Resource and commodity stocks in general should make up only a limited portion of your portfolio—say less than 20% for a conservative investor or as much as 30% for an aggressive investor. And as part of that segment, energy stocks could make up, say half of that total. The rest could be fertilizer stocks, mining stocks and so on.
Oil and gas stocks have been below-average performers lately, and many investors are tempted to get out of the industry altogether. However, the energy sector can play a crucial role in your portfolio as a hedge against inflation. The low inflation rates of the past couple of decades deserve some of the blame for the poor performance of the sector. However, energy stocks will likely rebound in years to come as the global economy recovers.
- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
- Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
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THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC INC., $504.89, is a buy. The company (New York symbol TMO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (thermofisher.com; Shares o/s: 385.9 million; Market cap: $196.4 billion; Dividend yield: 0.3%) has been hired by Denmark-based Novo Nordisk A/S (New York symbol NVO) as its second contract manufacturer for the hugely popular weight-loss drug Wegovy.
Thermo Fisher is doing the filling of the Wegovy injection pens at its factory in Greenville, North Carolina....
CAE INC. $33 (www.cae.com) remains a buy. The company expects the global air travel industry will need 1.3 million new pilots, aircraft maintenance technicians and cabin crew over the next 10 years....
CENOVUS ENERGY INC....
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $69.74, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 584.2 million; Market cap: $41.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.imperialoil.ca) gets about 90% of its production from oil sands operations in Alberta....