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.

Marketing timing strategies like “buy low, sell high” make sense of past market movements, but are pretty much useless at predicting the future.
With a new U.S. mine boosting production, Newmont Mining adapts to lower gold and copper prices by focusing on quality and cost-cutting
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Top stock brokers and portfolio managers provide you with ethical and conflict-free advice—and here are three things they won’t do.
BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $59.87 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $72.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%, www.scotiabank.com) has extended its Scene loyalty card program with Cineplex Inc. for an additional 10 years, to October 31, 2025.

Scene lets cardholders earn points they can redeem for free movies at Cineplex’s theatres. It’s one of Canada’s most popular loyalty plans, with over seven million members.

The deal gives the bank lots of opportunities to cross-sell other services to Scene members. In particular, Scene is very popular with young moviegoers. So it’s a great way to begin a relationship with them when they’re just starting to bank and use credit and debit cards.

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GEORGE WESTON LTD. $109.43 (Toronto symbol WN; Shares outstanding: 128.0 million; Market cap: $14.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%) makes a number of products through Weston Foods. Its businesses include fresh and frozen bakery and cookie operations in Canada and plants that make frozen bakery items, biscuits, cookies, cones and wafers in the U.S.

Weston also owns 46% of Loblaw (see above) and 5.5% of Choice Properties REIT (Toronto symbol CHP.UN). Choice owns 519 properties, mainly supermarket- and drugstore-anchored shopping malls and stand-alone supermarkets and pharmacies. Loblaw holds 83.0% of Choice and accounts for 91.0% of the REIT’s earnings.

In the three months ended October 10, 2015, Weston’s revenue rose 2.9%, to $14.4 billion from $14.0 billion a year earlier.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES $66.80 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 412.4 million; Market cap: $27.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.5%; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with about 1,200 supermarkets. Its banners include Loblaws, Provigo, Fortinos, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. George Weston Ltd. (see below) owns 46% of the company.

In the three months ended October 10, 2015, Loblaw earned $408 million, or $0.99 a share, up 10.0% from $371 million, or $0.90, a year earlier. Sales rose 2.5%, to $13.9 billion from $13.6 billion. Excluding gasoline, same-store sales rose 3.1% at Loblaw and 4.9% at the 1,300-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain, which the company bought for $12.3 billion in March 2014.

Loblaw continues to integrate its operations with Shoppers Drug. It expects these moves to save it at least $222 million in 2016.

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TORSTAR $3.13 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $254.3 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 8.2%; www.torstar.com) lost $164.8 million, or $2.04 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2015. A year earlier, it lost $87.0 million, or $1.08 a share.

Excluding costs related to job cuts and other measures in response to falling ad revenue at Torstar’s newspapers, the company lost $10.4 million, or $0.13 a share, in the latest quarter. Torstar expects its restructuring to cut $9.3 million from its annual costs in 2015 and a further $14.3 million in 2016.

Overall revenue declined 7.3%, to $185.4 million from $199.9 million. Lower ad sales cut revenue at both the free weekly newspapers and flyer-distribution operations, as well as at the Toronto Star and other daily papers.

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