Investment Q&A

Q: Canadian banks have performed well over the last year and given the current economic climate do you expect these 2 banks to continue to perform well?

Q: Which of the Big Six banks will you purchase now if no exposure to any?

Thanks!

Q: The big 6 Canadian Banks? I do not know why many investors have an aversion to the banks? Over the last 15 years the capital appreciation and dividend compounding have been second to none. I own a good portion in my varied portfolios and all have performed extremely well with the exception of BNS. I have a friend who invested 15 years ago in the banks $1.5 M - now over $8M and generate a lot of income for him. I think he owns now about 40,000 shares. I think most if not all portfolios should contain a good helping of the Canadian banks. He is my age 77 YO.

Q: Hi, I am wondering about the Cdn bank ETF offering a bit of leverage through loans called HCAL. It sounds like a reasonable way to execute a bit of leverage, but I have to wonder if it is better than owning some of, or all six of the Cdn banks. Would you recommend the ETF, or just owning some combination of the banks directly. If owning the banks directly could you offer an opinion on which ones you prefer and how many? Would you overweight one over others, or stick with an equal weight ownership? As always, your insight is very much appreciated - thanks!
D

Q: I would like to sell one of these bank stocks. In what order would you sell? Are there any of the Cdn banks that you feel are over priced or have less upside potential? Thanks for your exceptional service.

Q: What are your current favourite Canadian 'low worry' stocks from any category? Please list as many as you like! Cheers.

Q: Hi 5i,
My CM holding in my RRIF has appreciated in value by approximately 125% (not including dividends) and my dividend yield on the invested funds brings a healthy return of 7.5%.
Without consideration for CM's weight in my portfolio, do you think it would it be wise to capitalize on some of the appreciation in value though offloading some and putting the money to work elsewhere?
The factors to consider in thinking about this question that I'm aware of are:
1.) whether CM is currently overvalued to the extent that de-risking is advisable (i.e.: is it in danger of a significant decrease that would deprive me of some of the nice profit I've made so far);
2.) whether there are suitable alternatives for deployment of the funds that will provide sufficient yield and capital appreciation over time to justify the reduction in risk that selling some CM would bring; and
3.) what those alternatives might be. (I'm well invested in O&G, pipelines, tech and financial names other than CM, but light in industrials, materials, consumer discretionary and just about everything else.)
I would greatly appreciate your thoughts regarding my CM conundrum and what to do about it.
Thanks 5i !
Peter

Q: Why do companies do a stock split and do you think any of the banks will do a stock split in 2026.

Q: Between the big 5 banks, please rank in order of
a. biggest dividend increases average over the last 5 years.
b. your impression of most likely to perform in the next 5 years
c. least likely to be affected by american geopolitics

Q: Good morning,

I'm trying to help my daughter (who is in her late 20s) with her portfolio which is a bit difficult because she is morally opposed to several lines of business (crypto, oil/gas, AI, defence to name a few) however I did notice she doesn't have any major CA bank equities at the moment. Some of my co-workers use a different research company who I think recently advised their clients to sell TD. I didn't see any recent questions on here about the CA banks lately so could you please tell me what your preferred bank is at this time (regardless whether I listed it or not.) It will be for a long term hold in her FHSA.

Cheerio,
Zara in BC

Q: For a dividend account, in what order would you acquire and at what price. Thanks

Q: As I read the charts CM - and others but particularly CM - had two periods of significant improvement beginning in Oct '23 and then Apl '25, peaking in recent weeks around 115, well above historic levels. There are three questions here - how stretched are the current valuation, what further progress might one expect, and what caused the value to rise so substantially? I am assume that AI prospects had something to do with the rise in valuation as other Canadian Banks have done well but have no info to support that idea or what might have made CM so outstanding. Look forward to your response.

Q: If you were an income investor and wanted to invest in each of the 5 big banks, given current valuations and yield, what percentage of the money you have marked for investing in banks would you allocate to each?

Q: In your opinion, are Cdn. bank stocks overvalued and is it time to trim. Along with two Cdn insurance companies they currently represent approximately 26% of our portfolio

Q: I am overweight in financials. Can you order the noted stocks in terms top to bottom ranking?

Q: I am looking for a position in my income portfolio and would like to choose from CPX, CM and TD.
It would seem that Canada is heading into a recession and that would affect the bank earnings, more significantly CIBC than the others.
CPX on the other hand has missed earnings, maintained guidance and has dropped and likely to recover?
Which one would you choose to add?
Regards
Rajiv

Q: Hi,
I am thinking of selling my CIBC stock, as it has done well, but now has become relatively expensive compared to historical averages, and the dividend yield is comparatively lower. Can I get your top 3 choices in each of 1) big banks/financial institutions 2) mid cap financial institutions. and can I get your top 2 in small cap financials. All Canadian please.
cheers, Chris

Q: Wondering you thoughts on the Canadian banks. I currently hold TD and CBIL.

Q: Hi 5i,
In registered accounts I hold these financials: POW, BNS, CM, EQB, PRL; these tech: TXF.B, HTA and the industrial MDA. I've held them for a long time and I'm pleased with all of them.
However, given Trump may be serious about decimating the Canadian economy (witness latest threatened increase in steel and aluminum tariffs) and likely can do a lot of damage even if he doesn't completely succeed, I'm considering cashing in holdings in Canadian names and replacing with US names through purchasing CDR's (I don't have a US account and don't plan on opening one). A few of questions arise:
1. Do you think my reasoning makes sense, or would it be an over-reaction to make the move regarding all or some of my above holdings?
2. If the move is worth considering, can you suggest CDR alternatives for any of the above names you think should be replaced?
3. If I do replace any of the above CDN names with equivalent or nearly so CDR's, what can I expect regarding dividend income compared to that from the CDN holdings (all of which - except MDA - are currently yielding based high, based on long ago purchase prices)?
Please deduct as you see fit.
Thanks 5i,
Peter

Q: Re: DRIPS; for a well balanced retirement account what are your favorites DRIPs ? What about for a young persons TFSA that may not be touched for a long time ?
Thank you.