Topics
A: Viking Holdings Ltd., $45.40, symbol VIK on New York (Shares outstanding: 431.6 million; Market cap: $19.6 billion; ir.viking.com), operates luxury river and ocean cruises.

The company operates 92 vessels worldwide, with over 10,000 employees serving 650,000 guests in 2023....
A: Baytex Energy Corp., $4.17, symbol BTE on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 787.3 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; www.baytexenergy.com), explores for, develops and produces oil and gas in Western Canada and the Eagle Ford region of Texas.

The company’s output is 14% natural gas and 86% oil.

In June 2023, Baytex completed its acquisition of Ranger Oil Corp....
Now that the U.S. has had a decisive outcome for its 2024 President Election, it seems possible that things will cool down and run more smoothly in American political circles.

Joe Biden, of all people, led the parade. He invited President-elect Trump and his First Lady to join him in the White House....
CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC., $58.63, is 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.

The company recently lost CEO Brian Niccol to Starbucks, where he has taken over as its CEO.

Meanwhile, Chipotle has just announced its new CEO as Scott Boatwright....
CHEMED CORP., $557.95, symbol CHE on New York, operates two wholly owned subsidiaries: VITAS Healthcare and Roto-Rooter. The two units are in distinctly different businesses and have completely separate operations.

VITAS (65% of sales) is the largest provider of end-of-life hospice services in the U.S., and Roto-Rooter (35%) is the nation’s leading provider of plumbing and drain-clearing services.

In April 2024, VITAS acquired Covenant Health and Community Services Inc.'s hospice assets and assisted living facility for $85.0 million in cash....
CISCO SYSTEMS INC., $57.46, Nasdaq symbol CSCO, is still a buy.

Through their shares, investors tap a global producer of hardware and software that links and manages computer networks.

In March 2024, Cisco completed its acquisition of Splunk Inc....
CANADIAN TIRE CORP., $152.95, Toronto symbol CTC.A, is a top pick for 2024.

The company operates 502 Canadian Tire stores, which sell automotive parts and services, and household and sporting goods; franchisees run most of the locations. The company’s other operations also enrich its outlook....
OVINTIV INC., $61.74, Toronto symbol OVV, is a buy.

The company operates four core properties: Montney (B.C.), Permian (Texas), Anadarko (Oklahoma) and Uinta (Utah). In addition to natural gas, these fields produce large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids.

This week, Ovintiv agreed to acquire certain assets in the Montney region from Paramount Resources Ltd....

You Can See Our Exchange-Traded Funds Portfolio For December 2024 Here.


ETFs in brief


Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index....
To succeed as an investor, you need to overcome the temptation to think that you can succeed as a fairweather investor. That’s one who is in the market when prices are going up, and out of the market during the inevitable downturns.


If you try to do that, you will wind up selling when much of the damage is done, and buying your way back in when much of the recovery has already taken place....