Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Baskin Wealth Management
Focus: North American large caps

MARKET OUTLOOK

After one of the worst quarters in history, stock markets around the globe just posted one of their best. If we’ve learned anything about the past six months it’s “stay in the game.” This is an easy statement to make, but obviously it’s hard to follow through when markets are volatile. We have no idea where markets go from here, but we are encouraged by the following:

1. It appears that North America’s economy is still expanding, employment is at levels much higher than anyone could have imagined and the consumer is out and spending in full force.
2. Central banks are now leaning toward being much more accommodative than they were over the past few years. Low interest rates are the greatest gift for risk-seeking investors.
3. Corporate profits should rise and companies continue to reward shareholders with buybacks, dividend increases and healthy mergers and acquisitions.

Even with the nice recovery in stock prices this year, we get the sense that investor sentiment is still negative. As a result, we believe there are still many excellent opportunities to be had in North American markets for those with a regard for value.

TOP PICKS

INTERTAPE POLYMER (ITP.TO)

Intertape has transformed its business to benefit from huge e-commerce tailwinds. It’s a major supplier of tapes, films and protective packaging products. Unlike its competitors, Intertape can offer its customers a one-stop solution for all its e-commerce sealing and packaging needs. The company has consistently delivered on its guidance to investors and we believe that the Street has yet to take notice of its significant free cash flow, set to explode this year.

WASTE CONNECTIONS (WCN.TO)

Waste Connections is the best operator in the North American waste services and collection industry. It has delivered phenomenal returns to shareholders; in fact, it’s got 15 years in a row of positive total returns. A combination of pricing power, volume growth and disciplined acquisitions has been its recipe for success.

LIVE NATION (LYV.N)

Live Nation is an exciting growth story. It’s the world’s biggest concert promoter and also the owner of Ticketmaster. The company’s future growth hinges on promoting more concerts globally, higher ticket prices, capture of resale tickets, higher fan spend at its venues and sponsorship opportunities for its partners.

PAST PICKS: APRIL 23, 2018

AXALTA COATING SYSTEMS (AXTA.N)

• Then: $30.37
• Now: $25.70
• Return: -15%
• Total return: -15%

MARKEL CORPORATION (MKL.N)

• Then: $1,165.11
• Now: $984.19
• Return: -16%
• Total return: -16%

FERRARI (RACE.N)

• Then: $121.88
• Now: $135.05
• Return: 11%
• Total return: 11%

Total return average: -7%

WEBSITE: baskinwealth.com
TWITTER: @BarrySchwartzBW