The "big 4" bank stocks, anyone buying?

[ESRwannabe]

Anyone buying JPM, BAC, C, or/and WFC?

Buffett bought a ton of WFC during the last year(s). I assume he knows what he is doing. I am tempted to buy some bank stocks and sit on them. They are all too big to fail and should be recovered in ten years or sooner. The financial over haul bill looked weak the last time I checked. Did it pass? Anyway I think the "threat" of financial reform is over with.

WFC and JPM look the most appealing to me. Does the government still own like 80% of C?

 

[FUEGO]

I'm still holding my KBE bank index fund. I figured most holdings were too big to fail and they paid decent dividends when I bought it (circa July 2008). It turns out they were too big to fail but not too big to dilute the common stock.

 

[heyduke]

i have bac, c, and sbib and keep adding on the dips

 

[Eder]

Why not load up On Canadian banks? RY looks cheap now. (I own alot) Fairly safe...CAN $ might rally against USD...Nice dividends...protected market.

 

[braumeister]

Agreed. I've been doing well with TD and BNS.

 

[Meadbh]

If you extend the "big 4" to the "big 7", RBC will be among them.

Royal Bank joins world's top 10

Disclaimer: I own shares in 5 of the Canadian "big 6". They are among my best dividend earners.

 

[Texas Proud]

If you extend the "big 4" to the "big 7", RBC will be among them.

Royal Bank joins world's top 10

Disclaimer: I own shares in 5 of the Canadian "big 6". They are among my best dividend earners.

Decided to take a look... this is not the ranking of bank size... but how much assets they manage for other people...

They might be big in total assets... but this is not that ranking... you have to have a trillion or so of total assets to get up there...

 

[Texas Proud]

Did a bit of looking... this was Sep 09...

 

[braumeister]

BNS currently pays a 4% dividend yield, RY pays 3.9%, and TD pays 3.5%.
These are big, very well managed banks, and I consider them very conservative investments. What's not to like?

 

[kumquat]

BMO is about 4.7, measured in $C.

 

[braumeister]

And seems to be reliable, although it's a smaller bank than the others mentioned. In any case, there's only so much I'm willing to put into any sector, and Canadian banks are already at that point for me. Good point, though.

 

[survivor1998]

Just an opinion. I am in the process of researching many stocks right now....However,
I bought C on the pull backs and I believe it will be in good shape YTD up 17.8%.

Considering either BAC or JPM: Not sure but I am waiting on another pull back.
S & P has BAC as a "strong buy".
JPM looks great with 14.5% profit margin, sales are up 16.8% and PE 11.6
I haven't researched SBIB or WFC or any of the Canadian banks... yet

Good luck!

 

[ESRwannabe]

I have been buying WFC, 50 shares last month and probably another 50 this pay check. I like JPM as well but I do not think they will return cash to shareholders with dividends, but instead with stock buybacks. I think that WFC is much more likely to return to the dividend policies that banks have been known for. I invest in stocks specifically for dividend income.

I like the WFC strategy of cross-selling and I also think they got a great deal out of wachovia, doubling their size. I think the two clear winners from the recent debacle were WFC and JPM.

John Stumpf has said that he wants to restore the dividend and I'm guessing that will happen in 2011.

 

[heyduke]

well ge jumped their div 20 percent so others have to either follow along or get left behind...

 

[ESRwannabe]

well ge jumped their div 20 percent so others have to either follow along or get left behind...

Yeah, it is like they are playing a game of chicken. I have felt all along that once one of them starts raising the others will have to follow to some extent.

I was surprised to see GE raise. I guess it pays to have an industrial conglomerate side business to compliment their bank company.

 

[BUM]

Assuming things will get doomier and gloomier before getting prosperous and sunnier, I'm buying SKF

 

[clifp]

Yeah, it is like they are playing a game of chicken. I have felt all along that once one of them starts raising the others will have to follow to some extent.

I was surprised to see GE raise. I guess it pays to have an industrial conglomerate side business to compliment their bank company.

I guess you could say GE raised their dividend, I'd call it a small step toward getting back to their .31 dividend, at $.12 it is still below their dividend at the beginning of the century.

