Morgan Stanley (MS)

You are in the sweet spot of financials. This one has not passed by EBC -3, but as it does he would be a buyer. It tells him that the market is starting to believe the balance sheet of the company. Leave it alone for a year or two and you will be very, very happy.

Remains the cheapest of the Wall Street banks. They are now the largest advisory firm. They are already seeing a bump in earnings. The dividend will move to more normalized dividend levels next year. It is the penalty box for what happened in financial crisis.

Trading a little below book value. Strength in stock markets helps. Should continue to do well.

This was really beaten down and it has come back off an oversold position, not on fundamentals. He prefers GS-N, which he owns.

Has steered clear of wholesale market financed banks because they are highly volatile. This is the sort of bank that should be performing quite well in this rising market but performance has been somewhat uninspiring. (See Top Picks.)

Should benefit from this secular bull market and the demand for equities. Money has to go somewhere so there should be higher M&A. There is a recovery in the US housing market. The recovery in the auto market could also be of benefit to them. However, this is not his favourite play in the US financial sector. Prefers J.P. Morgan (jpm-n) or Goldman Sachs (GS-N).

Similar to a lot of US banks. They have broken out of a previous ceiling. The old support level from 2011 became a resistance level. You might get a few more percentage points but how much remains to be seen.

(A Top Pick Feb 8/12. Up 11.18%.) Financial company that transformed itself after getting crushed in the financial crisis. Reduced their risk profile and focused a lot more on wealth management. Earnings growth is being driven higher. Feels it is poised for a dividend increase in 2013.

Doesn’t own any US banks. Likes this one because of the exposure to research as much as anything.

Feels that Goldman Sachs (GS-N) is superior on a number of levels. This one is more subjected to the fixed income market which he thinks long-term, is going to be a negative. Also, have more European exposure. Also, recently had a debt downgrade.

He has reservations. He owns Goldman Sachs. Earlier this year MS-N was downgraded. They have more exposure to Europe and to fixed income, which are strikes against them.

Pure investment bank. Cheap stock, trading at book value. Good opportunity for 3-5 years of hold.

2008 was very tough on this and the other banks. Coming out of that, it is a weakened company against its competitors. Has great exposure to Europe. Has more exposure to the fixed income market. If you own, he would move elsewhere.

4.9% Due 02/23/2017. Bought 4 months ago. You had the big price appreciation but you are carrying something at over 4%. Any conservative investor could buy this bond.

To him this is the cheapest U.S. Bank. Trading for about half of its tangible book value. Just got some fantastic news. Their largest growing business is their wealth management business. On a valuation battle, Citigroup wanted a much higher price but they wanted to pay a much lower price. They won and are getting a phenomenal deal on a multi-billion-dollar purchase. This will propel this company forward.