STOCKCHASE

Not looking to credit markets to raise money. There is some promise, but keep it in measure.

2011-10-24

Comment

29.390

You don’t know what policy makers will come out with and how it will affect these types of companies and what will happen with Europe. He is neutral.

2011-10-19

TOP SHORT

27.700

Ron Meisels

Short. Sold down to $1, stayed below $5 for close to a year. Did a reverse split so institutions could own it. History of reverse splits is that it goes back to a previous low.

2011-09-06

BUY

26.770

Has been light on financials, particularly US, but down here, you have more than discounted some of the worst situations. Valuations, relative to BV and earnings are discounting very bad news going forward.

2011-08-19

Comment

38.270

Caller has a 2013 leap call option. This is a bet that in a couple of years, the stock will be significantly higher. Has hated this bank for many years because it has been such an overextended poorly run bank that expanded globally to be a global leader.

2011-07-27

PAST TOP PICK

40.260

Richard Fogler

(Top Pick Apr 14/11, Down 9.09%) If you are going to get outsized returns you have to go where there is a block on the company. This one has one of the largest capital rations in the US (10%). They are the only American global bank with retail presence. As they reduce the bad assets by selling at book value, the earnings will improve because the losses from those assets will disappear.

2011-07-22

DON'T BUY

39.510

Srikanth Iyer

Post sub prime, there was a little bit of a lift when most of them paid back their debt. Fundamentally, the financial system in the US is improving but the market is not paying a premium for this yet. US banks need a little more capital flow and loan growth.

2011-06-22

DON'T BUY

37.630

Mohsin Bashir

You want to go into this one when the risk trade is on and we haven’t seen this at this point. Have been making some headway in building itself out internationally.

2011-06-16

HOLD

39.650

Terry Shaunessy

Got killed because it did the consolidation from a $4 stock to a $40 one. Dumb thing to do. He is a bull on US banks. Every time there is negative news, they don’t make new lows. If you own, you will be well rewarded.

2011-06-01

DON'T BUY

40.510

Did reverse split because many institutions can’t own stocks below $5 a share. There are years and years of problems to come with foreclosures. If housing prices keep going down, then this one will be punished. By valuation it looks very cheap.

2011-05-24

DON'T BUY

41.530

Don Vialoux

Doing a reverse stock split, 1 for 10. Problem with this type of split is that a lot of people who previously owned 100 shares now only own 10, which is an odd lot. A lot of people do not like odd lots so end up selling them. It puts a cap on for a long period of time. Trending down with no indication of a bottom.

2011-05-13

Comment

4.520

Brian Acker, CA

Just announced a 10 for 1 reverse stock split as there is no respect in having a single digit stock price for one of the largest banks in the world. His model price is $8.10, a positive differential of 80%. Market doesn’t trust the balance sheet of the large US banks. He has a very small position in his fund, but is watching it very carefully.

2011-05-06

SELL

4.520

Sold his holdings once they announced the reverse split. Stocks tend to be down a year later on reverse splits. If you own, look to jump out.

2011-04-25

TOP PICK

4.430

Richard Fogler

Does about half its business outside the US. Now stabilized. US government has sold its interest. Good management. Earned $0.50 on its core earning last year and is expected to earn more than that this year. Really cheap. Lots of growth possibilities.

2011-04-14

DON'T BUY

4.590

The walking dead. Prefers quality banks. Doesn’t own any US banks. They are talking about a 1 to 10 conversion. History of share consolidation is very, very poor. Companies only do that when their stocks go way down.

2011-04-06

DON'T BUY

4.430

Gavin Graham

US financial sector over the next year has a good outlook because they are allowed to raise dividends. This one is still in the process of attempting to get out from under its mistakes. If it does raise its dividends, it is going to be much smaller than the healthy ones like J. P. Morgan Chase (JPM-N) or Wells Fargo (WFC-N). Why look at this when you have the Cdn financials with a much better yield and outlook.

2011-04-04

SELL

4.450

Just sold when they announced a stock consolidation. Typically after a stock consolidation, a stock will go down in value 90% of the time.

2011-04-01

DON'T BUY

4.420

David Driscoll

Just marginally getting permission to start issuing dividends again they come off the TARP program. Will take a while. Efficiency ratio is bad, high costs ROE are low and Tier 1 capital is still very low so there is a lot of risk being shown in the share price. Their bonds would be better.

