Bank of America (BAC)

Likes the US financial space in general. Valuations are below long-term averages. Has been beaten up a little with regulatory issues and low interest rates, but those will change. Hopefully, next year, the regulatory issues will be less and interest rates will be higher. The economy should have picked up even more so. He prefers Citigroup (C-N) and J.P. Morgan (JPM-N). (See Top Picks.)

Likes the overall US banking sector. The improvement in the US economy will help lift all of the US banks. Also, feels interest rates are going to rise over time, which will help the banks considerably. Prefers Citigroup (C-N) over this.

Still in the process of shaking off its past. Has a good bead into the retail investment space however a better name would be Wells Fargo (WFC-N). He prefers the Canadian banking sector, especially Toronto Dominion (TD-T).

A consumer focused bank. They had many blunders over the past few years, and he thinks the CEO is trying to get rid of those and move on. Continues to be a consumer focused retail bank. Feels this will work longer-term. Over the longer term this stability should be good for the bank.

(Top Pick July 02/13, Up 21.09%) It has done its thing, but it still trades well on its tangible book value. There are only so many people that can sue them. The US housing recovery is in place.

5.125% bond maturing December 29, 2049. It is very, very likely to be called in five years. They are an improving credit story; capital levels and profit are up. Headline risk has diminished.

Own 10% of all deposits in the US. Great retail branch brand. Has great investment banking in Merrill Lynch, and a great asset management business along with a great brokerage business. US growth, global growth, and a better housing market will help. Not expensive. This could easily trade at 2X Book. Great time to buy at these levels.

His preferences are J.P. Morgan (JPM-N) and Goldman Sachs (GS-N). J.P. Morgan has a better dividend, so this is what he would rather stick with. However, this bank has performed admirably, and he is a big believer that the US banks are dramatically undervalued. As interest rates rise, they’re going to get free money out of nowhere.

It is still early. There is not a lot of catalyst at this point to banks growing. Margins are anemic because interest rate curves are flat. Capital markets are starting to do well. You have to look at credibility of management. A black eye resulted when an error on their tier one capital was found. He would pass on this for these reasons, but also on most of the US banking industry.

She prefers C-N over this. But they are both trading at significant discount to their book value. There will be some pretty good catalysts for stocks in this space.

Likes the company and what is going on. Thinks the worst is a couple of years behind them now. Hasn’t performed all that well this year so far. Yield curve has flattened out, which doesn’t speak well for a retail banks earnings. This is well priced here and he would be a Buyer.

(Top Pick Jun 12/13, Up 19.49%) It has had some setbacks, not returning capital to shareholders. Still a play on housing recovery and rising interest rates over time. Slower than he would have liked. Buy on weakness in the low $16’s.

Very well run bank, and he thinks they will get it turned around, however they have taken a punch to the chin on their branding. If he were making an investment today, he would wait to see the sentiment get a little bit better. Would like to see them executing a little bit better. Would prefer something like Wells Fargo (WFC-N) instead. Also he would be more interested in focusing on an asset manager as opposed to a bank or insurance company that has strong business and wealth management.

$4 Billion mistake on the balance sheet created an opportunity. Likes it. There is a lot of low hanging fruit in the company. Trading at a big discount to book. Good exposure to loan growth, capital markets, housing market and the structure of the yield curve. Short term interest rates should start to move up. Stock is cheap.

Doesn’t own any of the money centered banks because there are not a lot of catalysts for growth. This bank has a little bit more work to do coming off the problems of 2008. There is still a lot of turmoil going on.