Investment Q&A

Q: I have just read that the European Banks are going to stop paying dividends and that the US banks are under a lot of pressure to follow suit. Do you think that The Canadian Banks will also suspend dividends?

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
Thank you for all your professional advice with your years of experience and calmness during this market turmoil.
My question is about bonds.
I have a portion of my fixed income in CBO.
Currently a retail investor can pick up some fixed income bond/debenture from the above mentioned banks with longer term maturities (say 2028 to 2030, they are callable between 2024 and 2026) with a 4% interest rate at current valuations (which are below $100). Even if they did get called then you would get the capital gain and the better interest rate for 4 to 6 years.
Do you think it would make sense to sell a bit of CBO and buy a few of these bank instruments in the current environment?
Your opinion is much appreciated. Thank you.

Q: Retired dividend-income investor. I currently own BNS and RY. I was planning on topping up BNS, then read an answer about harvesting capital losses. I had already take enough losses to cover my gains to look after 2020 income tax implications.
I selected BNS for its international diversification and RY for its USA diversification.

I am now considering harvesting my new BNS capital loss and was considering either CM or BMO for immediate replacement, wait a bit then do my original top-up later. Which bank to you consider the better replacement?

Thanks...Steve

Q: I am a buy and hold investor with 5 to 10 years of time horizon.
Have the following 7 stocks in Canadian financials in the order of their weights in our portfolio. Financials makeup roughly 7.5% of the total portfolio including cash positions and we like their dividend. TD, RY, BNS, BMO, SLF, CM, and MFC. I like to reduce exposure to financials and also like to reduce number of different shares. Two questions:
1. Is 7.5% a reasonable weight considering the current situation?
2. Which one of these I should sell to reduce financial weight and to reduce the number of shares in financials?

Q: Why did BMO get hit the hardest? Thanks!

Q: Dear 5i team,
Would you have concerns to buy a really small number of any of these, say 50 shares, none are in my portfolio. The prices seem very attractive and I have not sourced key info that would say ‘no’ but I’d like to check in with you in in case I’ve overlooked something.
Which would you say is best, and no worries if you consider them all a ‘no’ right now.

In the energy arena, in light of several posts about bankruptcies, could you enlighten further please:
- are there any that stand out as being at greatest risk of that happening
- for big/medium names like ENB, CNQ, SU, KEY for example, would you consider them solid enough to be ‘immune’ to bankruptcy (assuming they are not in your group of ‘greatest risk’)

As a dividend investor, do you as a team ever produce a list of stocks most at risk/greatest likelihood of cutting dividends? Are most investors surprised by dividend cuts or is there a set of clear indicators that a cut is coming?

Thank you!

Q: Which Canadian bank looks most attractive right now?

Q: Are you aware of any research that provides detailed analysis regarding oil patch exposure of the big 5 banks?

Q: What would be the top 3 Canadian banks have the best/quickest rebound potential ? thanks

Q: Appreciate your report today on recommended stocks to track in this time of turmoil. Above is what additionally interests me and can't believe BMO @ $75.00 Could you review your thoughts for each going forward & thanks!

Q: All the banks are being hit today, but BMO seems to be getting hit the hardest. Is there a reason for this? I'm thinking of entering a half position looking at a 3-5 year timeline. What are your thoughts?
thanks,
Paul

Q: Thoughts on the CN banks? Low rate environment; Cdn economy hampered economically due to low oil and lacklustre mtg/productivity . How does this factor for growth in our banking oligopoly? I would think the 4-5% dividend yield is relatively safe but I cannot see where the stock price growth would come from other than wealth management divisions and perhaps trading which is somewhat risky. Thanks.

Q: two questions...all things equal, would you own any Canadian banks...and if yes, which would be your top 2?

Q: hello 5i:
recently, I asked a question about WFC. Thanks for your prompt reply. However, it leads to a second part. I already own BNS and BMO in a weighting I'm comfortable with, but do wish to add another financial (not sold on JPM). TD seems to have a large US presence, something I want, while also seeming to find favour with you over the years as a "go to" name in the financial sector. Obviously then (if I have this right), you'd take TD over WFC. But would just adding to BNS or BMO be a viable option? The only factor these banks seem to lack is the larger US presence.
thanks
Paul L

Q: Portfolio analytics suggest that I lighten my financial stocks, which of these 3 banks do you recommend that I sell.
Thanks
Nancy

Q: Good day 5i Team,

Would you be able to recommend few tickers for a cover calls strategy? Any suitable companies that are traded on TSE?

Thank you,

Q: The end of 2018 bmo closed at 89. and bns closed at 68., a difference of about 21.
Last Friday bmo closed at 103.80 and bnn closed at 72.48, a difference of 31.32.
Can you explain the reason for the vast under performance of bns v.s. bmo and do you plan to retain bns in 2 of your portfolios? If so,why ?

Q: I want to get back to just one Canadian bank, planning on 3-5 years. I traded BNS for BMO last fall. BMO is up about 12%, and BNS is back to par. I did not intend to be trading the stocks again, but now I am thinking I should take the 12% BMO profit, and put it in BNS. BNS has a slightly higher dividend, and long-term, both are good, stable stocks. I have about 1% in TD, which I plan to sell. BMO IS about 3% of my portfolio. US banks another 2%.
Is this a good idea, or do you have one Canadian Bank you prefer for 3-5 Year. Thanks
Grant

Q: In response to Robert's question, BMO offer a Cnd high interest savings acct AAT770 and the US $ equivalent is AAT780

Q: If you were to pick 1 Canadian bank for a long term hold (10 - 15 years), which one would you choose? Also, what order would you rank these banks?