TSI Network is built on the strengths of our four newsletters: Canadian Wealth Advisor, Stock Pickers Digest, The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

The site has come a long way in its first year. Its online investment library now contains more than 5,000 articles on stock advice and investment strategy. Plus, we’ve further expanded the information and stock advice you get on the site by adding new free reports and features, such as our “Investor Toolkit” series of Daily Updates. Every Wednesday, these articles give you a fundamental piece of stock advice and show you how you can put it into practice right away.

A complete online service that goes far beyond stock advice

TSI Network gives me a wide variety of ways to communicate with Canadian investors. Through my Daily Updates, I keep you up to date on the issues that are most important to you — the individual investor. Soon, we’ll be allowing TSI Network visitors to “comment” on each update. We hope this will create an ongoing discussion that will let the site’s visitors share their own views on the day’s update, and read other visitors’ opinions.

Plus, we’ll soon be taking TSI Network’s investment advice even further by adding short videos in which I’ll give you investing tips and my views on current financial issues.

As well, you can follow me on the social-networking site Twitter. And soon we’ll be adding TSI Network to Facebook, as well (read on for more on that).

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

Exciting new developments make now a great time to be a TSI Network subscriber

Right now, we’re on the verge of launching several new services that will make TSI Network even better. For example, we’ll soon be adding TSI Network to the popular social-networking site Facebook. Here’s just a small sample of the type of stock advice you’ll get in this new service:

• “What’s on Pat’s Mind”: Every week, you’ll be among the first to know what’s coming up in our four investment publications;
• Links to free reports and interesting investment articles;
• Our new investment video series, “Successful Investing with Pat McKeough”;
• And much, much more!

New gold investing report comes at a critical time

As well, we’re just putting the finishing touches on our newest free report, available only to TSI Network subscribers, “Gold Investing: 7 Profitable Strategies for Investing in Canadian Gold Stocks.” Soon, TSI Network subscribers will be able to download this new special report from the site absolutely FREE.

If you invest in gold, you simply must have a copy of “Gold Investing: 7 Profitable Strategies for Investing in Canadian Gold Stocks.” It’s packed with tips and advice that could make the difference between big profits and big losses in your gold investments. Once we’ve launched this new free report, we’ll let you know through our Daily Updates, on TSI Network and through Twitter.

I hope you’re enjoying and profiting from TSI Network. In our second year, we’ll be adding even more free features and information to the site.

If you’d like even more in-depth analysis and my clear buy/sell/hold advice on stocks you may be considering buying (or selling), you should become a subscriber to my Successful Investor newsletter.

Right now, I’m offering TSI Network subscribers a very low rate. Plus, if you subscribe now you’ll get one month of The Successful Investor absolutely free. Click here to learn how you can get started right away.

Today’s tip: “Time spent finding a good stock broker can be an excellent investment.”

Investors often ask us to refer them to a good full-service stock broker. Stock brokers are now more commonly referred to as “investment advisors.” But good stock brokers or investment advisors have always been hard to find. We mainly only hear about them after they’ve retired, when investors complain about the bad brokers who have taken over their accounts.

However, if you’ve decided that a full-service stock broker is right for you, here are some tips to help you pick a broker who can contribute to your investment success.

• Choose a stock broker who specializes in your kind of investments. Some brokers focus on risky areas, such as penny mines or options. Others mainly sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds. They’ll bring little enthusiasm or expertise to areas outside their specialty. If your broker’s interests differ from yours, get a new broker.

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

• Choose a stock broker who will value your business. A broker who mainly handles million-dollar clients may agree to handle your $100,000 RRSP account. But don’t be surprised if you wind up dealing with his or her fresh-out-of-school assistant.
• Ask lots of questions. Some of the world’s worst brokers are the most charming, most glib, nicest-looking and best-dressed people you ever met. When you judge investment knowledge, look deep. Anybody of average intelligence can develop a veneer of investment expertise. Ignore appearances and use the “encyclopedia buyer’s trick”: ask questions to which you know the answers.
• Put a high value on experience. Bad brokers are not necessarily bad people. Some give bad advice because they earn more commission that way. Others are inexperienced and just don’t know any better. But the longer an individual works as a stock broker, the more he or she can tell you about risk, and that’s essential for successful investing.

Next Wednesday, June 9, 2010, Investor Toolkit will examine the subtle hints that can tell you if a company is headed for disaster.

