Can You Guess the 10 Most Popular Canadian Stocks? (If You Own Them, You Might Be Losing Out.)

The list is woefully predictable.

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My fellow Canadian investors,

I’ve never been more aware that … we need help.

You see, Morningstar recently published an article called “10 Most Popular Stocks in Canada in 2023.”

And frankly, my entire team of analysts at Motley Fool Canada was disheartened after reading it.

The list included five Canadian banks, two telecoms, one pipeline company, one life insurance company, and one technology company by the name of “Apple.” Ever heard of it?

All household names. All big, boring … and, I suppose, beautiful companies. At least in the eyes of most Canadian investors.

No Constellation Software (TSX: CSU), a company my team would argue is the best in the land. (The stock is up 302% since we recommended it in our flagship service, Stock Advisor Canada. The TSX return in the same time period? 52%.)

No Brookfield-anything – a collection of companies that offer global intrigue.

No energy representation.

No small caps.

No nothing outside of what you might find in the top 10 holdings of any ol’ generic Canadian index fund. An index that hasn’t exactly blown the barn doors off when it comes to providing a return we’d deem satisfactory over the past, oh, decade.

Meet The Motley Fool Canada

My name is Iain Butler, and I’m the Chief Investment Officer here at Motley Fool Canada. I’m not saying that we’ve never recommended any of the stocks on Morningstar’s list. There’s definitely some overlap.

But if Morningstar’s list is truly indicative of the tunnel vision that most Canadian investors seem to have, then my goodness … we are here to open your eyes to a world of possibility that you might think only exists for “other” investors.

My Foolish friend, the world of investing is your oyster! And while I’ve no issue with Canadian bank stocks, for instance, they aren’t the be-all-and-end-all that they might have been earlier in their lifecycles.

Rather than going back to the well for bank stocks, Stock Advisor Canada regularly reveals timely Canadian and U.S. stock recommendations to our growing group of members. We do this every month.

And over the past decade, our average returns have outperformed the TSX by 30 percentage points.

How to Start Investing With Stock Advisor Canada

Admittedly, you might find joining an investment advisory service a bit intimidating. 

To that I say, fear not.

For one, if you give Stock Advisor Canada a try and decide it’s not for you, that’s fine. Simply cancel within 30 days and you’ll receive every penny of your membership fee back.

More importantly, though, we’ve just released our list of Starter Stocks for 2024 – stocks we think every Canadian should own this year.

Ten companies. Five Canadian. Five U.S.

Exactly zero appear in the aforementioned “most popular” list.

Taken together, these stocks provide a wonderful way to begin investing in promising businesses that span industries and geographies the world over. They are a blueprint for success with Stock Advisor Canada: You don’t ever have to wonder where to start.

I usually leave these kinds of “sales-y” messages to my colleagues, but I was so taken aback by what’s popular among my fellow Canadian investors that I simply had to shout from the rooftops that there’s a better way.

Please join me. Join us. Become a Fool today!

Foolishly yours,
Iain Butler, CFA
Chief Investment Advisor, Motley Fool Canada

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

Fool contributor Iain Butler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Constellation Software. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Curious about the stocks listed in the Morningstar article? They are TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Enbridge, Bank of Nova Scotia, BCE, Apple, Telus, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, and Manulife Financial.

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