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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: good morning,

I have been reading that RY and TD are more full valued at present than are BNS, CM and BMO. I own all five banks and am wondering if its a good idea to sell RY and TD and buy one or more of the other three banks. If this makes sense to you, which bank(s) would I buy, in order of preference.

as always, your advice is appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by alex on September 03, 2020
Q: What probability would you place on Canada's 5 major banks suspending or cutting dividends in the next 12 months? Is this a good time to buy those 5 stocks? Thank you
Read Answer Asked by R. Martin on September 02, 2020
Q: I am puzzled by your July 16, 2020 comments in response to a question on JPM vs. MS. You wrote “.... we would not consider them very different overall. JPM is significantly larger” ; “ business mix is very similar”. JPM and MS look different to me. MS has no retail business . MS has or will have an even larger presence in wealth management after its announced acquisition of eTrade. The deal was announced early 2020. The transaction has been approved and is expected to close before end of year 2020. Further, the above is an all-stock deal and although that affects capital structure, it should have little impact on MS’ debt level. However I may have missed things in which case your clarification would be welcome.
If I am correct: is MS a holding that is well worth adding to? I have a full allocation to US financials but hold only a modest position in MS. I am thinking of reducing BAC, OR another US banks and add to MS. My reasoning primarily: MS is not much exposed to loan losses; the brokerage and wealth management businesses seem poised for much growth in the US; its business model looks more attractive for the next two to 3 years. Would you agree or am I missing some important factors?
Read Answer Asked by Adam on September 02, 2020
Q: Hello guys,

I was hoping you could help to interpret the reports from Canada's banks this past week.
On the face of it, earnings did great compared to expectations. However they largely reported these gains based on outsized returns from their capital markets divisions. I am trying to make sense of what this means in the short and long term.
Firstly, capital markets are comparatively small parts of their businesses (at RY it is normally 20% of income). Is it also safe to say that this is a reflection of both turmoil and government stimulation, and I wonder if governments will be remiss to see its money land there. A d is it repeatable.
Second, with low rates on the horizon increasingly, the Fed and other central banks appear torn about the inflation theses that they have and what to do next. For banks I understand this means margin erosion as well as potentially demand destruction from customers.

Any thoughts on progress of the sector and possible ripples to the economy are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on August 31, 2020
Q: Hello Peter, I understand that Power Corp has made nothing for investors for the past decade (apart from decent dividends). And Great-West Lifeco not much better. Recognizing that Power owns a good share of GWO, which would you prefer as an income investor going forward: POW, with an extra bit of yield and some interests other than GWO, or just GWO as a pure play on the lifeco? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by James on August 28, 2020
Q: Hi 5i,

For my experience, once the bank had an issue with the U.S. Department of Justice, it will become in big big trouble for the coming ten to twenty years! Please see how the HSBC:US behave, and you will understand. It has been dropped from US$91 to US$21 from the past history, and the price now is even worst than the crisis 2008.
Read Answer Asked by ma on August 27, 2020
Q: What are your thoughts on the company ‘Afterpay’? Could they acquire or be acquired by goeasy, or even Shopify?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Rick on August 27, 2020
Q: Hi 5i team
As a long-time BNS shareholder, I am disappointed to learn of the US$127 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding manipulation in metal markets. As part of this, the bank admitted they (this surely involved senior management) made false statements (nice way of saying 'lied') to U.S. authorities in 2018 as part of a small settlement on the same matter. The bank stated "At Scotiabank, we understand that in order to maintain the trust of our stakeholders, we must adhere to trading-related regulatory requirements and compliance policies. We are committed to adhering to these standards."
How wonderful of BNS to say this (please forgive the sarcasm).
My questions are: What actions do you know of that BNS took to fire the people involved for cause, with no severance, AND to cancel stock options the perpetrators would have enjoyed, to send a crystal clear signal to every BNS employee that these sorts of actions will not in future be tolerated?
And finally, what is your view of BNS shares today?
Thank you.
Edward
Read Answer Asked by Edward on August 26, 2020
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