2011-03-31

DON'T BUY

4.430

Mohsin Bashir

Going to have a 10 to 1 split. A reverse split is rarely a good sign. Looks like there are still some hang-ups coming from Europe. Still sees global de-leverization.

2011-03-28

Comment

4.430

Doesn’t understand reverse splits. Pension funds have no trouble buying a $4 stock. Used to own the stock but sold. It will go up and do well, but prefers others. They are really an international bank.

2011-03-24

DON'T BUY

4.400

Brian Acker, CA

Highest beta because of market volatility. A 10 for 1 consolidation makes the math very negative. It’s too early of a story – wait 2 or 3 years.

2011-03-23

DON'T BUY

4.420

David Baskin

It has been said that when a company does a reverse split, it never recovers, but he doesn’t think so in this case. He just thinks they are embarrassed to have a stock priced under $5. It also disables some institutional investors from owning the stock so by consolidating it, it opens up the stock to more investors. The market for mortgage-backed securities has recovered in the last 3 months. The problem for an investor is that it is hard to know what is going on. If you don’t understand it, don’t buy it. He would wait at least another year.

2011-03-22

DON'T BUY

4.390

Not his favourite of the US banks. Have a little trouble getting out of its own weight. Diluted the living daylights out of everything. Would prefer Bank of America or Goldman Sachs.

2011-03-16

DON'T BUY

4.390

Ben Stadelmann

On his watch list. Is waiting for Gov’t to sell off their shares. They have pretty well exited. They are now too big to fail which is a nice backstop. They will survive, but he doesn’t have a good sense as to how they will prosper.

2011-03-16

SPECULATIVE BUY

4.570

Bought last year in TFSA. At $4 he thought it was worth the gamble. He thinks there are significant breakdowns to come, but US banks look somewhat attractive. Bought for himself but would not for clients.

2011-03-01

DON'T BUY

4.690

Jim Huang

Still a big global bank. Gone through the depths of 2008 and was rescued by the government. Have a lot of leverage so it global recovery continues to pick up they’ll be able to take advantage of it. Prefers other US financials.

2011-02-24

DON'T BUY

4.690

Concerned about severe dilution in 2008. You are looking at a stock at the same multiple as Canadian banks. Would prefer Canadian Banks.

2011-02-22

HOLD

4.910

John O'Connell, CFA

Had a big bounce off its lows. If you own it, he would keep it. He would not be surprised if they started to break it up. He doesn’t worn a US bank. He doesn’t know what’s inside C-N

2011-02-15

Comment

4.900

Rick Stuchberry

Doesn’t own any US banks. If everything goes smoothly, the best leverage is in the US banks because they have been punished so much. (See Top picks.)

2011-02-07

TOP PICK

4.810

Hank Cunningham

Amazing global footprint. Tremendous earning power. Immense tax-loss carry forward. 60% of earnings are from outside the US. Will also benefit from the yield curve as the cost of money for them is .25% from the fed and they can turn around and loan that money or buy other securities that yield more than that.

2011-02-03

Comment

4.850

Thinks the whole us banking sector has an opportunity do well over the intermediate to long term. Would prefer Bank Of America (BAC-N) or Goldman Sachs (GS-N).

2011-02-02

DON'T BUY

4.810

The walking dead. Things are looking a little better but still a high risk bank to own.

2011-01-26

BUY

4.820

David Burrows

Owns BNS and TD, small weight, for international exposure. 70% of Citigroup’s earnings are from International business. It has overtaken their domestic stuff. There are execution risks, but the stock has been behaving better. This is a good way to get exposure to capital markets in other parts of the world. If it can trade through $5 there is probably a leg up from here.

2011-01-25

DON'T BUY

4.860

Lorne Steinberg

$300 billion market cap before the crisis at $50 a share. Today running at $5 and people feel it is down 90%. Previously had 5 billion shares outstanding and today have almost 30 billion outstanding because government had to buy so many shares to save them. Still trying to fix so many things that were broken. Better places to be.

2011-01-24

BUY

5.040

Charting wise, it looks great. When you have a recovery in the stock market, financials usually have to be a part of that. Expect dividends will start to increase and there will be an acceleration of earnings.

