Investment Q&A

Q: Dear 5i team,
NA, CM and RY have seen recovery to an encouraging extent.
BNS, TD and BMO much less so.

I do bear in mind that not all banks were/are uniformly exposed to risks precipitated by the virus; those that needed to increase reserves against losses have done so I believe. I’ve not sourced reports indicating any bank is not prudently shored up with loss provisions.

Would it be too soon to start a monthly purchase of BNS, TD, and/or BMO - small amounts, say $1k?
If it is too soon, what are you looking to hear, read about, or see happen that would tell you buying can begin?

Thank you so much!

Q: The 12 month low for bmo was $55.76 and for bns was $46.38 a difference of $9.38.
On aug 14 bmo closed at $78.03 and bns closed at $57.68 a difference of 20.35 in favour of bmo.
Do you think that a major reason for the weakness in bns is due to the coronaravirus in latin and South America and as it continues it to spread should I switch from bns into bmo or is it too late?

Q: I have these shares in a tfsa. Do you see any sells in this list and can you please suggest a couple of additions? Thank you.

Q: In looking at the banks and understanding 5i has a positive outlook on BNS, what would the the opinion of the experts on adding BMO, another financial that has been depressed over other financial investment opportunities ?
Thank you in advance

Q: In a straight-up comparison of BMO (Bank of Montreal) versus RY (Royal Bank), for a long-term position (non-registered account), which one would you buy, and why? (I've owned BMO for >25 years, never owned Royal, but because of ongoing portfolio adjustments, I'm in a position where I want to own one of these two banks, for the long-term. Note: I already have long-standing positions in TD Bank and National Bank, in my Canadian portfolio, so another aspect to my question is which one better complements my existing Canadian bank holdings. In my situation, there are no particular tax implications for buying BMO vs RY.)

Q: Firstly, thank you for your outstanding guidance.
The first 3 stocks haven’t bounced back yet and are still quite a bit down. My question is -would it be better to try and recover $ in the Growth stocks listed below the 3 or reinvest with A&W, BMO, PRU and wait it out for another year.
I have positions in the growth stocks that could be deeper in BNS, Telus, Enbridge, TCP, Kinaxis, Qualcomm. And if you suggest that the growth stocks make more sense to recoup money faster, could you rank these from strongest to weakest-(Potential for growth). Thank you.
Bruce

Q: HI Guys,
Have these stocks bottomed here &
Would you buy these 5 names right now and in what order would you put them in 1-best & 5-worst
AGF,CIS,ONEX,BMO,CWB

What financials would you be buying if you don’t like those?

Thanks again!
Nick

Q: Hi 5i team,
I’ve recently sold some of my SHOP position in a taxable account (the share price has risen ~15-fold since purchase about 2-1/2 years ago, and even after this partial disposition, SHOP remains my biggest overall position—thank you for this excellent recommendation!). Now, I want to reduce the tax hit, and so I am planning to sell positions in BMO, BNS, and SU, with aim to rebuy after 31 days (to avoid superficial loss), as these 3 securities are core holdings in my portfolio. In general, when I do tax loss selling, I try to maintain an economic position in the types of companies I am selling, because I’m always anxious the shares will rise during the 30-day waiting period (indeed, frustrating increases in stock prices during the 30-day waiting period seem to happen quite often, at least in my experience). So, my question is: Can you recommend a security (or securities) to maintain economic exposure to BMO/BNS, as well as to SU, for the 30-day waiting period? (For perspective, I’m planning to sell ~$185,000 worth of BMO/BNS, as well as ~$72,000 worth of SU; when I rebuy BMO/BNS/SU, I would then sell the temporary holdings I bought to maintain the economic position.). Would you buy a Canadian bank ETF and Canadian oil sector ETF, to maintain these economic positions (and please recommend some appropriate securities), or rather other individual Canadian banks or individual oil companies (and please recommend some appropriate securities)? Also interested in your philosophical thoughts about how to handle the situation of tax loss selling, which arises every so often, especially now during pandemic, when there is wide variety of individual security performance (some big winners, but also some high-quality stocks that are—hopefully temporarily—depressed in price) as well as higher-than-usual volatility.
Ted

