amazon

Amazon is now making some aggressive moves to ensure that it can successfully compete in the tight market for labour. We think this will pay off for the company, and its shareholders.


AMAZON.COM INC., $115.07, is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (www.amazon.com; Shares o/s: 10.2 billion; Market cap: $1.2 trillion; No divds.) is now raising the average starting pay of its warehouse and transportation workers to more than $19 per hour from $18.


The wage hike is aimed at helping the company attract and retain workers in a tightening U.S....

CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC., $14.45, symbol CLF on New York, is the largest iron ore mining company in the U.S. It’s a major supplier of iron ore pellets to the North American steel industry.

The company is also the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America after buying AK Steel for $3.0 billion in stock in 2019 and the U.S....

In the second half of the 1990s, Walmart was a broker/media market favourite. It rose from around $10 a share in the mid-1990s, to around $70 by the start of the year 2000. Back then, Walmart stock was still featured in the broker/media limelight, and its P/E (per-share price to earnings ratio) was close to 50.0 to 1.0.

After that, a 17-year lull set in....

IAMGOLD CORP., $1.51, is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (symbol IMG on Toronto) owns 90% of the Essakane mine in Burkina Faso; 100% of the Westwood mine in Quebec; and 95% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname. IAMGold also holds 92.5% of the Cote gold project.

IAMGold reports that its Essakane mine, which is located approximately 330 kilometres northeast of Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, continues to operate unaffected despite the evolving political situation in the country.

On September 30, Burkina Faso military leader President Paul-Henri Damiba was deposed in the country’s second coup in a year, as army Captain Ibrahim Traore took charge, dissolving the transitional government and suspending the constitution.

Captain Traore says that a group of officers had decided to remove Damiba due to his inability to deal with an armed uprising in the country that has worsened in the past nine months.

Meanwhile, a new government is unlikely to disrupt operations at the Essakane mine....

W.W. GRAINGER INC., $489.19, symbol GWW on New York, is a leading wide product line distributor with operations primarily in North America, Japan and the U.K. Grainger serves more than 4.5 million customers worldwide offering more than 2 million maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products in its High-Touch Solutions lines and more than 30 million products through its expanding Endless Assortment lines.

Products offered include safety and security supplies, cleaning and maintenance equipment, material handling equipment, and lighting and electrical supplies....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC., $1,502.76, remains a buy. The stock (symbol CMG on New York) lets you tap this Mexican restaurant chain, headquartered in Denver. The company is a fast-food leader charging slightly higher prices than its competitors but offering better quality food, including naturally raised meat.

Chipotle continues to look for ways to ease obstacles for its employees, especially as it plans to grow to 7,000 restaurants in North America.

As part of that effort, it’s now partnering with Miso Robotics in March to test Chippy, a robot that can cook tortilla chips.

In fact, in October, it plans to test its first Chippy at one of its restaurants in Fountain Valley, California....

Once again, one of our buys has attracted an acquisition bid—and it’s just the latest of many takeover gains for us over the years.


1LIFE HEALTHCARE $17.13, is now a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol ONEM; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (www.onemedical.com; Shares outstanding: 195.8 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; No dividends paid) is currently the subject of an $18-a-share takeover offer from Amazon.


The deal marks a big expansion of Amazon’s push into healthcare, having piloted virtual care visits for its employees in Seattle in 2019....

ADOBE INC., $299.50, is a buy. The company (symbol ADBE on Nasdaq) operates through three main segments: The Digital Media segment’s software includes Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign; the Digital Experience segment provides analytics, social marketing, targeting, media optimization, and cross-channel campaign management software, as well as premium video delivery; and the Publishing segment produces software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format....

Most successful investors hold a mix of stocks (or the ETFs that hold them)—and one key component of a well-diversified portfolio are growth stocks. Note that it’s very easy to confuse growth stocks with momentum stocks. Like growth stocks, momentum stocks often move up faster than market averages....

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC., $196.05, symbol UPS on New York, is the world’s largest package delivery company. It handles an average of 25.2 million packages every day. It ships those packages for 1.7 million shipping customers to over 220 countries and territories.

On August 8, 2022, UPS announced that it would acquire Italy-based Bomi Group, a healthcare logistics provider with temperature-controlled facilities....