Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter, I am intrigued after reading that a Canadian can earn about $50,000 per year of dividend income without paying any income tax. I know about your income portfolio of course, but with a view to maximizing just Canadian eligible dividend income, what would you think of the following portfolio of 14 stocks. Equal weighted, the stocks would yield 5.3%. (Disregard lack of market diversification; this can be achieved in one’s registered accounts.) Also, if one wanted to pare down the list to 10, which 4 would you delete?
BCE, CM, ENB, FTS, CNQ, AQN, CPD, FSZ, MG, KBL, POW, ALA, BIPC and NTR. Thanks!

Q: I own all of these (similar amounts) and bought LB to boost income. Now its yield is less than the other two do you think it makes sense to switch into the other two? Thanks.

Q: Can you please comment on CIBC and its juicy dividend.

Would you be a buyer at these levels?

Thanks in advance.

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: 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: 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

Q: I have all 5 big banks and the 2 telecoms in my Margin Account for income purposes. I sold FRU and IPL because the dividend was reduced significantly. So I have some cash available to top up.
Given the Banks have Yields and Pay Out Ratios as follows (BMO 6.34% - 46.83%; BNS 5.90% - 44.47%; CM 7.49% - 36.67%; RY 5.25% - 44.84%; TD 5.82% - 44.76%) I am considering CM as the best yield and lowest Pay Out. Would you concur?
Thanks

Q: Hi,
Could you please comment on commercial impaired loan growth with respect to the Canadian banks prior to the Cov 19 crisis ? Have they increased their reserves appropriately ?
Thanks

Q: How much of an influence do American investors have on the price of our banks? Many Canadian investors have bank stocks and rely on their dividends for income.

Steve Eisman of "The Big Short" was talking about how an interesting short he sees is Canadian banks and that he has been short for some time. He says the Canadian banks have not had a credit cycle in 30 years, they are extremely unprepared for it and will have real problems.

What is your opinion?

Thanks!

Q: which one would you choose (could be possible more than 1 if must) and why?
thanks

Q: I would like your help putting together a yield portfolio of between 15 and 20 names.
This would be the entire investments for my wife and I. We are both retired and now live full-time in the U.S. And at some point I expect my Canadian newspaper pension to disappear, so I am looking to replace that money.
I would like your opinion of the above names with regard to safety of the income and overall diversification.
I would also appreciate some additional ideas and would like to know if I`m off base on any or all of these names.
I am currently only invested in CM, BNS and BMO and DIR.UN.
Please take 20 credits (or more).
Thank you in advance for your invaluable assistance.

Q: I feel I am to heavily weighted in these financials. Would you please rank them as to which ones you would keep and why. Thank You.

Q: Hi. I see in many responses related to Canadian banks that when you reply that you prefer bank a, b, c over bank X, is the a, b, c in order of preference? Sometimes the order changes from different responses.
Would you be able to list the Canadian banks in order of preference for a 5-10 year hold. I understand that in 6 or 12 months the order may change, but I'm looking today what it would be. Thanks

Q: Which Of these two banks will bring me the best return in the next six months? Or is there another bank you would prefer?
Thanks

Q: How do you rank these stocks for an investor starting a position in Canadian banks (minimum 5 year horizon)? Thanks.

Q: How would you rank the banks? Strongest to weakest in this environment.
I'm considering selling some far "out of the money" puts to get some income. And if I get assigned, so be it. I'll suffer with a few bank positions yielding close to 8%. Geez, we're talking about bank stocks! I figure if they get into trouble we're ALL in really really BIG trouble.
For example, TD at $40 would yield me 7.9% in dividends. That's like 10.2% in interest. Or RBC at $58 would yield me 7.4% in dividends.
So which Canadian banks would "crack" under pressure and which wouldn't.
Thanks and take care!

Q: I plan to retire in 3 years and want to set up a portfolio of dividend paying stocks for my retirement in a non- registered account. Can you please give me your thoughts if I buy the following in 20% amounts at each S&P drop of 3-5% over the next 1-3 months. CM RY, NA, CWB, BCE, T, H, BIP, BEP, BAM.
Are there any others you would recommend today?

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: Please suggest replacements for the above stocks. I want to harvest some capital losses.

Q: Hi team - I was hoping to get your general thoughts on leveraging during this time of turmoil. Some of the Cdn banks are throwing off significant yields, CIBC for example 8.09% at the time of writing. I can't find any info on when they last cut their dividends even during the 2008 crisis. I'm considering using my HELOC at 3.45% (interest payment s only) and buying one of the banks and collecting the difference between the yield and interest charges. As well, writing off the interest payments next year as carrying charges in a non registered account and thinking the stock will grow in value over the next year or so. Is this a sound strategy or should I shake my head, your thoughts? Thanks.