Pat McKeough

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.

As early as 1980, Pat was recognized as #1 in the world of published investment advice by the Washington, DC–based Newsletter Publishers Association, and he was the first multi-year winner of The Globe and Mail’s stock picking contest.

Both CBS MarketWatch and The Hulbert Financial Digest recognized Pat as one of North America’s top stock analysts. The Wall Street Journal called him “one of only four investment newsletter advisors who have managed to serve their readers well over the long haul.”

A best-selling Canadian author, he wrote Riding the Bull, his 1993 book that predicted the stock-market boom of the last half of that decade. Through his many television appearances, he is well-known to investors for his insightful analysis and his candid, unpretentious style.

Bottom line: Pat’s conservative, reduced-risk strategy is a proven approach to safe investing.

Posts by the author
The pendulum theory grew out of Sir Isaac Newton’s 17th-century studies of gravity and physics, particularly his second law of motion. Yet the theory turns up in discussions of all sorts of non-mechanical topics. This includes investors’ efforts at understanding the stock market.
ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $39 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $39; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 115.0 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) gets most of its earnings from its 53.1% stake in Canadian Utilities (see page 44). It also owns 75.5% of ATCO Structures & Logistics, which makes temporary buildings for construction, mining and energy exploration firms; Canadian Utilities owns the other 24.5%. In December 2015, the company sold its ATCO Emissions Management subsidiary for $60 million. This business helps producers of oil, gas and electricity reduce air and noise pollution....
IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $40 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $33.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) plans to expand its oil sands operations in the Cold Lake area of northern Alberta. In 2015, Cold Lake supplied 158,000 barrels a day, or 43% of Imperial’s average daily production of 366,000 barrels a day. This expansion will cost $2 billion. It should produce an additional 50,000 barrels a day by 2022. Imperial’s expertise with solvent assisted, steam-assisted gravity drainage technology should help cut its operating costs. That process also creates fewer greenhouse gasses than conventional extraction methods. Imperial Oil is a buy.
CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $18 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 833.2 million; Market cap: $15.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) owns oil sands projects and conventional wells in Western Canada. It ships its oil to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. Due to low oil prices, Cenovus has shrunk its workforce by 31% since the start of 2015. These cuts should save it $200 million this year; it lost $403 million, or $0.49 a share, in 2015. The cuts should also help Cenovus quickly expand profits when oil prices recover. Cenovus is still a buy.
ANDREW PELLER LTD. (Toronto symbols ADW.A $28 and ADW.B $30; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $406.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) is Canada’s second-largest wine producer, after Constellation Brands. It accounts for 14.2% of the country’s wine sales, and 37.1% of wines produced in Canada. Peller continues to benefit from strong sales of its premium-priced brands. These include its 2011 deal with hockey star Wayne Gretzky to make and distribute wines under his name. This brand is now one of the best-selling wines in Canada. To keep up with strong demand for Gretzky wines, the company is building a new winery next to its existing operation in the Niagara region of Southern Ontario. This new facility will open in the spring of 2017....
BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $1.52 and BBD.B $1.43; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend suspended in February 2015; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.bombardier.com) is the world’s third-largest maker of commercial aircraft, after Boeing and Airbus. It’s also a leading maker of passenger railcars. The company recently formed a joint venture with the government of Quebec to build its new CSeries passenger jets. Under the deal, the province will pay $1.0 billion for 49.5% of this business (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars)....
BLACKBERRY LTD. $9.21 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 521.2 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) provides secure wireless communication services, mainly to businesses and government agencies. In the fiscal year ended February 29, 2016, BlackBerry’s revenue fell 35.2%, to $2.2 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Smartphones supplied 40% of total revenue, followed by the fees it charges wireless carriers to access its networks (37%). The software it installs on its clients’ email servers contributed 23% of revenue. Without unusual items, the company lost $0.19 a share, compared to a profit of $0.08 in 2014. BlackBerry holds cash of $2.6 billion, or $5.03 a share. Its longterm debt of $1.3 billion is a manageable 27% of its market cap....
CAE INC. $15 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 269.9 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) is a leading maker of flight simulators and operator of pilot-training schools in over 30 countries. The company recently won several contracts for flight simulators and related equipment from military clients in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. In all, these deals are worth $175 million, or 7% of the company’s $2.4 billion of annual revenue. CAE’s military businesses supply 35% of its sales. That cuts its reliance on cyclical commercial airlines....
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $81 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 786.4 million; Market cap: $63.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.0; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its network stretches across the country and through the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. The company has agreed to repurchase up to 11.2 million of its shares from a private seller at a discount to the market price. It aims to complete this transaction by September 9, 2016. The move is part of CN’s plan to buy back up to 33.0 million of its common shares, or roughly 5% of the total outstanding, by October 29, 2016. Share buybacks raise earnings per share and other per-share calculations. That gives the remaining shareholders a larger stake in the company....
GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $35 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 993.2 million; Market cap: $34.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend Yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial (Toronto symbol MFC). In the past few years, the company has expanded its presence in Ireland. In July 2013, it paid $1.75 billion for Irish Life, Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider. Irish Life recently announced two small acquisitions: it is buying Aviva Health, and increasing its stake in GloHealth from 49% to 100%. The company did not say how much it will pay, but these purchases will let it sell health insurance products to its Irish clients....