As a member of TSI Network, you may have already seen Canadian Stock Market Basics: How to Trade Stocks and Make Good Investments in Canada. If you haven’t yet read this free report report, click here to download your copy today. I’d also encourage you to share the report with a friend by forwarding this email to them. It’s my “thank you” just for signing up for my free daily updates.

Entitled “A portfolio manager who’s cool on hot stocks,” the article features the basics of Pat’s investment strategy, his views on the market’s future prospects and how investors can profit in the current market environment.

If you’re interested in reading more, click here to see the full article.

Today’s tip: “Make sure you understand the 3 ways you can put your money into investments.”

Before you start investing on your own in the stock market, you’ll have to decide whether to use a discount broker, a full-service stock broker, or a portfolio manager.

• Full-service investment advisor: This is the traditional stock broker (although brokers also sell bonds, mutual funds and other investments). Stock brokers are now more commonly referred to as “investment advisors.” But in fact, most brokers or investment advisors are commissioned sales people who make investment recommendations that you can accept or reject. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this arrangement, of course. But it introduces conflicts of interest that can influence your brokers’ recommendations, and can work against you.
  
  For instance, your broker’s income is proportional to the frequency of your trading, but increased trading is likely to cost you money. Commission rates vary among investments, which gives brokers an incentive to sell the investments that pay the highest commissions. But a general rule is that the riskier an investment, the more commission a broker earns for selling it.
  
  In addition, brokers have no “fiduciary relationship” with their clients. They don’t need to do what’s best for the client. They are just supposed to try to make sure that the securities they sell are “suitable” for their clients. However, “suitable” covers a wide range of desirable and undesirable securities.
  
  A good stock broker is one who understands investing and who has the integrity to settle conflicts of interest in the client’s favour. Good stock brokers can provide an effective and economical way to manage your investments. Unfortunately, they are hard to find.

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

• Discount stock broker: Unlike full-service stock brokers, discount brokers simply carry out buy and sell orders for their clients, and charge lower commission rates than full-service brokers. You pay even lower commissions if you trade stocks online, instead of placing orders over the phone.
  
  The main drawback of using a discount broker is that it gives you unlimited opportunity to make costly mistakes on your own. The clerk who takes your order won’t recognize, much less warn you, if they see you’re about to do something you’ll regret. In contrast, good full-service brokers will try to talk you out of bad ideas.
  
  Discount brokers are your best choice if you make your own investment decisions. Why pay extra for full service you don’t need or use? But if you use a discounter, you may want to secure outside sources of investment advice (such as our newsletters), if only to serve as a second opinion on your decisions.
• Portfolio Manager: Portfolio managers take a more active role than brokers. Instead of simply presenting you with investment advice that you can accept or reject, they generally make and carry out investment decisions for you, for a fee. Consequently, portfolio managers are more stringently regulated than full-service or discount brokers. In particular, portfolio managers must maintain a fiduciary relationship with their clients. Rather than simply choosing suitable investments, they must always try to do what’s best for the client.
  
  The best portfolio managers take pains to eliminate conflicts of interest between themselves and their clients. However, some portfolio managers rely on brokers to find clients. This can reintroduce conflicts of interest that you hoped to avoid by dealing with a portfolio manager instead of a broker.
  
  If you want to hire a portfolio manager, our advice is to choose one who is not broker-owned or broker-affiliated in any way. Our Successful Investor Wealth Management service is one example.

Next Wednesday, June 2, 2010, Investor Toolkit will give you our investment advice on what to look for in a full-service broker.

If you’re looking for clear, unbiased investment advice, you should become a member of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle. When you do, you get to ask me and my team of analysts your own specific investment questions, plus you get all four of my investment advisories and much more. Click here to learn how you can start profiting from Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle right away.

That’s according to a recent analysis by the U.S.-based Hulbert Financial Digest, which is generally thought of as the bible of investment newsletter performance measurement.

According to Hulbert, The Successful Investor outperformed all other Canadian newsletters over the past 5 years — and ranked fifth among all 140 newsletters that Hulbert tracks. Hulbert has been following The Successful Investor since 2002.

Strong gains in troubled times

According to Hulbert, The Successful Investor’s return averaged 12.4% a year over the 5 years to February 28, 2010. That’s 1,140% better than the 1.0% average yearly return of the Wilshire 5000, an index that aims to measure all publicly traded stocks in the U.S.

Hulbert based its figures on an average of the three portfolios The Successful Investor offers: The Conservative Growth Portfolio, the Portfolio for Income-Seeking Investors and the Portfolio for Aggressive Growth. All three portfolios are made up of well-established stocks from all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities). Many of these companies also pay dividends.

