These safety-conscious stocks remain buys

Article Excerpt

TD BANK, $81.47, (Toronto symbol TD; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $147.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.td.com) merged its 43%-owned U.S. online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (Nasdaq symbol AMTD) with rival Charles Schwab Corp. (New York symbol SCHW) in October 2020. TD now owns 12.0% of the combined firm. Schwab is also a bank, and higher interest rates have increased the interest it earns on its outstanding loans. As a result, TD expects Schwab will contribute $283 million (Canadian) to its earnings before unusual items for the fiscal 2023 second quarter, ending April 30, 2023. That’s up 14.1% from $248 million a year earlier. Shares of Schwab are down 34% since the start of 2023 as investors fear that unrealized losses on its bond portfolio could spur depositors to withdraw their funds. That’s similar to the conditions leading to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. However, Schwab has ample liquidity and does not need to raise capital. TD…