Make banks a cornerstone of your portfolio

Article Excerpt

Canada’s Big Five banks continue to generate healthy profits for you, their shareholders. That’s despite their move to set aside more funds to cover potentially bad loans should the economy sour. Higher loan-loss provisions have nonetheless slowed earnings growth for some of the banks although we feel their decision to increase reserves helps protect investor value. At the same time, their actual loan losses remain very low relative to the total. Indeed, the big banks have made other key moves to reduce potential fallout for investors. That includes expanding their wealth management and other fee-based businesses in case interest rates move lower. We’ve long advised Canadian investors to own two or three of these stocks given their low p/e’s and dependable dividends. Still, for 2020 new buying, we see Bank of Nova Scotia and TD Bank as the top picks among the five. That reflects their increasingly strong international business. ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $105 is a buy. The stock lets you tap Canada’s…