Sid Mokhtari, chief market technician at CIBC Capital Markets.Supplied
The bull market remains intact.
In May, the S&P/TSX Composite Index extended its rally and closed out the month at a record high. The index is now less than 1 per cent away from hitting 35,000. Last month, approximately 61 per cent of stocks in the TSX Composite Index delivered positive price returns. Year-to-date, that figure climbs to roughly 72 per cent.
CIBC’s chief market technician Sid Mokhtari helps investors identify stocks with strong technical and quantitative characteristics that may lead to portfolio outperformance.
Mr. Mokhtari publishes a monthly report with his top 10 stock ideas. He screens and selects stocks from the largest 100 members by market capitalization within the S&P/TSX Composite Index. His technically driven stock recommendations have consistently outperformed the broader index across a wide range of market conditions.
Last month, his portfolio of top picks rallied 2.28 per cent, relatively in-line with the 2.37 per cent price return for the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
In the first five months of 2026, his basket of top picks has advanced 15.3 per cent, compared to a 9.6 per cent price return for the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
Importantly, his disciplined process has delivered strong long-term returns. His stock selections have outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index for the past four calendar years. In 2025, his portfolio of stock selections rallied 51.3 per cent, compared to a 28.3-per-cent price return for the S&P/TSX Composite Index. His stock selections also outperformed the TSX Index in 2024, 2023 and 2022 by 5.8 percentage points, 6.3 percentage points and 2.7 percentage points, respectively.
For June, his diversified basket of stock selections includes nine new stocks and one carryover from the previous month. This month, the portfolio’s two largest sector positions were materially reduced.
The energy exposure was cut to 10 per cent from 30 per cent, while the portfolio’s financials exposure was eliminated from 30 per cent in May. The utilities sector is now at the top of his rankings and represents the portfolio’s largest sector weighting.
The portfolio holds three utilities stocks: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP-UN-T), Brookfield Renewable Partners LP (BEP-UN-T) and Capital Power Corp. (CPX-T).
In technology, Celestica Inc. (CLS-T) and Constellation Software Inc. (CSU-T) made the list.
In materials, Capstone Copper Corp. (CS-T) and Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN-T) were added.
In consumer discretionary, Linamar Corp. (LNR-T) replaced Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR-T).
In the industrials sector, TFI International Inc. (TFII-T) was selected.
The sole carryover was an energy stock, Keyera Corp. (KEY-T).
According to Mr. Mokhtari, over the past 30 years, the S&P/TSX Composite Index has declined by an average of 0.4 per cent in June. Interestingly, the weakness is broad-based with all sectors posting negative average returns, except for consumer staples.
In his best ideas report published on May 31, Mr. Mokhtari stated, “Overall, we remain cautiously constructive on risk assets and continue to retain an upside bias for equities through early to mid-summer, supported by the recent solid Q2 [second quarter] earnings growth trends. However, once again, beneath the surface, breadth conditions are not yet showing affirmative follow-through expansion as leadership remains increasingly narrow and concentrated within the same group of stocks, and trading volumes are historically thinner in summertime, which may reduce liquidity and force volatility. In our opinion, the dominant leading factors like growth, beta and momentum are likely to cool as the market transitions into a consolidation phase throughout summertime.”