It’s important to note that The Successful Investor posted these returns in one of the most tumultuous periods in stock-market history — a time that included the real-estate meltdown, the credit crisis, and, of course, the stock-market crash of 2008/2009.

Profit from Canada’s top investment newsletter at a special low rate

Of course, we’re very proud of Hulbert’s latest review of The Successful Investor’s stock picks. And I see no reason why we can’t repeat our strong performance — and perhaps even beat it — over the next five years.

As a valued TSI Network subscriber, I want to make sure you don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to profit. That’s why I’m offering you a very low “subscribers only” rate when you subscribe to The Successful Investor today. Plus, if you subscribe right now, I’ll send you 6 valuable investment reports absolutely FREE.

And that’s not all … we’re so confident you’ll benefit from The Successful Investor that if you choose our Easy-Pay option, we’ll give you your first issue absolutely FREE.

The Successful Investor: A complete investment service

When you become a Successful Investor subscriber, you get Canada’s top investment newsletter every month. But that’s only the beginning.

You also get our monthly portfolio supplement, which we constantly update and monitor. All three of The Successful Investor’s portfolios track the progress of previous recommendations so you can see at a glance how well you’re doing and how each investment fits into your overall portfolio strategy.

Plus I’ll send you my weekly email Hotline (you can call and listen to a recorded message if you prefer). The Hotline keeps you up to date on events that occur between issues. Sometimes, these events will require you to take immediate action. If that happens, all you have to do is check your email at any time, or pick up the phone and call the Hotline. I’ll send out a new message 50 times a year (or more often if circumstances warrant).

I urge you not to miss out on this unique opportunity for profit. Click here to take advantage of this very special offer today.

That’s because, when you invest based on company marketing claims, you risk becoming too focused on the innovation and failing to look at the stock’s fundamentals, such as p/e ratios and other measures of value and risk. Sound-bite-based investing also ignores (or glosses over) a company’s industry position and the conditions within its particular market.

Many investors ignored the risks of solar-power stocks

For instance, a number of investors plunged into solar-power stocks in the mid-2000s.

Investors were mainly interested in solar-related companies because of heightened media attention to issues like the high cost of fossil fuels and a sense of climate-change urgency. Supportive government policies, including subsidy programs, were also on the rise.

One of the companies that investors bid up sharply was silicon producer Timminco Ltd. (symbol TIM on Toronto). Timminco hit a high of $34.50 in June 2008. It has since dropped over 97%, and now trades at about $0.82 a share.

Timminco hit its highs after it announced that it had developed a new method of converting chemical-grade silicon into high-grade silicon. High-grade silicon is used to make solar cells, which absorb sunlight and convert it to electricity.

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

However, on March 16, 2010, Timminco announced that it had suspended production of solar-grade silicon, the product that fuelled its rise. As well, a class-action lawsuit filed against the company accuses it of making false and misleading claims about its solar-grade silicon production process.

Skeptical stock market investment advice looks deeper than media hype

Our stock market investment advice has always been to avoid Timminco shares. That’s because, unlike sound-bite-based investing, we thoroughly analyzed the company and determined that, among other factors, Timminco was heavily reliant on high solar-grade silicon prices, which have since fallen sharply.

Moreover, demand for solar power continued to face a number of unique challenges, including competition from power produced using oil and coal, and the risk of declining government subsidies. Right now, for example, the German government is proposing a 16% cut in feed-in tariffs for new rooftop solar systems (feed-in tariffs require utilities to pay higher prices for solar power).

A broad base of other operations is key to solar success

The opportunity for stock market investors to profit from solar power is there — the technology is proven, and demand for renewable energy is rising. However, we’ve looked at a number of pure solar-power stocks over the years, and haven’t been able to find any we can recommend in our stock market investment advice.

In the end, we think the best way to profit in solar power is through large companies that have the research budgets to successfully stay ahead of the competition in developing solar technologies or generating solar power. These companies should also have a sound base of other operations to offset the added risks that solar power entails.

FPL Group Inc., a stock we cover in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter, is a good example of this type of company.

FPL operates Florida Power and Light, a regulated utility with 4.5 million electricity customers in eastern and southern Florida. FPL Group also owns NextEra Energy Resources, which operates unregulated electrical-power projects in Canada and 26 U.S. states. NextEra is the leading producer of wind power in the U.S. Besides wind projects, FPL Group is investing heavily in solar-powered generating stations. It opened one in 2009, and will open two more in 2010.

