Market Call:

Craig Millar, Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Norrep Investments

FOCUS: Global Equities

Market outlook:

We remain positive on the prospects for the global equity markets. In the U.S., the economy continues to recover, the unemployment rate continues to fall, and lower gasoline prices are a significant benefit to the U.S. consumer. In Europe, while the situation with Greece is a near term risks, over the medium term we think stocks in Europe are still attractively valued. European company earnings have yet to fully recover from the crisis, and operating profit margins still have a lot of room to improve. We have a more selective approach to our stock picking in Asia ex-Japan currently, but in Japan we see real signs of change and opportunity. Japan is still early in the process of a significant improvement in corporate governance. Japanese dividend payout ratios are improving, stock buyback activity is increasing, and companies are targeting an improvement in Return on Equity (ROE). Overall, we retain our optimistic outlook.

Top Picks

Wells Fargo (WFC.N)
Brinker International (EAT.N)
GrandVision (GVNV.AS)