When markets feel shaky, investors don’t need to chase every exciting stock on the screen. The smarter move is to look for businesses with strong cash flow, real assets, and a reason to hold up when confidence fades. That can mean a gold miner benefiting from safe-haven demand, or a discounted investment company holding a basket of quality stocks. So, let’s look at some on the TSX today.
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K
Kinross Gold (TSX:K) is a Canadian gold producer with mines and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile, and Canada. It gives investors direct exposure to gold prices, but with the added benefit of a company producing real cash flow. Over the last year, that made it a timely name as gold surged and investors looked for shelter from inflation, geopolitical tension, and market swings.
The company’s recent news also helped. Kinross stock returned a lot of cash to shareholders, buying back shares and paying dividends. Since April 2025, it has returned about US$1 billion to shareholders and cut its share count by more than 3%. That shows management sees value in Kinross stock and has the balance sheet to reward investors while still funding growth projects.
In the first quarter of 2026, Kinross stock revenue jumped 61% year over year to US$2.41 billion. Reported net earnings more than doubled to US$843 million, or US$0.70 per share, while adjusted earnings hit US$0.71 per share. Free cash flow reached a record US$837.5 million. Kinross stock isn’t dirt cheap after its big run, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio around 12.4. But for a gold producer turning high prices into record cash flow, that valuation still looks reasonable.
Looking ahead, Kinross stock fits a shaky market because gold can keep working when investors worry about inflation, debt, rates, or global instability. The company also has growth projects that could support future production. Still, this isn’t a sleep-well-at-night utility. Gold prices can fall fast, mining costs can rise, and projects can run late. Even so, Kinross stock gives investors a clear reason to buy when the market feels uneasy.
CGI
Canadian General Investments (TSX:CGI) offers a very different kind of protection. It’s a closed-end investment company focused mainly on Canadian stocks, though its holdings also give investors exposure to major global themes. Instead of betting on one operating business, investors get a portfolio of companies across several sectors. That makes CGI feel more like a ready-made basket for investors who want diversification without building one stock by stock.
Its portfolio includes names tied to gold, technology, railways, banks, uranium, and consumer strength. That mix gives CGI a nice blend of growth, commodities, income, and defensive Canadian blue chips. In a shaky market, that spread can matter because not every sector moves the same way at the same time.
The biggest draw, though, is valuation. CGI recently traded near half of its net asset value. In short, investors can buy the portfolio for far less than its stated underlying value. CGI also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, giving it a yield of about 2.5% at writing. That income won’t make anyone rich overnight, but it helps investors get paid while waiting for the discount to narrow.
The outlook depends on two things: market performance and investor appetite for closed-end funds. If Canadian equities keep moving higher, CGI should benefit. If investors start looking harder for discounted assets, the gap between the share price and net asset value could shrink. The risk is that the discount can stay wide for a long time. CGI also uses leverage, which can help in good markets and hurt in bad ones. But as a value-focused way to own a broad portfolio, it still looks compelling.
Bottom line
Kinross stock offers gold exposure with record cash flow behind it, while Canadian General Investments offers a diversified portfolio at a steep discount. Neither one removes market risk, and both can fall if sentiment worsens. But in a market that feels shaky, these are exactly the kinds of stocks I’d still want on my buy list.