2011-01-13

TOP PICK

4.910

Mark Carpani

5.16% bond callable May 24/22. Trading at a discount. Yielding over 7%. Feels they have made the transformation out of the government’s hands and have divested a lot of non-core assets. Good global franchise.

2011-01-10

DON'T BUY

4.950

Charles Lannon

Needs a demonstrable record of risk management. Could go up if they have a good quarter, but it is not his style.

2011-01-06

Comment

4.770

Most US banks have come back because of the incredibly steep yield curve. Short-term rates are very low and 1yr-30yr rates are much higher so it’s very easy for banks to invest in the bond market and make huge spreads, which is very good for earnings. This one is still a horrible bank.

2010-12-29

BUY

4.680

Interesting story at these levels. Government will slowly get rid of their position. Making a lot of cash because they are not lending to anybody. Great international and credit card franchise. Not sure if they have the ability to generate the type of earnings that they did in 2005-2006. Will certainly go up in the next while.

2010-12-23

DON'T BUY

4.150

David Driscoll

For any of the US banks it will take time for performance to improve. A lot if them are trading at around 6 to 10 earnings.

2010-11-29

TOP PICK

4.220

Mark Carpani

Citigroup Bonds: 5.16% 05/24/2027 Thinks they have gone through the worst. Very, very good turnaround. Not super liquid so it takes time to get into this position. Have a good franchise. Have proven they can cut costs – management is doing a good job.

2010-11-16

DON'T BUY

4.190

Mike Lyons CA, CFA

The problem with US institutions is that they are large, leveraged entitles. There are so many assets of questionable value. There is so much uncertainty as to what assets on the balance sheet are worth that it is hard to get a comfort level as to what the true book value of these institutions is.

2010-11-03

DON'T BUY

3.800

Have good international holdings. Thinks it will go up but are constantly de-risking themselves because US government owns them. Prefers others that are safer.

2010-09-23

BUY

3.970

In the long term he thinks they will come back. Government ownership is going to start to dissolve away. From this level you can look at it as a trading position but thinks they will come back and start to deliver. Sees decent earnings growth this year and next.

2010-09-16

DON'T BUY

3.940

Still a bit of a work in progress and doesn't feel it is time to go into it yet. US government at one time owned 36% of outstanding shares and they still own a lot of them.

2010-09-14

DON'T BUY

3.760

Karl Berger

Balance sheets of all US major banks are stronger than they were. Will be interesting to see impact of credit write-downs and provisions for bad loans. Major concern is another soft period in US housing. This would not be his choice because of their dependence on the capital market side of things.

2010-08-27

DON'T BUY

3.940

Company will survive, but it will be a while before they start paying dividends again. Still have a lot of problems. This is not something he would own within the financial services sector. There are a lot better bets in the Canadian market.

2010-07-21

BUY

4.300

Jan 2012 options. He doesn’t play options but he owns C-N. Lot of smart investors have put a lot of money into it and he is pleased to hold it. Could hold a lot of surprises.

2010-07-13

DON'T BUY

3.780

U.S. Treasury sold over $1 billion worth of stocks. They do this when they think the price is right and will do it in a timely way over a long period of time. Not a fan of this bank is he can't see the drivers of their growth. (See Top Picks.)

2010-06-24

DON'T BUY

3.890

Was on the verge of extinction not that long ago. Managed to survive with severe dilution. Wouldn't feel comfortable only in this one.

2010-06-23

Comment

3.990

Randy LeClair

Bonds. Higher yields, but he tends to buy these 1 year and under because of the risk element. Would be careful.

2010-06-16

DON'T BUY

3.880

Wouldn't buy. Doesn't pay a dividend and balance sheet is impossible to analyze. US economy has a lot of risks with housing and credit card losses. As a Risk trade it looks attractive and is too big to fail. A traders’ stock.

2010-06-14

DON'T BUY

3.870

Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI

$5 is a very strong resistance point. Doesn’t like this stock. Not a great chart. If it hits $3.60 he would get out.

2010-06-09

BUY

4.020

Brian Acker, CA

He has a model price of $6.53. US banks have to make money. When people get pessimistic, you have to Buy the dips and when they get overly optimistic you Sell.

