through lots of turmoil. Talk of selling its Eagle Ford assets. Split between Canadian heavy oil and lighter oil on one hand, and Eagle Ford shale. That sale would be a catalyst, making it a pure-play in Canada.

Opinion about WCP-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research The sector of course is sensitive to commodity prices, and WCP is flat on the year. It is quite cheap at 9X earnings. The 7% dividend is attractive and payout ratio attractive in the 25% range. The balance sheet is OK, even…

Opinion about VET-T: It is trading where it should. There are headwinds with European gas prices. It has struggled quite a lot but the last quarter was reasonable. You should probably sell it for something with more growth.

Opinion about SGY-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research SGY is quite small at $510M, but the stock is very cheap. With a 10% dividend, a buyer (or privatization) could eliminate the dividend and use internal cash flow to pay for the whole company in about three years. But, that doesn't…

Opinion about TRP-T: (A Top Pick Sep 05/24, Up 40%) This market will make anyone look good 🙂  One of the largest pipelines in NA, focused on natural gas. Strong future, as access to overseas markets will allow those markets to reduce reliance on coal, for example. We still need to source power when the…

Opinion about LXE-X: They're in northeast BC where Tourmaline is consolidating land and assets, near LXE. So, LXE will become topical. LXE has reached an inflection point after acquiring a lot of land and pushed the Montney play to the northeast. Now, they need a lot of capital to move to full development. They're talking…

Opinion about SPY-N: Major concern about this one is that it's really a technology ETF, given that 8 or 9 of the top 10 names are tech names. 40% of the S&P 500 is tech or tech-oriented, and we've never before seen this concentration. That's quite a bit of risk with so much exposure to…

Opinion about TLT-Q: If you want growth from your bond portfolio. But these don't have great tax treatment. Depends on what kind of investor you are.

Opinion about XEC-T: Tilted portfolios towards developed and emerging international. Best returns will come from here.

Opinion about WEED-T: Cannabis has had weak returns on capital and he has seen too much capital invested and destroyed. He doesn't see it as a space to invest in. Wants to see major consolidation and improvement in regulation.

Opinion about LLY-N: LLY vs. NVO Previously owned both, but sold out of NVO because it's more concentrated in the diabetes and weight loss space. Weight loss has come out of favour somewhat due to competition and generics. NVO's 200-day MA is falling, with stock price falling below that. Earnings growth only 6%. Long term…

Opinion about RY-T: Outlook in Canada is a bit rosier than it was 6 or 12 months ago. He'd continue to hold the banks. Holds this name for almost all clients, and hasn't trimmed that position in many years. In fact, he adds when it sells off. It's his preference to own the highest-quality bank…

Opinion about PWF-T: (A Top Pick Dec 04/19, Up 13%) He'd buy it again. Nice value stock. Nice yield. Trading at discount to book. Would benefit from rising interest rates, which he expects. Cheaper than all the banks.

Opinion about AFG-N: (A Top Pick Dec 20/18, Up 30%) A mid-cap specialty insurer. It can charge higher premiums as it is in niche markets. Their investing was very successful and they had lower insurance payouts.

Opinion about FTS-T: Bought on the April dip, but stock hasn't done much. Sell? If you bought in April around $55 and today it's trading ~$72, that's about 10+%. Plus you get a 3-4% dividend yield, with 3-4% dividend growth. Pretty good for a regulated utility, and he's happy to own a company that puts…

Opinion about TECK.B-T: (A Top Pick Oct 02/24, Down 12%)December 9 is voting day for the merger. Long-term outlook for TECK.B on its own is very strong. If merger gets done, it'll probably become a very important copper name for institutional investors around the world. Disappointment in QB2 mine over the last year, and that's…

Opinion about MAG-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research We think MAG fits the bill. Its Mexican (safe) mine only recently went into production, and 2024 will be the first year of material revenue/cash flow for the company. The stock is acting well this year as it gets re-rated as a…

Opinion about NTR-T: (A Top Pick Oct 09/24, Up 28%) He'd buy this one today. Agriculture is a long-term theme, and this is one of the best names out there. Will be more volatile than a name like WMT, so perhaps you only want a 3% position total. Buy 1% today, and look for a…

Opinion about CP-T: CP vs. CNR CP is the better value on price to growth, though CNR still does work. Don't be in any hurry to buy the rails. You can hit nice singles with them if bought at the right time.All the transports have had a tough time -- JBHT just guided lower the…

Opinion about BIP.UN-T: Likes that BN continues to source deals for them to do. Well run. Lots of infrastructure opportunities to support both energy and data centres.Best to put in a registered account if you can. (There's a chance in the future that the Brookfield structure gets harmonized, this stock should pop, and a registered…

Opinion about FDX-N: Last night, they reported a surprisingly good quarter, so shares jumped 2.3%. It has struggled since summer 2024 and especially during the tariff spring of 2025. Is still -17.6% this year and has been downgraded recently. Total revenue is +3% YOY, driven by core FedEx express business. Adjusted EPS easily beat and…

Opinion about UNS-T: (A Top Pick Jun 30/21, Up 12%) He trimmed a lot of his shares recently. It's a turnaround story, having brought in new managers doing a good job. He's seen many companies in auto supplies run into supply chain shortages--demand is there, but not supply, so this is a near-term risk. Long…