Christopher King, Vice President of Equity Research at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, talks about one of his picks for a wireless company: America Movil (AMX):

 Mr. King: We also recommend America Movil (AMX); again, that is the largest wireless carrier in Latin America. That is more of a take on the general continued growth in the Latin American wireless market. As it increases from a 55% penetration level today in the region to north of 80%, in our view, over the course of the next several years, they should be significant beneficiaries of that. They also are generating a significant amount of free cash flow with also a very under levered balance sheet, which should accrue to the benefit of shareholders over the course of the next several years as well.

For on Christopher King, click here.
For more on the telecommunications sector, click here.

Joseph Walewivz, executive director of CIBC World Markets, talk about a company to watch in the Candian Biotech sector, AEterna Zentaris:

Mr. Walewicz: AEterna has a drug called cetrorelix that is currently in Phase III testing for BPH or benign prostatic hypertrophy. This is an enlargement of the prostate that most men get as they age. There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in this field. The leading drugs are simply newer version of drugs that are 20 plus years old. Something new for this condition could be very promising. Cetrorelix has shown efficacy in Phase II testing, and there have been no major safety issues to date. Safety is a key issue for drugs under development. The drug is already approved by the FDA and on the market, in a different format, and it has already got a tremendous amount of safety data in real world use. The fact that over 300,000 patients worldwide have taken the drug certainly gives you confidence that there are no major safety issues, and the Phase II efficacy gives you confidence that this drug might actually work. Beyond that, AEterna has two other drugs that could be moving into pivotal trials later this year.

For more information on Canadian Biotechnology, click here.

Analyst Christopher King, of Stifel, Niclaus & Company, Inc, claims Verizon Wireless (VZ)  is the best company run company in any US sector:

 Mr. King: Verizon Wireless, in our view, is one of the best-run companies in the US in any sector, be it telecom or otherwise. They have done an absolutely phenomenal job in a slowing market environment. They are continuing to take huge chunks of market share, increase profitability over time, and they have really put the hurt to the rest of their competitors in a very competitive industry. They would be best of breed in our view.

For more on Christopher King, click here.
For more articles on the telecommunications sector, click here.

This week, we spoke with a number of different portfolio managers about the market climate for their kind of investing. Here’s what they had to say: 

• E. Stewart Johnson, Philo Smith & Co.
  
  
  • “The investment climate for insurance stocks varies widely at the subsector level, and this year has been no exception. Think of insurance as subsectors such as P&C companies, life companies, health companies, insurance brokers and reinsurers. To maintain perspective on the climate, we monitor about 300 ompanies that span each of these subsectors. It’s an understatement to say that each subsector reacts differently to market volatility, interest rates, tax law changes and even the weather. “

• Robert Almeida, AIC Limited.
  
  
  • “Right now it is fabulous. This is kid in a candy store time. There are some phenomenal businesses on sale right now. As a portfolio manager and investor right now, I think it’s great. I’d say Canada in particular presents some great opportunities.”

• William P. Wells, Pope Asset Management.

  • “I think it has been a great environment as far as how we have been positioned. The sectors and securities in which we have been concentrated have generally done well. In our view of the world, we think the US is going to come under pressure. We are concerned about the trade deficit and the overall debt levels in this country. We are not a dedicated international or emerging market investor, but our views have led us to have very little exposure here in the US. “

For more information on E. Stewart Johson, click here.
For more information on Robert Almeida, click here.
For more information on William P. Wells, click here.
For the full issue, containing all there portfolio managers, and more, click here.

Stephen Lieber, portfolio manager of the Alpine Dynamic Innovators Fund among others at Alpine Woods Investments, talks about one of his picks for this particular fund: FLIR Systems (FLR), a manufacturer of thermal imaging systems.

 FLIR is probably the broadest manufacturer of thermal imaging systems for commercial and government markets. Those helicopters that you see flying in Iraq, or the unmanned aircraft, will be carrying FLIR thermal sensors. The army tanks will be carrying FLIR cameras with image stabilization,enabling the crew to watch people and events a mile or two ahead of the vehicle at night. From a domestic point of view, they have a vast growth opportunity in the homeland security area as camera systems are installed around sensitive structures, such as ports or now, increasingly, airline terminals. It’s a specialty company in our view whose time has come and whose growth is quite significant, and thus, it typifies what we are looking for.

For more information on Stephen Lieber, the Alpine Dynamic Innovators Fund,  and Alpine Woods Investments, click here.  

Analyst Shameze Rampertab, specialist in Candian Biotechnology,  has this to say about the new growth hormone produced by Theratechnologies for use in HIV-associated lipodystrophy.

• “What Thera has shown in their trial is that they can actually reduce the visceral adipose tissue in these HIV-lipo patients by 15% to 20%, which is more significant than what the only competing product has achieved.”
• “The reason why Thera’s stock has been trading up to as high as $13 in the last six months is because people are finally understanding the real opportunity for this growth hormone releasing factor is not just HIV lipodystrophy, which at the top end of the range is a $750 million sales per year opportunity. The real opportunity is going after the whole growth hormone market.”
• “When this product gets on the market, all those patients taking growth hormones for various problems will say, ‘If I can get a drug that shows the same level of efficacy but has a better safety profile and doesn’t cause the same side effects, should I try to switch over to it? Sure, why not?’ That’s the real opportunity here for Theratechnologies.”

For more information about Theratechnologies new growth horomone, and a host of other exciting topics in Canadian Biotechnology, click here.

From advertisments with big name movie stars, to zoning restrictions in many communities, cell phones are facing growing opposition on multiple fronts. But what about cell phone tower companies? How does this affect them? Analyst Clayton Moran has more to say on this topic:

 Local municipalities aren’t anxious to put up new towers (the not-in-my-backyard phenomenon), but the existing towers become more valuable as a result. These companies built or bought most of the towers in the 1990s and they have about 45,000 to 50,000 towers today. The zoning restrictions that are in place really enhance the value of the existing towers because the carriers, Verizon and others, have nowhere else to go.

To learn more about cell phone tower companies, try these three:

 American Tower (AMT)
 Crown Castle (CCI)
 SBA Communications (SBAC)

For more commentary about this, and another niche areas in telecommunications, click here.