Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO)

(Top Pick Jan 14/13, Up 21.48%) The banks have outperformed the markets. Good cost controls and expansion into wealth management has worked out well for them and the international business is high margin retail.

(A Top Pick June 11/13. Up 22.34%.) Market had worried about China and because this was an international bank, it was taken down to a discount. There ING (Tangerine) acquisition is working well. Doesn’t expect he will get 22% again in the next 12 months, but would get about half, 11%.

They lagged more recently. With new management and some of their changes, they are moving more to a retail operation here. He has not bought back in yet, but it is at the top of his list right now.

One of the better banks in Canada. Going back to the crisis, it didn’t seem to get stuck with holding bad assets. Internationally oriented. Big in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and into South America. Normally, because of that exposure, they trade at a premium to their peers. Trading at a discount which he thinks is wrong as he feels those countries are going to do quite well. The kind of growth you get in these emerging countries is so much easier and so much larger than what you are going to get in other banks in Canada or even in the US.

One of the few pure banking plays that he owns. Chart shows the stock tested down at the beginning of February. Has support underneath it. Has been a bit of a laggard compared to other banks stocks. Thinks the stock can get above $67 before June.

Looking back, banks have done really well. A solid group in the Canadian market, which has a tendency to be very cyclical. A terrific bank and one of the 1^st to make acquisitions internationally. Well diversified. However, last two quarters were not fantastic. Exposure to some of the emerging markets has not helped them.

This is one you can buy and essentially own forever. All the banks are appropriate here and he has no problem buying any of the Canadian banks and holding them for a long-term at these levels.

(A Top Pick March 26/13. Up 13.68%.) This has actually underperformed the group a little because of its exposure to emerging markets. He still likes it.

Lot of potential for growth. Big transaction in Canada. People not happy with Canadian bank fees. Latin America offers a lot of room for growth. Longer term there is a lot of room for them to continue to grow. Does not rank that well in their system and is a hold, but would be a great place to be long term.

Earnings come out next week but he doesn’t think we will see many surprises. This one has more volatility because of exposure to emerging markets. He used that as an opportunity to pick up more. The new management team should drive earnings to a new level. He has concerns, though, about stress and emerging markets, particularly with what he is seeing in South America.

Prefers TD because it has a much larger exposure in the US.

Likes this bank. Sold his holdings a couple of months ago but since it has pulled back a fair bit now, he is looking at coming back into it. Got hit harder than anybody else on the emerging market worries. This is a growth strategy that they have had in place for a while, which makes sense for the longer-term. Good dividend yield and earnings growth.

Been hit a little bit harder than others since the beginning of the year because of some of the turmoil we are seeing in emerging markets. They have no exposure to any of the emerging markets that we are seeing difficulties in. Growth has been a little bit challenging out of their emerging markets and they have been working on increasing their ROE. Given the consumer loan growth that we are starting to see in Canada, and continue to expect to see, she does like banks that have operations outside of Canada.

Likes Canadian banks generally as a group. This one has the non-North American exposure of Latin America. The group as a whole has pulled back a little and this one in particular because of emerging market concerns, currency, etc. For a long-term hold, this bank is fine. Very well run. (See Top Picks.)

A lot of bank stocks are coming off. This is right at the support level. The main body of support is at $58.15. Banks have had huge rallies so this could be a natural pullback. If it drops below $59, he could see another $2-$3 drop but doesn’t think it will go much further. He would watch and start buying a little if it went below $59. If it drops below $56 sell your positions.