Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO)

Not his top pick for today. Hit all time highs recently. Investors have been focusing on the improving economy in the US and that has driven the price up considerably. Prefers alternatives.

In the short term, he feels it is too expensive and that the Canadian banks could pull back a bit. This one is his favourite and he still buys for new accounts. Likes the US exposure and feels they are doing well in Canada. Good steady grower. Feels dividends will go up but not as fast as they have recently.

Likes their growth in the US a great deal. Their operations in the US have more branches than their Canadian operations. Recently broken out technically. Understands there is a huge Short position on Canadian banks out of New York and sooner or later they are going to figure out that this is totally Nuts. Yield of 3.7%.

(A Top Pick July 7/12. Up 10.09%.) Likes that they are primarily retail oriented so they are less volatile. Also likes the 21% that they have in the US which is shown as being a source of stronger loan growth than in Canada. Still a Buy.

Really strong management. Trades at a lower valuation than Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) or Royal (RY-T) right now. Aeroplan deal is another indication of their ability to generate value for their shareholders. This is potentially a very good deal for them but if it turns out they lose, then they walk away with $70 million.

Canadian banks are quite reasonably priced. He is still buying this one. Likes their exposure to the US. ROE is improving. Announced a share buyback which indicates the management is comfortable with what is going on.

Trades at 10X earnings and trades at 1.6X Book. Has moved sideways for the last 1.5-2 years, earnings have gone up and so this is a good opportunity. Good growth in the US. Has made some good acquisitions in the last little while. They may conclude a deal with Aeroplan which will be very good for them. 4% yield.

Gives you more US exposure. He likes the balanced approach. 76% insured mortgages. 8% exposure to condos, both not as high as other banks. His favourite. Growth and possibly even dividend increases.

(Top Pick Jul 25/12, 7.04%) It is the stability he likes. Consistent growth in revenues and dividend. One of the few banks that can integrate down south. He likes to call it Wells Fargo North. Total returns in excess of 10%. A comfortable bank!

(Market Call Minute.) Great exposure to the US.

Likes the Cdn banks. Thinks that this one and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) are at the top of the heap. This one came out with another solid quarter and dividends have been raised. Banks are a good Buy and this one is at the top.

(A Top Pick June 28/12. Up 7.66%.)

One of his favourite banks. Last quarter was quite good. Canada is going to be a little bit flat with the real estate market but they have a great growth potential in the US. They have more branches in northern US than they have in Canada. They get better margins there.

Thinks the action will be in the US financials as opposed to Canadian financials. This stock will be higher and you will get the compound growth and the dividend yield but US financials will give you the biggest bang for the buck. (See Top Picks.)

There is still good growth in the US with them. Well-run bank. Made some great acquisitions. Good retail bank so you are not going to get the volatility of the wholesale investment banking business. Great yield of 3.84% which will be increased.