Bruce Murray, CEO and chief investment officer of The Murray Wealth Group
FOCUS: North American income stocks

_______________________________________________________________

MARKET OUTLOOK

We are in the midst of one of the greatest bull markets in our lifetime, and even though we are well into it, market sentiment remains very wary and scared. While sentiment did recover post the U.S. election, the wall of worry is still high with fears. Amazon, artificial intelligence, lack of wage growth, politics, rising interest rates, and finally the middle east, North Korea, Russia, and China are all reasons I have heard not to buy the market. We remain generally bullish with strong GDP growth in the key markets of the U.S., Europe, and Asia and believe the markets will continue to move up, but expect the ascent rate to lessen from that seen over the past year. Corporate confidence is at a high level and positive earnings guidance from management is rising. Our focus remains the new economy and we continue to see strong appreciation potential in the FANG stocks and their supporting cast, as well as leisure providers like Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Recently, industrials, especially capital goods suppliers, have done better with the higher than expected GDP growth while medical-related stocks have been weak due to the uncertainty of where U.S. medical reimbursement rates are going, and Rumps rhetoric against certain industry players like insurance companies and drug prices (sounds like what Hillary Clinton may have done).

In summary, we believe there is nothing extremely negative for the market unless the global economy substantially slows. We are in an era of change: artificial intelligence-driven automation is freeing workers from the industrial sector like mechanization freed labour from the farms. Social media has changed our way of living from entertainment to shopping and we believe these stocks will continue to lead the market in profitability and growth and we may witness another Nifty Fifty-type environment in the next decade. 

TOP PICKS

ASTRAZENECA (AZN.N)

ENBRIDGE INCOME FUND (ENF.TO)

MEDICAL FACILITIES (DR.TO)

 

DISCLOSURE PERSONAL FAMILY PORTFOLIO/FUND
AZN Y Y Y
ENF Y Y Y
DR Y Y Y

PAST PICKS: JUNE 20, 2017

AMAZON (AMZN.O)

  • Then: $992.59
  • Now: $1,167.73
  • Return: 17.64%
  • Total return: 17.64%

MORGAN STANLEY (MS.N)

  • Then: $45.50
  • Now: $52.71
  • Return: 15.85%
  • Total return: 17.04%

ENBRIDGE (ENB.TO)

  • Then: $50.06
  • Now: $49.61
  • Return: -0.89%
  • Total return: 1.68%

TOTAL RETURN AVERAGE: 12.12%

 

DISCLOSURE PERSONAL FAMILY PORTFOLIO/FUND
AMZN Y Y Y
MS Y Y Y
ENB Y Y Y

FUND PROFILE
MWG Income Growth Fund

Investment Strategy:

  • Research-driven: High-yielding companies with the ability to grow or sustain dividends.
  • Growth style: Enhance income per unit by evaluating higher yielding opportunities
  • Long-only portfolio: No leverage or hedging

1 Month: 0.48% fund
1 Year: 16.86% fund
From inception (June 30, 2015): 19.95% fund

*We do not benchmark against an index

TOP HOLDINGS AND WEIGHTINGS

  1. Bank of Nova Scotia: 6.16%
  2. Toronto-Dominion Bank: 5.37%
  3. BP PLC: 4.83%
  4. AT&T Inc: 4.37%
  5. AstraZeneca PLC: 4.26%

WEBSITE: www.tmwg.ca