Looking for investing ideas? Here’s your weekly digest of the Globe’s latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies plus what investors need to know for the week ahead.
These Canadian stocks are under attack by short sellers
Activist short sellers go public with their bearish views on companies trading on stock exchanges. Sometimes they get it wrong, but they often get it right, too – enough times to take note of what they are saying. If you own a stock they are targeting, you may want to double-check your bullish thesis, Larry MacDonald writes. You can find the list here; it includes Canadian banks, Shopify, Canadian Tire and cannabis stocks.
Read more: Magna, A&W and more of investing’s stars and dogs for the week
Gordon Pape: This utility stock is overbought and vulnerable to a selloff
It’s great when a stock that you own takes off. But if it does so for the wrong reasons, it may spell trouble ahead, Gordon Pape writes The rapid rise of Atlanta-based Southern Co. so far this year is a case in point. The stock closed on Friday at US$53.37, for a gain of 22.93 per cent so far in 2019. That’s a big move for a utility stock in such a short time. So why the big surge? The person to thank is not Southern’s CEO but rather Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The decision to suspend rate hikes for the next several months was a gift to all interest-sensitive stocks. Southern was just one of the beneficiaries. Its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results were disappointing. And there are other issues at work in the background that should cause investors to look carefully at this particular utility.
Read more: It’s the season to take advantage of natural gas prices. Here’s how investors can cash in
A TSX superstar is down, but not out
An investment in Cargojet Inc. has always been a bet on a long-term trend: As people buy more stuff online, there will be a corresponding need to ship packages across the country. But the shares of the overnight air cargo business have retreated more than 10 per cent over the past two months. Is the dip worth buying? The company is in a good position. It controls a remarkable 90 per cent of the domestic overnight air cargo business in Canada, thanks in part to regulations that put restraints on foreign-owned freight airlines from flying domestic routes. David Berman weighs more positives against the risks here.
Get the latest investing insights delivered right to your inbox three times a week, with the Globe Investor newsletter. Sign up here.
How much should conservative, balanced and aggressive investors expect to make annually?
Heard the argument that the economy will grow more slowly than in the past because of our aging population? The same applies to your investment portfolio. The latest financial market return projections issued for financial planners to use in their work suggest investors of all types should rein in expectations on how their portfolios will perform over the long term (10 years and longer). Forget double digits, or even high single digits. Anything north of 5 per cent looks out of reach for most investors. Rob Carrick looks at how much conservative, balanced and aggressive investors should expect to make each year.
Read more Rob Carrick: These unbiased, long-term estimates of bond and cash returns will surprise you
Don’t buy on the dip: Not even a single analyst is recommending Canada’s worst-performing tech stock of 2019
While Canada can currently lay claim to the continent’s best performing tech stock in Shopify Inc., the single worst performer of the year also makes its home on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Tim Shufelt writes. Celestica Inc. has had a very bad run. Down by 17 per cent since the start of the year, Celestica’s shares hit their lowest level in nearly six years last week. From its peak roughly two years ago, the stock has declined by 50 per cent. The last straw for the analyst community came in late April, when Celestica not only fell considerably short of the Street’s first-quarter profit forecast, it also missed its own revenue guidance. The remaining holdouts all downgraded Celestica’s shares, leaving it with zero buy ratings among the 12 analysts following the company.
Read more: Party like it’s 1999: Just like the dot-com days, unprofitable companies are driving the IPO market
What investors need to know for the week ahead
Earnings season continues in the week ahead. Companies reporting their latest financial results include Power Corp., Power Financial, Premium Brands, Aimia, TransAlta, Boyd Group and CAE. Economic data on tap include: Canadian new motor vehicle sales for March (Tuesday); Canada’s inflation figures, existing home sales and MLS Home Price Index for April, plus U.S. retail sales for last month and U.S. business inventories for March (Wednesday); Canadian manufacturing sales and orders for March, as well as U.S. housing starts and building permits for April (Thursday).
Looking for more investing ideas and opinions?
A stock yielding 6% that’s providing stability during this market turbulence
CP Rail hikes dividend 27.5 per cent after strong first quarter
A lot of Canadians seem to have stopped investing to pay down their debts
Can young adults afford houses and retirement? This calculator can help