January 2022 Pricing Commentary

Common stock prices started the month of January quite weakly and remained at these low levels until the last two trading days when they rallied significantly to record a strong finish. Despite this recovery, however, all major indices posted negative performance for the month.

On a positive note, we were very pleased with the solid gains of a number of our Canadian holdings including Royal Bank, TD Bank, CIBC, Enbridge, and TC Energy along with two ABC Fund favourites, Mastercard and Visa.

Of particular relevance to our present and future investment performance was the proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard (held in all three ABC Funds) by Microsoft (also held in all three ABC Funds) at a substantial price premium. We believe this takeover is not only extremely positive for both companies, but more importantly, adds credibility to our very optimistic investment outlook on gaming, the metaverse, and our portfolio positioning for 2022.

Irwin A. Michael, President
I.A. Michael Investment Counsel Ltd.