Goldman Sachs

GS-N

Never discount Goldman Sachs. They're skilled. Management is not afraid of change. Good valuation. But can they execute is the big question. He wouldn't argue with you strenuously if you decided to take a position.

(A Top Pick Dec 13/18, Up 27%) He recommended just before the December sell-off. The lawsuits are still immaterial. It’s still a powerful investment company. He thinks you can still buy here. Good CEO who is building the business. There is a rumour that they might buy e-trade.

(A Top Pick Oct 02/18, Down 7%) It has been weak like the global banking sector. Most other banks have gotten out of derivatives trading, that most people don’t understand. By staying in that business they will derive fantastic profits in that area. They are a cash machine and are buying back stock over time.

He used to own this and sold it recently. It rose nicely since Dec. 24, but still short of where it was a few years ago and he didn't think it could return.

Tough time in the cycle to add this one. After the financial crisis, it became very heavily regulated. This caused them to change business strategy away from hyper aggressive earnings. It trades now below book value, but it is not the same company it once was. They can't do prop trading anymore. They just don't have the same arrows in the quiver. He would not pay up for them now. He would prefer to buy the exchanges, who will benefit from rising trading volumes.

It's the leading investment bank in the U.S. There's alot of investing money and GS will take advantage of this. Hold onto this; it'll pay off.

It is a bank that went through a lot of headline risk. It is transitioning. The CEO is turning things around, trying to turn it into a commercial bank. It is a good opportunity to pick up a good company with a great reputation that will probably be around for the long haul.

Doesn't own. Trading at cheap levels. Great investment banking, but part of the issues is that their fixed income and commodity business has been very capital intensive. The wealth management business has done very well but has had a lot more competition. They are trying to move to the retail business by opening their digital bank, that has grown nicely but hasn't offset the growth in the wealth management business. Trades below book value, very cheap price to PE.

(A Top Pick May 31/18, Down 13%) He'd build on it with the drop. Banks have not performed well this year. Caught up in one lawsuit, which is about 3 months profit for the bank. Their digital bank is growing rapidly. Technologically savvy. Well capitalized. Trading at tangible book value, a good time to buy. New CEO shaking things up.

The PEG ratio is about 1, suggesting a good company with decent valuation. The PE is about 10. It trades about 1 times book value right now. But they just don't have the same powerful levers as they did years ago. The technicals do not look exciting to enter either. (Analysts’ price target is $230.00)

The premier investment bank in the world. They've never had to dilute shares. They have less competition now, though encountered trouble in Malaysia and will likely pay a hefty penalty of $6-7 billion. They can absorb this. Valuation is cheap and should continue to thrive.

He owned this many years ago. GS is trying to keep up with the rapdily changing landscape of capital markets. It's partially succeeded, but GS is mired in a fraud issue in Malaysia. He owns and prefers Morgan Stanley.

Financials is a big scratching head at the moment. This particular bank is not faced with the pressures of the retail banking in general. Used to be an investment bank leveraged 30 to 1. Everything that it used to do to eke out high torque on their profitability seems to be muted a little bit and without the leverage that they used to have. He has been bullish in financials prematurely. Trading below book value. Jury is out on this one.

(A Top Pick Apr 09/18, Down 23%) Yield curve inversion has put banks out of favour. Malaysia scandal is weighing on the stock. World's best investment bank, at a single digit multiple, looks compelling.

It has had trouble getting out of its own way in terms of where it has come from. The brand has been tarnished since 2008. It trades at about 90% of book value. It still represents a premier house in which to do M&A and he thinks 2019 will be a strong M&A environment. They have strengthened their abilities in the wealth management area.