
TSE:ZWB
A core position for him. It has weakened now, so he likes it even more. He is not negative on Canadian banks. They have been positioning themselves by Selling preferreds, to make sure they top up their capital situation. Also, with the covered call overlay, that is very useful in terms of boosting the yield, but they leave part of it uncovered too.
BMO Covered Call Cdn Banks (ZWB-T) or Horizons Enhanced Income Financials (HEF-T)? It is probably time to move from a Covered Call scenario where they yield 7%. If we do have a rising rate environment again, it is going to be a bit more of a “south of the border” scenario. If it is a North American phenomenon and we don’t hit the wall that everybody has been waiting for, then just being Long the Canadian banks, without having covered calls is the way to go. Thinks the US banks have a lot of upside.
A Covered Call strategy owning some of the major banks and paying a premium based on a Call Strategy along with the dividends. When using Covered Call strategies, if you feel the sector is going to be somewhat flat or moderately moving higher, it is a good strategy. If you feel the sector is moving down or going to take off, you probably don’t want to own the sector. In a Covered Call strategy, you will be called out of the securities as the shares move higher. Bank stocks have been kind of flat in the last little while, so it is actually not a bad strategy to own while picking up that extra premium through the yield.