Comments on: Canadian Banks: An Oasis of Financial Calm

By: dale

dale — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:40:25 +0000

Regarding Canadian Bank ranking and World Economic Forum.
Sheptow and John are reading the headlines and not the substance. The head line is US No. 1 in competiveness. The World Economic Forum (WEF) uses over 100 factors, one of which is banking strength to rank overall competitiveness.

To see just banking go to page 455 and 456 in the appendix to find the listing of countries and their banking strength.

By: JohnB

JohnB — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:16:45 +0000

re shantam sheptow’s comment of March 5th

The GCR rankings that you and Dr. Skousen quote are both correct. Yours is from the overall rating/ranking of the countries while Dr. Skousen’s is that of one element (element 8.06 “Soundness of Banks” on page 456 of the report).

By: shantam sheptow

shantam sheptow — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:19:37 +0000

The Global Competitiveness Report that i just checked: http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm …for 2008/09 shows Canada #10 with a 5.37 rating and US banks #1 followed bt Swiss and Denmark banks. I am curious where Dr Skousen got his info so I can better research the facts behind his hypothesis.

Thanks…
Shantam Sheptow

By: proinvestor

proinvestor — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Australian banks are very sound; Mortgage defaults are still quite rare (2 per 1,000 approx); Plus the Australian Government has guaranteed ALL deposits (higher than AUD$1,000,000 you have to pay ‘insurance’ (read: tax) – so just open 4 bank accounts! – $4Million).

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:43:26 +0000

Quite frankly i find these salacious newsletter articles that you guys send out with your “large or coloured font” headlines to be disingeneous and symptomatic of what gets done wrong alot in insufficiently bridled capitalism and particularly by self-proclaimed experts in investing. I am sure you have much to add, but advancing your thoughts with neutral “objectivity”, absent of your apparent urge to sound like a guru, is a path that will win the regard of intelligent minds. Canada’s banks with the oligopolistic protection of the Bank Act, good regulations have escaped a good amount of the carnage and have been fortuitous enough to garner top rating, but this does not make them into some sort of financial darlings. They are worthy places to evaluate if you are insane enough to want to put your money in financials as a sector instead of wait for further declines. As one blogger also pointed out, you were insufficiently meticulous as you failed to report the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in your top 4 list – CIBC is canada’s 2nd largest bank. Canadian banks did also engage in risky lending via subsidiaries, but fortunately the U.S. market crashed before too much got onto their books. Overall it is not unreasonable to give decent marks to Canadian banks, but such commentary should be balance with other contrary statement of facts. What bothers me most about these newsletter services, is you have some WRITER posing as investment guru, does rapid google on a topic, create a salacious headline and then purport to give advice, which some INNOCENT people may act on an have their little savings deteriorate, simply by having a minor fool stir them up with ‘expertise’ garnered after a few minutes of internet research, and not a lifetime of know-how in the specific subject matter in which they purport to be experts – not including CIBC in your list and not BALANCING your commentary is the sure shot evidence that you are a fool.

Anyone acting on the advise of these ignoramuses does so to their own detriment.

By: Canadian Banks: It's Nice to Be First

Canadian Banks: It's Nice to Be First — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:40:38 +0000

[...] fact, last Thursday we published an article on the strength of the Canadian banking system from Panelist Mark Skousen. He showed readers how one of the world’s soundest banking systems is [...]

By: prashanth rao

prashanth rao — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:12:54 +0000

How abount banks in India , how do you rate them

By: Andrew G-T

Andrew G-T — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:22:53 +0000

Well done to the Canadians. Whilst on the subject of stable banking systems have a look at Australia’s. Four major banks and they are all AA rated, I believe there are only about 15 AA banks worldwide. Dividends are 8-12% but may come back temporarily. Share price has been pounded unjustly by 50%. Give the potential for additional upside due to the ridiculous current over valuing of the USD I think you would struggle to find a better place to invest in financial stocks.

By: Canucklehead

Canucklehead — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:31:35 +0000

As an economist, I try to always look at the larger picture, global movement of monies, commodities affected by weather trends, market trends and political influences..by far the most disturbing trend over the last thirty years has been that of “corporatism” the new societal movement wherin corporations, concerned only with bottom-line-profit, manipulate government policies to access the public resource base. So much of North American has been destroyed by these greed mongers, it is doubtful that we have the natural resources left to support out industry and poeple. The corporations, with the help of government, have looted the North American continent to the point of exhaustion, and the original owners and CEOs now sit back onm their polished yachts and watch the public try to deal with their mess. The banks are corporately owned too…dig a bit deeper and you will find a concerted effort to remove liquidity from the public..the high fuel prices were an indication of this process being stepped up a notch.
We, must remember…a dollar is only a coupon, a representation of value. The real value has always been in the land, agriculture, clean water, clean air, timber and a healthy stewardship of these resources. The Corporations have won the bloody battle against our resources..time for the people to save the country once again.

By: Alan Wormington

Alan Wormington — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:06:33 +0000

There appears to be an error in the article. Even without checking it out, I believe the Toronto Dominion Bank took over Canada Trust, not the “Commerce Bank” as stated. I presume the author was thinking of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), which is not specifically mentioned in the article. CIBC is one of Canada’s largest banks, and I doubt if it has been bought by another bank.