Bank of America (BAC)

All US banks are really growing right now through cost cutting. This is because there net interest margins (what they make off the spread of borrowing short and lending long) isn’t a money-maker for them and the return on assets are below 1. Senior banks you might want to look at would include J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo. 2^nd tier banks would include Bank of America and Citigroup. Second-tier means they are a little riskier but the reward side might be a little greater.

(Market Call Minute.) Better run than Citigroup (C-N) but he prefers regional US banks. (See Top Picks.)

Sees modest appreciation, similar to the Canadian banks stocks, so he would rather own Canadian banks. Had a great run off the bottom. Management has done a very good job of rectifying their past problems. With spreads as low as they are and loan demands still very, very modest, he doesn’t see a lot more upside.

(Market call minute.) Everyone is keen on American banks right now and he thinks it is time to take profits.

Expects there will be a dividend increase this year. He is more favourable on US banks then on Cdn banks but this is not one of them. He is more interested in regional banks which have higher quality and better growth prospects. (See Top Picks.)

Prefers an ETF that holds a cross current of all banks (ZUB-T). If he were going to choose a name it would probably be Goldman Sachs (GS-N) for its management and J.P. Morgan (JPM-N) for its balance sheet and growth. This one is fine but he prefers others.

Not making a lot of money off of strong revenues but are making money off cost cutting. That only goes on so long. As the economy strengthens, the banks will strengthen but he would move towards something more senior such as J.P. Morgan (JPM-N). If you wanted to stay in the financial sector but didn’t want a pure banking play, he would own Goldman Sachs (GS-N), which is done extremely well and will continue to do so.

Exposed to the US economy and to the extent that this is recovering, this bank will do well. Still pretty cheap compared to Canadian banks. Feels US banks from this point will have good upside.

She has city group but you could look at them the same way. There is a cushion if something goes wrong. Nobody knows what is under the hood on these so you have to have that cushion. A lot of assets are tied to housing, which is improving.

(A Top Pick Feb 16/12. Up 50.17%.)

This bank was hit quite hard in the 2008 financial crisis. Slowly getting their problems resolved. Loan losses are declining. This is a play on the whole US general economy. Her preference in the US would be J.P. Morgan (JPM-N).

(Market Call Minute.) People are crazy about banks again but he doesn’t think they really know what they do. In this environment, start taking money off the table.

If they manage their business well, the economy cooperates, housing comes back and the lending squeeze loosens a little bit, this bank has big opportunities. Last year it bounced off a very oversold situation and a lot of that is built-in. Prefers more senior lenders such as J.P. Morgan (JPM-N).

Was the top performing bank stock last year. Sold his holdings, but thinks there is more upside. Wouldn’t be surprised if the US bank stocks marked a little time here. This is a better way now to play the housing recovery rather than the homebuilders which everybody has been playing. He would buy it back at around $10.

A way for him to get exposure to the US housing recovery. Tangible book is $14-$15 by year end. Fed could allow them to pay regular dividends soon. Surprises are probably to the upside. Have about 10% of the deposits of the US consumer.