Q: BMO has new issues with principal protection. If I understand, many will limit your upside in order to guarantee the downside. Some seem to not limit the upside. My grandchild will require funds in 7 years. Can you give me your opinion as to Bank of Montreal Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF Principal Protected Deposit Notes, Series 5
JHN2446 suitability. Is there a better “protected” alternative or is it all a case of you don’t get something for nothing. I’m looking at a safe place for $10,000 (Currently 20%).
Thanks

Q: What are your thoughts on selling these two bank stocks I am about 25% down on both going on three years , thinking of buying Td or Ry.
Larry

Q: What is your best guess as to the likelihood of a dividend cut by any of the above listed companies? Thanks.

Q: Which bank would you start a position in?

Why is bmo down so much amongst its peers? Is it unfairly being singled out?

Q: BNS is up AFTER they posted loss, increased reserve provisions etc., BUT it seems ALL the banks are up today even though news about their future is still pending!
Should we "read" that "birds of a feather" phenomenon is operating here and the market has decided to ignore the pending results of other bans and is into a full blown buy mode!
Do you think it is risky or reasonable response to the current situation and one can buy bank stocks now? I know your favorites are RY,BNS,TD.

Q: Can you please explain the losses in the big five Canadian Banks shares. I can’t for the following reasons so would appreciate your thoughts before I start to increase my exposure.

Their mtge portfolios are mostly insured , ultimately by the govt. the balance of their mtge loans are normally at significant discounts to the property values.

The new loans being made by the government will likely be backed by the government , not the banks.

They all have a long history of not cutting dividends, BMO has not in 190 years and BNS in 188 years and I expect the other three banks to be in the same approximate time frame of no dividend cuts . Unlikely you will find a US back or an Insurance company that can say the same.

They also over reserve their loan loss provisions in order to keep their profits from the wild fluctuations we see in the US.

Thanks

Q: Hi,
which two Canadian banks have the highest exposure to the energy sector? Same question but to the mining sector?
Thanks,
Dan

Q: Hi 5i
Earnings fast approaching for banks. If banks increase loan loss provisions do u see this as negative for banks and how do you see impact on BMO and LB share price over short/long term if this occurs.
Thx

Q: Hello Team,

Currently own ECN, down 15% on this one. I have been eyeing BMO for awhile now. Comparing BMO on a one year chart it lags and dropped the most from the other big banks, down roughly 35%. However, at roughly 68$ isn't it an attractive entry point?

Can you please explain why BMO lags? And second, would switching ECN to BMO be a good move or simply stick with ecn?

Thank you and have a good day!

Q: I depend on the big 5 banks and, to a lesser extent, the telecoms , for income reliability.
For example, I read recently that BMO has a 191 year (?) record of uninterrupted dividend paying.
Are you able to list the payout records for the other listed above.
Thank you

Q: Hi gang, I am looking into buying $11,000 for my daughters TFSA Acct. Should I buy $5500. BMO & 5500. SLF. Or 11,000. Zwb.And zwu or could you suggest me otherwise. Lots of time 15-20years. Open to any thoughts. Thanks be safe.
Alnoor

Q: Given that my Margin account has the 5 big banks and 2 Telecoms paying dividends on a periodic basis and that I'm not "too" concerned that these will cut their dividends, would it be wise to implement trailing stop loss orders for these in case there is another retest of the lows of March. Had I done that at the beginning of the year, I could have picked up the above at much reduce prices with resulting greater dividend yields. And would using the same procedure for my RIF account (which has mainly REITs) be beneficial to capture the current values to avoid further losses there.
Your comments. Thank you