If you’d like me to personally apply my time-tested approach to your investments, you should consider becoming a client of my Successful Investor Wealth Management service. Click here to learn more.

However, when Inner Circle members ask about companies we think they should sell (or avoid if they don’t already own them), we say so. Here are three recent examples of our Inner Circle investing advice:

Day4 Energy (symbol DFE on Toronto) designs and makes solar panels using its patented electrode technology and silicon cells.

Day4 believes that its technology converts sunlight into electricity more efficiently than existing technology.

The company has been severely hurt by the weak economy and falling prices for solar cells and panels. Its revenues have dropped, it is losing money, and it is reporting negative cash flow.

As well, advances in solar technology add considerably to the risk of solar-power companies that depend on a single technology. They constantly risk being overtaken by competitors with a superior product. Then too, the belief that new and improved technology is coming may lead customers to hold off on buying solar equipment.

Our investing advice: Day4’s solar-technology research looks promising, but it needs a rebound in solar-power technology prices to show a profit, and that’s far from certain. Meanwhile, the company depends on government subsidies. That’s especially risky for a junior like Day4, because it’s too small to maintain a significant lobbying effort. Day4 Energy is a sell.

Connacher Oil and Gas (symbol CLL on Toronto) is a Calgary-based oil and natural-gas exploration, development, production and refining company.

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

Connacher’s main asset is a 100% interest in 98,000 acres of oil-sands leases near Fort McMurray, Alberta. These leases include the land occupied by Pod One, the company’s first 10,000-barrel-per-day oil-sands project. Algar, the company’s second 10,000-barrel-per-day oil-sands project, is now under construction. It’s expected to start up later this year.

Extracting oil from oil sands is hugely expensive. That cuts these projects’ profitability and adds to their risk when oil prices are low. Moreover, Connacher has built up significant long-term debt by investing in oil-sands projects: Its long-term debt of $889.1 million represents 167% of its market cap.

Our investing advice: The company has added some diversity through its refining and conventional-oil and natural-gas assets, but its high debt continues to saddle it with a lot of risk. It’s a sell.

Akamai Technologies Inc., (symbol AKAM on Nasdaq), helps companies improve the performance of their web sites. Its customers include Amazon.com, Adobe Systems, Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo. Akamai is a Hawaiian word meaning smart or intelligent.

Akamai mirrors a customer’s web site onto its own network of servers, which are located in over 70 countries. That speeds up download times and cuts the risk of Internet outages or slowdowns, because users can access the closest server, or the one with the best connection.

Demand for Akamai’s services continues to rise, particularly as more people use the Internet to view videos. The company gets 28% of its revenue from customers outside of the U.S.

The stock has recovered from its November 2008 low of $9.25 to its current $32.20. It now trades at 37.4 times the $0.86 a share that Akamai will likely earn in 2010.

Our investing advice: Akamai is a leader in its field, and should continue to attract high-quality customers. However, it is essentially in a service-bureau business, so it faces a steady stream of new competitors and downward pressure on its prices. As well, its high price-to-earnings ratio makes it vulnerable to a sharp drop if its earnings fail to meet expectations. Akamai is a sell.

If you have investment-related questions, or if you’d like to ask me about stocks you’re considering buying (or selling), you should join my Inner Circle service. Click here to learn more.

You can see the full results of this poll, and a full archive of previous polls, on TSI Network. Just click the “Poll Archive” button below the main banner on the site’s home page.

Discounters’ lower commissions are a plus — but use caution

The main advantage of switching to a discount stock broker is lower commissions. Commission rates can be even cheaper if you trade stocks with your discount stock broker online, as opposed to placing orders over the telephone.

However, low commission rates sometimes lead investors to trade a great deal. They may assume they can’t lose because they can sell at the first sign of trouble. Being quick to sell can cut your losses, of course, but that’s not the same as making money. And, if you stumble onto an investment that has a huge rise ahead of it, you may wind up selling just before the move begins.

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

On the other hand, a good stock broker or financial advisor (one who is experienced, knowledgeable, and oriented toward the long term) is worth the higher commissions that you are likely to pay. For instance, suppose your full-service stock broker charges an average commission of 2%, and you replace one-third of your portfolio every year (both figures are on the high side). In this case, you’d pay 1.34% of your portfolio’s value each year in commissions. That’s less than the 2% to 3% management fee on a typical mutual fund.

