It’s about time that Canadian investors stopped fearing the day-to-day fluctuations in markets. Central bank chatter over interest rate policy and speculation over how fast inflation will fall are less impactful in the grander scheme of things. To spot the biggest winners, investors must adopt an investment horizon of five years at minimum.
Preferably, investors should look to build wealth over the course of a decade. In such a timeframe, bear markets, corrections, and even the odd market crash should be expected. Instead of panicking over such events, investors should come to expect them and be prepared to be net buyers of securities, rather than sellers, when the tides go out. Like it or not, it’s times when others sell when the risk/reward scenario tends to be the best for investors.
To do well over the long haul, investors need to go against conventional wisdom and stand by the stocks that they believe in, even if the market action suggests otherwise. Very few investors have the patience, temperament, and discipline to act as contrarians in the face of market turmoil.
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Where to spot the biggest winners
You don’t need to dig in the penny stock basket to uncover 10-year winners capable of doubling up many times over. In fact, sometimes the best long-term deals are hiding in plain sight atop the broader market indices. This was the case for shares of Apple, which many doubted over the past 10 years because of its sheer size. Apple smashed through the glass ceiling that doubters placed over it. The $1 remarkable trillion market cap ceiling has been raised considerably. The tech titan now setting its sights on $3 trillion.
Though past performance is no guarantee of returns moving forward, I do think that firms with reputations for execution ought to be grouped in the “winners that will keep on winning” category.
On the TSX, there are many potential winners that don’t require one to risk their shirt on a company that may never make a move into profitability. As rates rise, the penalty for speculating on growth will increase. That’s why TSX investors should only buy what they know how to value.
If there’s no profit to be had, investors should look to when a firm expects it may be profitable. If a firm’s 100% in growth mode, but there are rivals that could pop up, investors should probably stick to the sidelines, as there’s nothing wrong with admitting you don’t know how to value a specific company. There are millions of fish in the sea. You don’t even need to know how to value every single one. Stick with what you know, and you’re likely to stay out of trouble.
Restaurant Brands: My top stock pick for the next 10 years
At writing, I’m a fan of Restaurant Brands International (TSX: QSR)(NYSE: QSR), a fast-food juggernaut that I believe could dominate the industry in a decade from now. The firm behind such brands as Tim Hortons, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Burger King, and Firehouse Subs is in a league of its own. Though there are still a ton of global expansion opportunities that could fuel next-level net income growth, don’t expect QSR to stop acquiring firms where it sees fit.
Restaurant Brands’s strategy has been quite intriguing. It’s been slowly pushing into the fast-food arena, with minimal overlap across its banners. The firm has a brand for morning coffee, burgers, chicken, and sandwiches. Naturally, a pizza acquisition could be the next big deal. With pizza rolling out across certain Tim Hortons locations, it seems incredibly likely that management has a hunger for a pizza deal in its near future.
In any case, the fast-food empire is starting to find its legs. As it continues to find the right balance between drawing in new customers and bringing new restaurants to far parts of the globe, investors can expect nothing short of solid recession-resilient earnings growth over time.
The past five years have been a drag for QSR stock. However, I think the next five to 10 years could take the stock to unfathomable new heights, as the firm embarks on a journey to bring its best brands to a global audience.
