John Stephenson.Della Rollins/The Globe and Mail
John Stephenson is senior vice-president and portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management. His focus is on North American large caps and resource stocks.
Top picks:
Citigroup Inc.
Citigroup is a re-rated stock that is trading at a significant discount.
KKR & Co.
KKR is levered to the recovery in the global economy and has an extremely strong balance sheet
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan offers a best-in-class management team and a diversity of revenue streams.
Past picks: April 10, 2012
First Quantum Minerals Ltd.
Then: $20.93
Now: $19.23
Total return: –6.69 per cent
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.
Then: $43.67
Now: $43.86
Total return: +2.80 per cent
Cenovus Energy Inc.
Then: $37.42
Now: $31.12
Total return: –14.03 per cent
Total return average: –5.97 per cent
Market outlook:
Investors should continue to overweight U.S. equities in their investment portfolios as the relative fundamentals in the U.S. are improving (consumer confidence, jobs, debt-to-disposable-income and house prices) whereas the Canadian outlook is deteriorating in the face of slower Chinese growth.