National Bank of Canada (NA.TO)

It had a really nice trend and broke it. He would feel comfortable adding to it. It would be the strongest one next to BMO-T.

He likes all the Canadian banks. This is a good, safe dividend grower and very little risk. Rising interest rates is a tail wind for this stock.

This is a purely Canadian bank, focused in two specific regions: Quebec and the energy sector. He doesn’t like the environment for banks in Canada at this time. On the positive side, they are the biggest custodian of securities in Canada and the biggest market maker in government bonds. They make a lot of money on their securities side. It’s extremely well run and usually sells at a discount to the others. He expects it to be a little more volatile than the other Canadian banks. He has owned it in the past and might own it again, though he does not recommend Canadian banks at this time.

He owns TD-T instead as it has lots of US exposure. He prefers the liquidity and exposure into alternative markets of the major banks.

There are a couple of issues. It depends on earnings power and at what price do they split. US stocks tend to trade at higher prices than American. Now we are behaving more like them and banks shares are not splitting. NA-T is unique in that it does not make the international investments that others have taken.

National Bank (NA-T) vs other banks. These smaller banks are more regional (Quebec in this case). The Quebec economy is doing well. The underlying business is more capital focused and therefore more volatile in his mind. He would still prefer to own the major banks, which are trading relatively cheaply, he thinks.

He likes all the banks here. This one is a little bit cheaper. They see banks growing at 6%. Safe name. There is an easing of people’s credit situation. But he doesn’t see an ugly situation here. (Analysts’ price target is $67)

All Canadian banks suffer uncertainty from housing bubble fears and so are performing weaker compared to the US banks. He'd rather buy Bank of Nova Scotia for their Latin American exposure, because of the strong growth in those countries.

He likes this, but does not own it. He sees their ROE near 20% -- well above the peer group. However, he does not see endless runway for its growth. He prefers others with more diversification.

Always well-run. Good business franchise and dividend. Consistently fine ROE. Runs a good energy franchise out west and business franchise in Ontario.

The banks have gotten a bit cheap. They are trading at levels lower than a year ago and yet show better growth rates according to his forecasting models. He thinks all banks in Canada are a buy. This one has a good earnings profile and the dividend is fine. Sell a put at $58 or just buy it. TD-T and BMO-T are showing better growth, however.

He does not own this presently. A great franchise in Quebec that is slowly expanding west. It is likely near the high end of its valuation. He would buy it on a pullback.

For a long time, it was valued lower than the other banks and generated some good quarters. Now, they're pulling back. Don't need to sell it. Just hold. But look at Laurentian with a much lower valuation at 8x forward earnings, and a discount to book value. Laurentian could be what NA was two years ago.

Canadian Banks run a pretty tight oligopoly. It has improved its profitability. They graduated to from a small regional to on of the Big Six. He likes this one even as he doesn’t own it.

One of the best performers. If it gets back to 65 he would have a target of 72. Seasonality is a little soft for banks in January and February. He would look more into mid-March