M & T Bank Corp (MTB)

Is surprisingly cheap at 12x PE.

Uses a stop loss on every position. No longer owns this or any regional banks, which really started to underperform over the last 6 months or so. Probably partly due to weakness in commercial real estate market. Some companies in regional markets are getting hurt by tariffs. Credit issues in the market, and he's actually short one of the regional bank ETFs.

Since last year, the only names in the financial sector that are performing well are the big banks, so that's where his focus is.

Regional banks are probably most closely tied to the US domestic economy. There is a risk we are headed to recession. Regional banks have a lot of real estate exposure, hold a lot of treasury bonds, and it was the first group in the financials to break down technically. 

Regional bank ETF is up 13% today. One of the two largest holdings in the KRE ETF. Really well run, has grown nicely. Bumping right up against the small banks cap of $50B in assets. Would benefit from reduced regulation. Very focused on domestic economy; would benefit from reshoring. Opportunity to make acquisitions in a friendlier world.

A steepening yield curve is great for banks, as net interest margins can expand. Entering a time when the lenders will be in control. Yield is 2.6%

It's a good trade. He got back into the regionals. 

They reported earlier this week, slightly beating revenues, but missing EPS a lot. But MTB is a higher-quality regional bank, because they avoided the mistakes made by peers.

They just reported a huge earnings beat with deposits up 2% last quarter instead of down. Regional banks have been a on tear lately to rebound from last spring' meltdown.

If he had to own another North American bank, it would probably be a US regional bank. This one is a very well-run bank and it didn’t get into trouble and didn’t need TARP money. Just made a really good acquisition.