FOCUS: Canadian Small and Mid-Cap Stocks

Market Outlook:

Largely everyone in Canada knows the oil story by now. At roughly 19% of the TSX Composite market-cap (and a much higher weighting just a year ago), the country is going to feel a drag because of this sector. While it is hard to be overly excited by the near-term prospects in Canada, we think investors are starting to realize two things:

1) There is more to the Canadian economy than resources and financials.
2) Things might not be quite as bad as they sound.

Canadian banks, which many were concerned about, seem to have gotten through earnings season relatively unscathed and are raising dividends. GDP is growing, albeit slowly, but still topping expectations while lower oil adds discretionary money to everyones wallet and a low dollar should eventually help exporters and companies with a footprint in the United States. With the TSX Composite hovering around 16 times earnings and yielding 3.5%, the market is showing some interesting opportunities, particularly across growth names that have seen significant pullbacks just since the beginning of the year. We think that investors who can ignore the noise from the daily swings in oil and find good companies outside of this sector that show growth and an ability to navigate a slowing economy, will do just fine over the year.
 

TOP PICKS:

Savaria (SIS.TO) 

Andrew Peller (ADWa.TO) 

Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) 

 

Disclosure: Personal Family Portfolio/Fund
SIS N N N
ADWa N N N
CXR N N N
 

Past Picks: This is Mr. Modesto's first appearance on Market Call. He has no prior picks.