Canadian Large Cap Stock Opportunities for March 2010

According to market technician Brooke Thackray, oil and gas stocks peak from the end of February until the middle of May. This blog’s ongoing Stock Recommendations include: Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Encana (ECA), Nexen (NXY) & Talisman (TLM). Suncor (SU) suffered a 4.76% decline this past week vaulting it to a top spot in the Pick List. Along with this please include Cenovus Energy (CVE) down 6.48% & Canadian Oil Sand’s Trust Units (COS.UN) down 5.22% this past week.

Banking Stocks have been strong the past two weeks and appear to have the momentum to continue. Top Picks in this category include ongoing recommendations National Bank (NA), Royal Bank (RY) & Toronto Dominion (TD). Newly added to this list is Canadian Imperial (CM). for a Value Pick in the financial category, I like TSX Group (X) paying a 5.25% dividend & Sunlife (SLF) paying a 4.80% dividend.

Precious Metal Stocks also look undervalued, including Agnico Eagle (AEM), Goldcorp (G) & Kinross (K). Barrick Gold (ABX) has displayed a lot of insider buying of the stock of late. Teck Cominco (TCK.B) also looks poised for another upleg.

Income Stocks worth reviewing include Bell Canada (BCE) paying a 5.96% dividend and showing strong momentum, Telus (T) paying 5.50%, Crescent Point Energy (CPG) @ 7.08%, & Power Financial (PWF) @ 4.51%. High Paying Preferred Shares worth reviewing (all paying over 6%) include: BBD.PR.C, BBD.PR.D, BPO.PR.L, BPO.PR.N & CWB.PR.A. Have a great week and good hunting, Warren.

 

Canadian Large Cap Stock Recommendations

11 of the 12 Stocks Recommended Last Week (Feb. 14) have increased in price. Top pick Cenovus Energy (CVE) increased by 9.48% going from $25.10 to close at $27.48. The one recommendation that declined Agnico Eagle (AEM) did so by less than 1% from $61.47 to $60.72.

15 of the 16 Growth Stocks Recommended on the previous blog (Jan. 31) have increased in price with an average gain of 8.12%. All 5 Precious Metal Picks are up over 10%, the 3 Mining/Ag Picks are up over 13%, 4 of the 5 Energy Picks are up, Suncor (SU) being the one loser down 4.65%. 9 of the 10.

Income Recommendations have increased in value. Only Manitoba Tel (MBT) is down 5.02%, however BCE is up by 6.41%.

According to technical analyst Don Vialoux (quoted in National Post Feb 13), the Canadian Energy Sector has a history of moving higher between Feb 25 and May 9, 14 of the past 15 years. His bottom line recommendation is to “be prepared to enter the trade when short-term technical indicators turn positive.” In particular, profit for the leading stocks of this sector in terms of frequency with average gain are: 90% frequency of profit: CNQ & SU. 80% frequency: ECA, HSE, IMO, TLM, + COS.UN & PWT.UN. Average return per period in ranking order are: CNQ (19.4%), COS.UN (16.0%), SU (15.5%), ECA (14.8%) & TLM (12.7%). That’s some convincing evidence.

As this blog attempts to point out opportunities based upon short term price weakness, the following stocks would be placed upon that watch list: Suncor (SU), Agnico Eagle (AEM), Manitoba Tel (MBT), Talisman (TLM) & Sunlife (SLF). Ongoing recommendations include: TSX (X), Goldcorp (G), Encana (ECA), Nexen (NXY), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Manulife (MFC), TD, RY, NA.

Watch closely as these are interesting times. Good luck, Warren.

Canadian Large Cap Stock Opportunities

Since Last Blog (Jan. 31) 14 of the 16 Growth Opportunity Stocks I recommended have increased in price. Six stocks increased by more than 8%, including AEM (13.73%), AGU (12.40%), G (8.58%), IMG (9.72%), K (11.50%), POT (11.31%) & TCK.B (8.20%). One stock, Suncor (SU) took a substantial 8.62% decline. I would therefore rate this stock a strong long term buying opportunity.

Dividend paying Stocks I recommended remained mostly flat. BCE jumped 6.04% while MBT dropped 7.00%. As such, I would also recommend MBT as a long term buying opportunity for income (8.26% dividend). I purchased some this week for a family member @ $30.85, it closed @ $31.48.

Recent Purchases I made include CNQ @ $69.19 & $69.80 ($70.88 close). Recent Sales I made for family members include Cenovus Energy (CVE) @ $26.90 ($25.10 close) & TLM @ $20.77 ($18.27 close).

New Stock Opportunities include: Cenovus (CVE) @ $25.10 hit a 52 week low @ $24.50 and pays an annual 3.2% dividend the stock x-div as of March 11. TSX Group (X) also hit a 52 week low @ $27.79 (close $29.35) and pays an annual 5.18% dividend x-div as of February 24. As noted above, keep a close eye on Suncor ($30.85) & MBT ($31.48). Both insurance giants Manulife (MFC) @ $18.98 & Sunlife (SLF) @ $30.11 have shown weak earnings and price performance. SLF also pays a 4.70% dividend.

Ongoing Recommendations include: CNQ, ECA, AEM, & G. Both Nexen (NXY) & Talisman (TLM) have shown some price weakness which could be a buying opportunity. Many stocks closed Friday at their weekly highs which could make for a small dip to open the week. It’s a volatile market with opportunities arising and disappearing rather quickly.

Keep a close watch and best of luck, Warren.