2010-05-27

DON'T BUY

3.860

US government still has to get out of the stock. The financial reform that is going on in the US will decrease the profitability that US banks will make in the future. If you want financial exposure, buy Canadian banks.

2010-05-26

SPECULATIVE BUY

3.780

Trades based on the market. Seems to be they are too big to fail. Has some good support in the $3.50 range. They are working hard at paying of the TARP. You could see $10 on the stock…

2010-05-25

DON'T BUY

3.810

Prefers others since this is in an awkward situation as the things that made them lots of money previously, they no longer have the capacity to do that again. Not a big US retail bank but a New York retail bank.

2010-05-19

DON'T BUY

4.180

He would rather not consider this one right now but would prefer Bank of America (BAC-N) instead.

2010-05-12

SELL

4.410

Steven Conville

(Market Call Minute.) Has been on fire lately but has pulled back a little. If you've made money Sell.

2010-05-03

DON'T BUY

4.610

A long term, more speculative buy. Saw benefit of slow recovery in credit market. Her preference is to stay in Canada. No Yield so you are not being paid to wait.

2010-04-26

DON'T BUY

4.870

Will probably go up but his problem is that it is basically a New York bank and doesn't have the power of a retail franchise, which gives a good return at very low cost of capital.

2010-04-22

Comment

4.930

(See above comments on Bank of America.) This would be a little further down on the speculative chain from Bank of America. Just came out with a great quarter. Speculative.

2010-04-21

BUY

4.810

Peter Brieger

(Market Call Minute.) Good speculative buy. Could see it going much higher.

2010-04-15

DON'T BUY

4.930

A little too speculative for him. Can't see the continued upside from these levels.

2010-04-14

DON'T BUY

4.640

US banking sector has seen the bottom. (He bought the US financial ETF (XLF-N) for the turnaround.) There are also some individual banks that look good. This one is a long shot. They have something like 30 billion shares outstanding so to move it $1 you have to move it $30 billion of market capitalization.

2010-04-12

DON'T BUY

4.470

Almost 27% of the stock is still owned by the US government and if the government exits its position, it should be positive for the stock but who knows when that will happen. He would rather own the new leaders in that space such as Goldman Sachs (GS-N), J.P. Morgan (JPM-N) or Morgan Stanley (MS-N).

2010-04-08

PARTIAL SELL

4.360

David Driscoll

If they get the TARP payment paid than it is back to business as usual. All depends on what kind of recovery the US economy is going to make. If you own, consider taking some profits.

2010-04-07

Comment

4.090

With a very long-term focus this may work out at these levels. Her preference in the financial sector is to stay in Canada, which has a better footing and faster recovery.

2010-03-30

Comment

4.310

Philip Doyle

Very hard to put a value on this company. It has participated in a relief rally that is driven with the expectation of continuing low rates and the expectation that a solution is coming for the European problems.

2010-03-26

Comment

3.890

Steven Conville

Government still owns 30% of this bank. Still struggling to find itself. Has good upside if the US economy continues to turn around but there are better choices amongst financials.

2010-03-15

TOP PICK

4.180

Mark Carpani

4.65% maturing 10/11/17. Investment grade A. Price is $86.43 yielding 7.18%. Wants to stay away from sharp bonds because rates could rise over the next year. On the other hand, doesn't have to go out 30 years for a 6%-7% yield.

2010-03-11

DON'T BUY

3.960

Poster child of a lot that went wrong in the US banking sector. The whole US banking sector is a place you might want to dip your toe but this one represents a speculative buy. (See Top Picks.)

2010-03-10

DON'T BUY

3.820

It is the walking dead. On a valuation basis, the stock is not cheap. Not well run. High leveraged. If he were looking for a US bank, which he is not, he would want a Wells Fargo or JP Morgan or US bankcorp. This would be speculative.

2010-03-09

DON'T BUY

3.400

Colin Stewart

Complex balance sheet. A lot of outstanding credit issues. Over the long term it will probably be a survivor, however.

2010-03-05

DON'T BUY

3.400

Ron Meisels

Huge sell off from $55 to $2. It is starting to base build. There is some belief that around $2.50 there is some support. Recommends some Canadian banks.

2010-03-02

DON'T BUY

3.460

Doesn’t own US stocks. Nervous about earnings. He is worried that the Canadian dollar will go much higher. There are problems with credit card debt.