I own WFC and am always looking at JPM, I wish I knew more about the foreign banks they look appealing.. Still wouldn't buy Citi, after reading the Big Short, Too Big to Fail, and House of Cards, I am pretty sure that Citi is where all the dumb bankers go to work (obviously there are exceptions and Rubin is no dummy but time and again Citi was too late and too stupid.)

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

S & P has BAC as a "strong buy".

I'm holding a bunch of BAC also. I view it as a play on the general economy recovering. My biggest concern is that everyone thinks BAC is a buy, and the contrarian in me has taken pause.

I guess you could say GE raised their dividend, I'd call it a small step toward getting back to their .31 dividend, at $.12 it is still below their dividend at the beginning of the century.

GE along with DOW, PFE, and most all of the financials stocks, taught me a valuable lesson in 2008. My feeling used to be that I could shrug off any market decline as long as my dividend income continued. Then the market decline of 2008 came along and the dividend cuts were as prevalent as the share price declines. And the cuts weren’t only due to dire financial straights as was the case with most of the financials - DOW and PFE cut the dividends in order to facilitate acquisitions. I found that to be particularly offensive.

One thing I always keep in mind regarding dividend cuts: Don’t ever trust a company / board and CEO that has cut its dividend in the past. Dividend cuts are just like adultery, much easier to do the second time.

 

[heyduke]

...added 1k of sbib here at 4.89

 

[clifp]

GE along with DOW, PFE, and most all of the financials stocks, taught me a valuable lesson in 2008. My feeling used to be that I could shrug off any market decline as long as my dividend income continued. Then the market decline of 2008 came along and the dividend cuts were as prevalent as the share price declines. And the cuts weren’t only due to dire financial straights as was the case with most of the financials - DOW and PFE cut the dividends in order to facilitate acquisitions. I found that to be particularly offensive.

One thing I always keep in mind regarding dividend cuts: Don’t ever trust a company / board and CEO that has cut its dividend in the past. Dividend cuts are just like adultery, much easier to do the second time.

I am with you. The day to day variation didn't bother me as long as the dividends remain. I posted on the forum several times one of my favorite banks BB&T wouldn't cut dividends cause it had paid them since the 1890s, had only cut them once by a penny during the great depression and had raised them for almost 30 years. Sure enough it slashed them from .46 to .10. I saw my income slashed as bad as the stock prices, and unlike share prices which have staged a decent recovery my dividend income hasn't.

I could understand cuts when the bank regulators said raise capital ratios NOW, but the Pfizer was particular offensive. I am going to steal your dividend cuts are like adultery line and pass it on the editor of the M* dividend newsletter.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

I saw my income slashed as bad as the stock prices, and unlike share prices which have staged a decent recovery my dividend income hasn't.

I was fortunate to have access to other funds to carry me for a few years when the dividend cuts came. I hope you were too.

I sincerely feel for anyone who was fully invested and living on dividends from these companies when the cuts hit. At that point they could only sell off shares for income, shares that have already, as you pointed out, drastically declined, and the shares would have been sold off at a drastic pace, thereby leaving them with no chance to ever recover the lost dividend income. Truly devastating for some.

 

[Moscyn]

I have JPM and HSBC stocks and am keen on adding more of the latter. Nothing wrong with JPM but I think I have enough exposure for that stock.

 

[Zathras]

I was fortunate to have access to other funds to carry me for a few years when the dividend cuts came. I hope you were too.

I sincerely feel for anyone who was fully invested and living on dividends from these companies when the cuts hit. At that point they could only sell off shares for income, shares that have already, as you pointed out, drastically declined, and the shares would have been sold off at a drastic pace, thereby leaving them with no chance to ever recover the lost dividend income. Truly devastating for some.

I would fear for anyone that concentrated in the financial stocks. Good diversification is the key.
Many dividend payers did not cut their dividends and quite a few continued to raise them.

 

[heyduke]

...added 1k of sbib here at 4.89

sold at 5.09...

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

I would fear for anyone that concentrated in the financial stocks. Good diversification is the key.
Many dividend payers did not cut their dividends and quite a few continued to raise them.

I dont know that I would necessarily categorize GE, DOW, and PFE as financial stocks. As for the others I mentioned in a previous post to this thread, you are correct.