A discount stock broker won’t help you avoid costly mistakes

Before you switch to a discount stock broker, remember that doing so gives you unlimited opportunity to go wrong on your own. That’s because the clerk who takes your order won’t warn you if they see you’re about to do something you’ll regret, even if they know this to be the case. As well, you’ll receive no guidance or investment advice while entering trades on a discount broker’s web site.

So before you switch, put yourself through a brutal self-assessment. Are you able to single out a selection of investments that’s right for you, keeping investment quality and diversification in mind? If not, you may be better off with a full-service stock broker, provided you can find one who values your business and puts your needs first.

Making fewer trades is the best way to cut commission costs

In the long run, the best way to cut commissions is by sticking to high-quality investments and making fewer transactions. This also improves your tax deferral.

For instance, suppose you buy an investment at $10 and it goes to $20. As long as you hold on, the entire $20 keeps on producing dividends and capital gains for you. If you sell, you’ll have only $16 or so to reinvest after paying capital-gains taxes and commissions.

If you’d like me to personally apply my time-tested approach to your investments, you should consider becoming a client of my Successful Investor Wealth Management service. Click here to learn more.

Every day, TSI Network attracts a wide variety of Canadian investors. To take the pulse of this unique online community, we publish weekly polls so we can see what the site’s visitors think of current financial issues. The feedback we get from these polls often forms the basis of the stock trading advice we give you in our TSI Network Daily Updates.

We also welcome you to submit your own questions about stock trading advice or any other investment matter, so you can quickly and easily get a feel for where other investors stand on issues that affect you. Just send your suggestions to pat@tsinetwork.ca. If we think they’re suitable for the site, we’ll post them as our “Financial Question of the Week.”

Imagine having me build you a portfolio that’s tailored to your specific investment goals, temperament and financial situation. That's just one of the many ways you benefit when you become a client of our portfolio management services. Backed by my in-house team of investment experts, I’ll work to protect your money during times of market turbulence – and maximize your profits when the market rises. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor portfolio management services.

TSI Network’s weekly polls let you instantly see how investors are responding to current financial issues

You’ll find our “Financial Question of the Week” on the right side of the TSI Network homepage. For example, this week’s question is: “The Obama administration’s proposed ‘bailout tax’ on banks: would it be good or bad for the stock market?”

To vote, simply click on your preferred answer and click “submit.” The site will instantly show you up-to-the-minute poll results.

Last week’s question, “Is the Conservative government’s ‘proroguing’ of parliament likely to scare off some foreign investors?,” appears below the current “Financial Question of the Week,” along with the results (60% of TSI Network visitors thought the government’s move was likely to scare off some foreign investors, while 40% did not).

Easily view investor responses to previous financial questions

TSI Network also features a poll archive so you can see how investors have responded to previous questions. To access it, simply go to the TSI Network home page and click on the “Poll Archive” tab, located just below the TSI Network Daily banner.

The site then takes you to our poll archive page. Polls are organized by month, starting with the poll that’s currently displayed on the site. Last week’s poll follows, and so on. For example, here are the two polls below last week’s poll on the list:

Do you think Google’s street view feature is more trouble than it’s worth for the company?

January 18, 2010
Posted by: Pat McKeough

…read more »

Do you think new wireless carriers like Wind Mobile will hurt BCE and Telus?

January 13, 2010
Posted by: Pat McKeough

…read more »

Online polls are just the beginning of TSI Network’s vast array of investment tools and stock trading advice

You can display the full results of any poll in the archive by clicking on the “read more” link, or the poll’s headline.

TSI Network is, simply put, the largest online library of Canadian investment information. And its online polls are just the beginning — you also get my free Daily Updates delivered straight to your inbox, plus many more benefits, including over 4,000 articles on individual investments and how you can use our time-tested approach to maximize and protect your profits.

Our #1’s have generally done well, and many were top performers. Autodesk, our #1 pick in 2004 for Stock Pickers Digest (and for Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our U.S. stocks newsletter), was the #1 performer among all 500 stocks in the S&P 500 that year!

We’ll reveal our #1 pick for Wall Street Stock Forecaster in our Hotline on January 22, 2010. It’s sure to be different from our #1 Stock Pickers Digest selection, since Wall Street Stock Forecaster doesn’t analyze Canadian stocks.

Some readers take the #1 designation as a guarantee of gain. But there’s no such thing as a sure thing in the stock market, least of all in the aggressive stocks we focus on here.

Our #1 picks are different from our entries in media stock-picking contests, which have different rules. This year, for instance, I chose EnCana, symbol ECA on Toronto, as my selection for the “My One & Only” stock contest at The Globe and Mail.