Highlights from this discussion:
- Everyone is on pins and needles for rates to finally rise. I went against the crowd and speculated that interest rates won't significantly rise over the next year.
- A related note on this. My sister-in-law is a realtor and she said that this winter has been unusually busy. Many buyers are afraid of rates going up and want to buy a house and lock in a low mortgage. She swears rates will rise because the Realtor Association Chief Economist predicted so. According to her he's never been wrong, although his statements from 2008 might disagree with that. I find it interesting that talk of rising rates has translated into a rush to buy houses.
- I discussed a small study I did on interest rates that was posted on the CompleteBankData Blog.
- We had a short discussion about market making and HFT.
- As always from each interview I'm asked about the big banks and how they're doing. Bank valuations are unique, large banks and small banks are relatively undervalued. Medium sized banks are fairly valued if not overvalued due to growth expectations.
- I discussed a non-bank financial that I still like, Senvest (SVC.Canada)
Disclosure: Long Senvest
Interesting to see a mention of Senvest! I've been a holder for a decade and never felt much compulsion to sell. Their SEDAR filings are always enjoyable reading.
ReplyDeleteOne (very broadly) similar company is Clarke, Inc.--CKI.to. George Armoyan is worth following.