Daily roundup of research and analysis from The Globe and Mail’s market strategist Scott Barlow
BMO chief strategist Brian Belski has launched a guided North American income portfolio,
“The portfolio is designed to encapsulate our dividend growth methodologies, with a particular focus on companies that offer attractive and quantifiable income and dividend growth characteristics. Portfolio is constructed around three tactical dividend strategies … Core Dividend Universe (min 60 per cent): dividend yield above the country benchmark, no dividend cuts in last 10 years (Within Canada this parameter is relaxed only if all other three parameters apply), free cash flow yield above the dividend yield (within Canada this parameter is relaxed only if all other three parameters apply), positive dividend growth in past year. Dividend Yield Universe (0-40 per cent): dividend yield greater than 3.5 per cent, no dividend cuts in last five years, Dividend Growth Universe (0:40 per cent): dividend yield above 1 per cent, no dividend cuts in last five years, free cash flow yield above the dividend yield, dividend payout ratio less than the country benchmark.
The current stocks are Telus Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., Canadian Tire Corporation, Restaurant Brands International Inc., Altria Group Inc., Enbridge Inc., Suncor Enerqy Inc., Bank of America Corp, Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, National Bank of Canada, Power Corporation of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Gilead Sciences Inc., UnitedHealth Group In., Canadian National Railway Co., General Dynamics Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Waste Management Inc., Apple Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corp., Eastman Chemical Co., LyondellBasell Industries NV, Brookfield Infrastructure CO. (New York) and Emera Inc.
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BofA Securities strategist Anthony Cassamassino revamped his top equity ideas for the first quarter of 2025,
“We present our new list of ten short-term stock recommendations among US stocks under coverage based on our view that these stocks could have significant market and business-related catalysts in the quarter ahead. For 1Q25 our Top 10 Ideas include nine Buys and one Underperform across ten industries. Our Buys are AMETEK, Chevron, Chewy, Dexcom, HubSpot, PayPal Holdings, Progressive Corp, The Trade Desk, and Wells Fargo & Co. Our Underperform is Illumina”
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Last week, National Bank economists Stefane Marion and Ethan Currie published The atrophy of the Canadian manufacturing sector has gone too far,
“In an unpredictable world, maintaining a critical mass in manufacturing is essential for Canada’s long-term resilience and ability to attract investment in both physical assets and research and development (R&D). In the current digital era, it seems that our policymakers fail to appreciate how critical domestically located manufacturing is for spurring innovation and productivity. Manufacturing often drives advancements in production processes, materials, and automation technologies. Unfortunately, Canada is a shadow of its former self when it comes to playing a key role in the G7 manufacturing chain. When world leaders gather in Alberta for the G7 Summit in June 2025, Canada will have the unfortunate distinction of having the smallest manufacturing sector among the member nations … Some might argue that Canada’s 9% manufacturing share of GDP isn’t far off from the U.S.’s 10.5%, but the difference lies in how we got there. While the share of manufacturing in total GDP has been declining in both countries, the U.S. manufacturing sector has grown by 10% in real terms since 2018. In stark contrast, Canada’s manufacturing sector has shrunk by 5% over the same period — a concerning indicator of economic erosion”
“The atrophy of the Canadian manufacturing sector has gone too far” – National Bank Economics
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Diversion: “The Worst Tweets of 2024” - Gizmodo