Michael Smedley.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Michael Smedley is executive vice-president and chief investment officer, Morgan Meighen & Associates. His focus is Canadian equities.
Top Picks:
Premium Brands (PBH.TO)
The Richmond B.C. sandwich kings of North America, strong acquirer and dividend payer.
Stella-Jones (SJ.TO)
The railway ties and utility poles consolidator, up nearly 1,700 per cent in my hands and 68 per cent bought much more recently in the fund.
Hudson's Bay Company (HBC.TO)
Canada's oldest flagship of enterprise in the north now recreated as an amazing flagship for an impressive international retail and real estate empire likely to continue to scale up in the hands of the clever Mr. Richard Baker. Owned by me and no one else – and rightfully so says one of my accountants muttering "retail"!
Past Picks: August 6, 2014
easyhome (EH.TO)
Then: $23.80 Now: $19.50 -18.06% TR: -16.61%
Mitel Networks (MITL.O)
Then: $10.44 Now: $8.83 -15.42% TR: -15.42%
Gear Energy (GXE.TO)
Then: $5.46 Now: $1.88 -65.57% TR: -65.57%
Total Return Average: -32.53%
Market outlook:
The market is continuing to be choppy. The greatest soft market in interest rates we have ever known should continue in our developed world and prolong the strength in stocks. A continuing mix of totally sane corrections as in oil and gas, overbought stock groups such as pharma, tech, Chinese rallies and almost everything else on the bigger and smaller scale. Greece is an emotional event, more of a side show for Greeks but serves to bring us back to earth in the recognition that euromoney and perhaps the euro territory are somewhat synthetic and impractical. It's good for its convenience to tourists but limiting foreign exchange opportunity. The dollar should stay strong, the U.S., which I suspect is in slow financial (and some would say moral decline) will regain credibility only if it "puts boots on the ground". Other than all of that, we will continue to see great initiatives in invention, acquisitions, marketing and consumption which are still strong features in North American enterprise.