Visa Inc. (V)

A very, very predictable company. They don’t take credit risks, they’re a transaction company. They work their magic and replace cash with plastic. Have broken through geographically by becoming a more international company. They’ve been the leader in debit cards, which has become a dominant form of payment. They compete very well against competition. He would suggest you buy a half position and then leg in.

He is quite positive on all credit card companies, particularly this one. The chart shows a steadily rising price through the years. With improving economies and rising employment, this is a perfect environment for companies like this.

A fine company. As he went through the process of deciding between this and MasterCard (MC-N), he chose this one because they owned a company that provides fast HCH services, which allow payment processors to verify whether or not a check or electronic debit is good or NSF, and whether or not to process it. Feels MasterCard is a little more future proof because if payments move off of its network, they would participate in other kinds of payment processes. However, it is likely to perform very similarly to Visa.

(A Top Pick Jan 27/17. Up 30%.) The acquisition of Visa Europe is starting to pay dividends. The average purchase price is increasing. Ultimately this is a structural growth story and thinks it will continue. Still a Buy.

(A Top Pick July 24/17. Up 8%.) It is hard to go wrong with this company. He can’t think of anybody better to take advantage of online electronic payments. A phenomenal company.

(A Top Pick May 17/17. Up 17%.) With the Equifax problems, digital and online security has been foremost in most minds now. This company has invested heavily in security, a major factor for them. Everything is shifting to online now, with less and less cash being used.

Global business benefited from a healthy economy, as payment volumes grew in every major region. In the US they saw strong consumer confidence continue to drive spending growth. Have filed an application with the People’s Bank of China in order to participate in China’s domestic market. If they get that, that will probably be the next leg up. He doesn’t mind the stock, but does mind the price. If you want to buy, he would only do a half position and deal with it later.

This has been a wonderful investment. With all the FinTech proposals and money transfer, etc. the market is not worrying about those. It probably goes sideways from here, because either the merchants will want fees reduced or someone comes up with a cheaper form of transfer. If you own this, it never hurts to take profits.

He is in favour of this. If consumers continue to spend and rack up their debt and credits, this company will be a beneficiary. Seasonally, between Aug 6 and Nov 11 are optimal times to be buying into this. There has been an average return of 6.23% above the benchmark rates, and it has been positive in the past 8 years. The trend is higher highs and higher lows.

People think of this as a credit card, but it really is a toll road. They get paid every time someone uses a visa card. There have been very few pullbacks where you can buy the stock. The one slight risk to these companies is that a lot of times the payment side is being disintermediated globally with new FinTech technology. Nevertheless, this has been a great story.

MasterCard (MA-N), Visa (V-N) or American Express (AXP-N)? Of the 3, he prefers this, the largest of the 3. Their recent acquisition of Visa Europe is positive. MasterCard is a bit more international, but trades a little higher on a multiple basis. American Express is not a favourable one in his view.

The world is moving away from cash and cheques to electronic clearing. The only 2 networks that can do this are Visa and MasterCard (MA-N), which are global networks. The next 5 years should be wonderful.

The growth profile is fantastic. It has 10% better margins than MasterCard (MC-N). They just put in Europe, so they have a whole bunch of synergies to find there. Dividend yield of 0.6%. (Analysts’ price target is $112.)

The trend for this has been fantastic. The chart shows that it has arched off the trend line. If it pulls back to the trend line and bounces off, that is your ideal point to buy in an uptrend. He would wait to see if you could score on that trend line.

Had their quarterly report where they listed all the reasons they thought growth has just started for them, including the proliferation of emerging markets using credit cards, online shopping, innovative products and partnerships with companies like PayPal. This company keeps delivering. An expensive stock, but don’t wait for a pullback. This is the type of company that is going to grow 15%-18% a year, and will be able to do that for an extended period of time.