2010-02-22

SELL

3.430

(Market Call Minute) Better off buying others.

2010-02-18

DON'T BUY

3.200

Prefers Bank of America (BAC-N), which has a lot less dilution. You'll probably make money on this one but with a lot more risk.

2010-02-10

DON'T BUY

3.420

A lot of issues they have to sort out. Will be very hard for them to turn around.

2010-01-18

DON'T BUY

3.500

Running a little more risk than with others in this space. Have been heavily diluted. US banks as a whole have the wind at their back with the steep yield curve.

2010-01-13

DON'T BUY

3.630

Repaid Tarp late last year but US government still owns about 1/3. When government start selling off their holdings, it will make them make dilutive. Wait until the government has stepped aside. Would be a longer-term play on housing, credit cycle and credit card commercial debt. No yield.

2010-01-11

DON'T BUY

3.650

David Burrows

Not a big fan of financials. From September on, earnings quality and earnings growth became the most important things and financials in general are going to have a hard time generating ROE that people are used to. Dilution because of new issues, tough new regulations, diluted trading revenues could create a contraction in earnings multiples.

2010-01-07

DON'T BUY

3.320

Rick Stuchberry

If they can pay TARP back and get going again there could be tremendous moves as money starts moving back in. Once the balance sheet is cleaned up they have tremendous ability to make money. Prefers emerging-market banks instead because there are too many skeletons in the closet.

2009-12-30

DON'T BUY

3.290

An aggressive play. If you are really bullish on the markets and financials in general, this could give your best return but is subject to large dilution. More difficult turnaround for this one. Has a higher cost structure embedded in it.

2009-12-23

DON'T BUY

3.200

Would not want to own this one at this point. Expected to make $.10 next year. Trading at 34.5X PE, which is too rich.

2009-12-17

DON'T BUY

3.560

Ara Nalbandian

City holdings has a significant asset portfolio which is unknown. Gov’t still owns 1/3’rd and will decrease it. It has strong earnings power. Once you remove the overhang, it has potential to move in the right direction, but he wants more cash flow and more predictability in the assets.

2009-12-15

DON'T BUY

3.860

There are rumours out that they will be raising another huge whack of equity to pay off their 8% preferreds that they owe the US government. This will create dilution of anywhere from 10% to 20%. Too speculative.

2009-12-09

SELL

4.170

(Market Call Minute.) There are better alternatives.

2009-11-26

HOLD

4.060

Ron Meisels

Stock was hit and finished with a low and right now it is in kind of a semi-positive manner and on a 4-5 month Hold it could see $6-$7 but you should have a stoploss near $3.50.

2009-11-05

HOLD

3.990

Craig MacAdam

(Market Call Minute.) One of the US companies that has too much TARP exposure and can't attract good management because of executive pay constraints.

2009-11-02

BUY

4.270

Ross Healy

Like buying a warrant under US banking system. At this price, you could put some mad money in. US government has set the table for US banks and it couldn't be better. The interest they are paying is practically zero so they are getting big spreads and earning lots of money. A good gamble.

2009-10-26

BUY

4.460

(Market Call Minute) But very, very risky.

2009-10-22

DON'T BUY

4.750

If you want exposure to US financials, there are better choices. Government still owns 34% so it is restricted in terms of what it can do in compensations, dividends and stock buybacks. There is still weakness and consumers so they are hurting on the credit side.

2009-10-15

SELL

4.640

Mark Grammer

Has a lot of problems. A government owned bank now. There are a lot of moving parts in this company and it is hard to get them all moving in the right direction.

2009-10-07

DON'T BUY

4.670

Haven’t paid back any of their TARP money. Growth will be muted, then have to raise more equity. Would prefer a derivative like an ETF. Would prefer Bank of America for a levered US bank.

2009-10-06

DON'T BUY

4.520

David Baskin

It looks as though most of the US banks are ready to break out of their funk. What you don't know is what is lurking in the weeds on the balance sheet.

2009-09-23

DON'T BUY

4.420

He prefers Goldman Sachs (GS-N) in the US financials. Also, JP Morgan (JPM-N) might be better. This one is trading just above its 50 day and 200 day moving average so the technicals look interesting but it is trading at a 42X forward earnings, which is pretty rich.

2009-09-17

DON'T BUY

4.660