Cole Kachur, senior wealth advisor at ScotiaWealth Management 

Focus: Canadian equities
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MARKET OUTLOOK
The TSX is currently in a trading range between 15,000 and 16,000. I think we will continue to stay within this range until we get a catalyst that gives us the bump to break resistance at the top end of the range. Earnings have been solid and I expect that they will continue to be good, but it might take something more to push the markets higher. I think U.S. tax reform could be that catalyst but if that doesn’t end up happening until the end of the year, it could be a slow grind to get returns over the next couple of months. There are some geopolitical risks out there, but I think that any broad market pullback should be used to accumulate equity positions as we do not see any imminent recession risk on the horizon. My preference would be to buy growth companies that pay at least a three-per-cent dividend as that would allow waiting out any sideways movement in the market.

TOP PICKS

CANADIAN ENERGY SERVICES & TECHNOLOGY CORP. (CEU.TO)

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD (ATDb.TO)

BROOKFIELD PROPERTY PARTNERS (BPY_u.TO)
 

PAST PICKS: OCTOBER 26, 2016

MANULIFE FINANCIAL (MFC.TO) – We sold at $24.67 on January 20, 2017, but have since repurchased in the $23.15 range.

• Then: $19.48
• Now: $23.18
• Return: +18.99%
• TR: +20.94%

INTERTAPE POLYMER (ITP.TO)

• Then: $22.94
• Now: $23.46
• Return: +2.26%
• TR: +3.92%

BOMBARDIER (BBDb.TO) – We sold at $2.51 on February 14, 2017 and do not own a position in the security.

• Then: $1.85
• Now: $2.37
• Return: +28.10%
• TR: +28.10%

TOTAL RETURN AVERAGE: +17.65%