Earlier this year, we invited readers to submit the names of three stocks that they believe would be strong performers over the coming year. This is the latest in a series where Globe Investing Club members share their picks.
Jeff Shain, a retired accountant in his 60s, is always keeping up with global affairs to inform his investments.
Whether it’s a change in oil prices or new legislation that will lead to more infrastructure development projects, if the news has an impact on the stock market, Mr. Shain will find out about it and adjust accordingly.
Through his desire to remain as well-informed as possible and years of developing his ideal investment strategy, Mr. Shain has had considerable success since he started investing.
With the Globe Investing Club, he hopes to continue his learning journey and gain insight from other readers’ investments.
Why he started investing:
Mr. Shain has always been interested in investing, he said, but when some excess funds were available for him and his wife in the 1990s, he knew it was time to start investing in stocks.
It took some early mistakes and a conservative start to figure out the investing approach he was most comfortable with, but he’s found his success since then, he said.
Aside from his regular investing, Mr. Shain, who manages his accounts himself, diversifies his portfolio with options, long-short positions and straddles.
“I enjoy it and use it for insurance, and for protecting upsides and downsides,” he said. “And I think it’s a great investing tool.”
How he would describe his investing style:
While many investors seek expert advice to guide their investments, Mr. Shain likes to aim high, pointing to none other than Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha himself, as his investment guide.
“When I grow up, I want to be just like him,” Mr. Shain joked.
That means investing in companies with high potential for growth and good management and sticking around long term, Mr. Shain said.
More importantly, it means investing in industries such as railways and insurance with a barrier to entry. Companies in those industries tend to have optimal pricing power, cash flow and stability, he added.
“You don’t buy a stock, you’re buying a very tiny portion of a company,” he said.
Occasionally, Mr. Shain likes to put a few hundred dollars into stocks he calls “flyers,” diverting a bit from his Buffett-inspired style. But he can afford to take the occasional risk with three years of living expenses saved in a laddered guaranteed investment certificate (GIC).
His picks and why he picked them:
Mr. Shain’s three stock picks consist of two American companies and one Canadian company.
His first pick, GX U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF PAVE-A, is an ETF that invests in companies that benefit from infrastructure projects in the U.S., such as the production of raw materials, heavy equipment, engineering and construction.
“There were a lot of shovel-ready projects to go for some of the larger companies and so that will help the growth prospects of that,” Mr. Shain said, citing U.S. President Joe Biden’s Buy America policy.
His second pick is U.S. health care and insurance company UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH-N, which he called a “safe” pick that he has had long-term success with.
For his Canadian stock pick, Mr. Shain chose residential real estate company Mainstreet Equity Corp. MEQ-T because of the need for increasing housing supply across the country.
In Mr. Shain’s mind, these picks reflect the Buffett style he is inspired by, but they’re also a result of his consistent efforts to stay well-informed.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
