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Save for later WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? U.S. basic material stocks with attractive fundamentals and positive earnings growth. Looking at sector performance over the past week, the Materials

Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB) has returned more than 5 per cent, jumping ahead of defensive leaders such as the Utilities SPDR ETF (XLU) and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE). THE

SCREEN We will be using Trading Central Strategy Builder to search for stocks in the materials sector, which has started to post a rebound after declining 26 per cent off its record high

set back in January, 2018. We begin by setting a minimum market capitalization threshold of US$1-billion to focus on larger, more established companies in the sector. Next, we will look for

companies that are profitable and have an operating margin of 10 per cent or more. Operating margin is a measure of how much profit a company makes on each dollar of revenue. We will also

screen for debt-to-equity ratios of 1.0 or less in order to focus on companies with low levels of debt. Finally, we will screen companies that have grown their earning per share a minimum of

5 per cent over the past five years. MORE ABOUT TRADING CENTRAL Trading Central is a global leader in financial market research and investment analytics for retail online brokers and

institutions. Trading Central’s product suite provides actionable trading ideas based on technical and fundamental research covering stocks, ETFs, indices, forex, options and commodities.

WHAT WE FOUND Topping our list is Franco-Nevada Corp. The company owns a diversified portfolio of precious metals and royalty streams, which is actively managed to generate the bulk of its

revenue from gold, silver and platinum. Franco-Nevada’s short-term financial performance is linked to the price of commodities and the amount of production from its portfolio of producing

assets. Nothing influences gold prices quite like Federal Reserve policy in the short and intermediate term. With a possible flattening to inverted yield curve and a current 75-per-cent

probability that the Fed will either keep the target rate the same, or a 25-per-cent chance it lowers rates a quarter point at the next meeting on June 19, gold prices should benefit. We

have noticed gold already breaking above its long-term down trends. Franco-Nevada ranks at the top of all companies on our list owing to its operating margin of 40.5 per cent, annual

earnings growth of 56 per cent over the past five years and the lowest debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Teck Resources Ltd. grabbed our attention. Teck is a diversified miner with zinc, copper,

coal and oil sands operations in Canada, the United States, Chile and Peru. Teck ranks as the world’s second-largest exporter of seaborne metallurgical coal and is a top-three zinc miner.

The company has been buying back shares and reducing debt over the past five years. The company has the second best operating margin on our list at 28.5 per cent and a low debt-to-equity

ratio of 0.29. The large decline in the materials sector over the past two years may be giving us some opportunities to play the rebound. Risk management is critical when trading in volatile

markets. Always have an exit plan before entering into a position. The investment ideas presented here are for information only. They do not constitute advice or a recommendation by Trading

Central in respect of the investment in financial instruments. Investors should conduct further research before investing. U.S. BASIC MATERIAL STOCKS WITH ATTRACTIVE FUNDAMENTALS AND

POSITIVE EARNINGS GROWTH RANK COMPANY TICKER RECENT PRICE (US$) MARKET CAP. (US$BIL) 5YR EPS GROWTH (%) OPERATING MARGIN (%) DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO DIV. YIELD 1YR PERFORMANCE (%) YTD

PERFORMANCE (%) 1 Franco-Nevada Corp. FNV-N 78.06 14.5 56.5 40.5 0.03 1.3 10.4 10.5 2 Ternium SA TX-N 23.73 4.9 27.3 17.3 0.30 4.8 -36.0 -9.6 3 Nucor Corp. NUE-N 50.59 15.2 37.3 14.1 0.43

3.2 -23.0 -3.2 4 Steel Dynamics Inc. STLD-Q 26.2 5.8 45.2 14.0 0.61 3.7 -47.0 -11.8 5 Teck Resources Ltd. TECK-N 21.25 11.7 26.3 28.5 0.29 0.7 -22.0 -0.6 6 Louisiana-Pacific Corp. LPX-N

23.65 2.9 17.3 16.5 0.28 2.3 -22.0 6.6 7 LyondellBasell Industries NV LYB-N 80.98 28.8 12.2 12.5 0.98 5.4 -28.0 -1.3 8 Norbord Inc. OSB-N 20.45 1.7 8.9 19.5 0.80 5.8 -53.0 -20.4 9 Martin

Marietta Materials Inc. MLM-N 225.85 13.5 23.3 16.7 0.64 0.9 -66.0 30.1 10 Albemarle Corp. ALB-N 67.37 6.9 5.3 19.9 0.50 2.3 -29.0 -12.4 Trading Central _Gary Christie is head of North

American research at __Trading Central__._