Investment Q&A

Q: Do the banks still look cheap here? I have a healthy weighting in BNS. I would like to add either RY or TD. TD is more expensive, is its valuation justified in your opinion?

Q: I own Royal Bank shares--is there another of the big 5 banks that would compliment this holding and is it a buy now? I would like to just hold two banks and add as they get cheap.

Thanks.

Q: My current holdings are as follows: T-6% of portfolio, Tck.b-0.51%, Rei.un-1.26%, Dgs-2.92%, Bns-11.6%, su-3.38%, dir.un-0.65%, cu-1.82%, Pjc.a-0.99%, cpx-1.89%, pot-2.23%, Igm-3.55%, mic-6.06%, hr.un-0.96%, Cwb-6.93%, Ftt-1.8%, Esi-1.03%, Mkp-1.25%, psi-0.93%, Rus-0.77%, Rc-0.61%, Cnr-3.82%, NA-6%, Bce-5.73%, td-5.43%, Trp-5%, Sjr.b-7.41%, t:nyse-1.83%, Ko:nyse-4.38%, Gsk:nyse-2.09%, Csco:nyse-1.19%

I would like your opinion on what stocks weighting I should add to balance my portfolio. I ha

Q: "TD Bank embroiled in Ponzi fallout" - Globe headline. According to the paper the liquidator of the fraudulent ponzi bank thinks TD should cover the 5.5 billion investor losses plus any money TD made as a conduit for transferring money from the investors' to the fraudulent bank. TD seems to have been the intermediary. Should owners of TD stock be selling their positions or do nothing and wait for further developments?

Q: Hi,

Given the mkt direction, do you think Canadian banks are a good place to hide out for two years and should I wait or buy now?

Q: Hello Peter,
Would you consider TD, Royal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Fairfax, BCE, Fairfax Financial, Manulife, Brookfield Management, Brookfield Infrastructure, Enbridge, metro, Loblaws, Google, Facebook,Visa as very long term holds where one can simply get the dividends (for some of these) and not worry about ups and downs of the market. I know you have covered these in the past, but am re-aligning my portfolio to focus on very long term holds. Thanks again for your advice.

Q: Hello,

I bought TD some time ago at 55 looking to convert to US. Unfortunately the plan didn't work (in order to sell in US you have to call the brokerage and I could not get through). Long story short the stocked dropped the next day and jut now I'm even.
My question is what do you expect when they announce the earnings?
Is it worth holding? Should I sell it in U$ and if yes do you have any US stocks that you recommend ( I know you don't follow the us market, but I think you should really start)?

Thanks
Marios

Q: Hello Peter,

You have taught us not to try to time the market cycles but allow me to ask if you feel the banks are poised for a run. With interest rates set to spike in the US from good data, banks will benefit.
Your thoughts?

Q: Do you think it is a good time to buy TD or any of the big Canadian banks or wait a little longer? Do you prefer BNS over TD?

Thank you

Q: The six major Canadian Banks are now at or approaching their 52 week lows and paying healthier dividends. Would you step in now or do you see further price deterioration and which two would be your favourites and for what reasons?
Thank you.

Q: Would it make sense to sell td, and buy SLF, recognising the impending interest rate rise.
Thank you

Q: Re Brenda's comment about TDDI "President's Account":
There is definitely a distinct phone number for holders of these President's Accounts (As far as I know your voice imprint has NO affect on call routing). I am in Montreal and therefore the local # is (514) 289-1272. There could/must be a 1-800 #, but Iam not aware of what it is.

Q: I use the TD discount brokerage. I established the account almost 20 years ago when I was virtually broke. Since then, I've used the phone #613-783-6322 (Ottawa) they've given me. In the past couple of years, I've gone to "President Account" status, still using this phone # (good memory and too lazy to look up phone numbers) and got through relatively quickly. The question I put out to members is whether TD discount brokerage gives this "less wait time" special status based on the phone number you call (in which case now many more people have it) or the phone # you have on file, or is it associated with the "voice print" sign in.
PS. The best decision (albeit, forced between a rock and a hard place) is leaving the "TD wealth advisor" and doing investments on my own with 5i!!!! I'm so truly grateful! I've done far better than I'd ever imagine.

Q: Those who trade with TD should know they have a President's Account for investors with $500K+ or 5K annual commissions. Among the benefits is this - "The President's Account clients have an exclusive Priority Phone Line they can call into which will be routed to an experienced professional with quicker wait times." Streaming and Level 2 quotes is another big plus, and Globe Investor Gold. You may have to ask for it; I don't know why TD doesn't advertise it.

Q: I just became aware of CIPF (Canadian Investor Protection Fund). One Million coverage per brokerage account in case your broker has an issue like bankruptcy theft etc. Would you advise limiting the amount held at any one brokerage less than on million. And once you reach one million do you split the money into two accounts to keep it under. It seems this would make sense to take full advantage of this protection. Similar to limiting the amount invested in a GIC or HISA to $100,000 to take advantage of CDIC... Or am I just being paranoid?
Man

Q: Hello Peter and Team.

I’m an income investor and currently have 27% of my portfolio in cash.

The other 73% is distributed as follows:

US Tech 11%
Oil & Gas 4%
Consumer 8%
Cdn Banks 12%
Utilities 26%
REITs 12%

I’ve been in and out of the Telecoms and think they are somewhat expensive right now. The Cdn Banks on the other hand look like an attractive sector to add to and I can collect the 4% dividend while I wait. I have a full position already in BNS and would like to add Royal and TD. Maybe 6% in each? or should I just stay in cash and wait for a further pullback? I’m worried about the US markets correcting which will just take everything else down with them regardless.

What do you think?

I know I need to work on better diversification but I don’t want to put new money to work just for the sake of diversification as I view this to be a ongoing discipline. Right now the CDN banks are the only thing I see as a strong buy aside from O&G which is interesting but still a little too risky for me to commit new money to vs. the Banks or am I missing something?

Thanks as always for your excellent advice. Scott

Q: Re Gerald's comment today (RY - Royal Bank) and his discovery of D-Series funds available thru RBC. I'm sure you will find this to be true for all banks as adverse to their affiliated Discout/Self-Directed brokerage's.
IE at TDDI (TD Direct Investing) they also offer D-Series funds.
I would suggest though that Gerald check-out their eSeries Index Funds. Out of the 17 listed on their Website 12 have MER's below 1% and NO Commisions to buy/or sell.

Q: Does it make sense to hold td on the american side currency gain/

Q: For James, I too received the TD dividend (and a CXR one) in my WebBroker account showing "Trade date" Feb. 2 & "Settlement date" Jan.31. Because the payment date of Jan. 31 was a non banking day, a Saturday, the next banking day, Monday is the actual credit day to appear in the account. I know banks love to nickel and dime us but had James written a cheque for the 31st on the strength of the dividend being deposited and the bank bounced it because it only showed in the account on the 2nd I believe he would have a legitimate beef. Anyway, any profit made by banks in this fashion will eventually be returned to the shareholders, us, via dividends.

Q: James asked on the 3rd about TD dividend not being paid as he expected. For my RBC Dominion account it came through on the morning of the 2nd. Please share with him (if you wish) as maybe there is another issue related to his account.