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
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $105.63 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell throughbrokers ; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks representing the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange by market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial firms. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. It yields 1.0%.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast and Facebook.

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ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $22.48 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highestyielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of the ETF’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%, and it yields 4.3%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 9.7%; Bank of Montreal, 6.8%; Royal Bank, 6.5%; BCE, 5.8%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.5%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 5.0%; Rogers Communications, 4.5%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.4%; TD Bank, 4.4%; National Bank, 4.1%; IGM Financial, 4.0%; and Emera Inc., 3.8%.

The ETF holds 53.7% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects, but if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector.

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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $20.47 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.18% of assets, and the units yield 3.1%.

The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.3%; TD Bank, 7.7%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 6.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; CN Railway, 4.7%; Suncor Energy, 4.0%; Bank of Montreal, 3.7%; BCE, 3.6%; Enbridge, 3.3%; Manulife Financial, 3.2%; CIBC, 3.0%; Brookfield Asset Management, 2.8%; and TransCanada Corp., 2.4%.

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ENBRIDGE INC. $55.89 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 860.1 million; Market cap: $46.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Divd. yield: 3.3%; www.enbridge.com) has received regulatory approval to reverse the flow of crude oil on its Line 9 pipeline between Sarnia, Ontario, and Montreal.

Under the plan, oil will now flow from Sarnia to Montreal. Enbridge will also increase the line’s capacity so it can handle heavy crude from Alberta’s oil sands.

It took longer than expected for regulators to sign off, so the project’s cost jumped to $800 million from its original estimate of $100 million. To put that in context, Enbridge earned $505 million in the latest quarter.

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ENERPLUS CORP. $8.15 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 206.2 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 7.4%) produces an average of 107,429 barrels of oil equivalent a day (57% gas and 43% oil). Its properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as in the Marcellus shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

Enerplus increased its production by 3.3% in the three months ended June 30, 2015, but that wasn’t enough to offset sharply lower oil and gas prices; cash flow per share fell 25.0%, to $0.78 from $1.04. Like Crescent Point, Enerplus has cut exploration spending this year. Its outlays will now total $580 million, down 28.5% from $811.0 million in 2014.

The lower spending, along with Enerplus’s plan to produce less gas in the Marcellus shale until prices rise, will cut its forecast 2015 production to around 105,199 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

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CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $19.86 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 498.3 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada, with a focus on its Bakken light oil development in southeastern Saskatchewan. Its output is 91% oil and 9% gas.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Crescent Point’s cash flow fell 17.7%, to $524.3 million from $636.7 million a year earlier. The company raised its daily output by 10.4%, but lower oil and gas prices offset that increase.

Cash flow per share declined 26.5%, to $1.14 from $1.55, because the company issued shares to pay for acquisitions, including $1.5 billion for Legacy Oil + Gas in June 2015.

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CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $199.75 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 161.0 million; Market cap: $31.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 0.7%; www.cpr.ca) prefers to use its excess cash to buy back shares instead of raising its $1.40- a-share dividend, which yields 0.7%. That’s because many of its investors live in the U.S. and are subject to withholding taxes on dividends from Canadian firms.

The company could repurchase up to 9.1 million shares under its latest authorization, and it’s now closing in on that limit, so CP has raised it to 11.9 million shares, or 7% of the 161.0 million outstanding as of June 30, 2015.

The company expects to complete these purchases by March 17, 2016.

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ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $34.30
(Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 77.9 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 146 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 10.5 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors.

Allied spent $400 million acquiring properties in 2012, $182.4 million in 2013 and $234.9 million in 2014. In the first half of 2015, it added three more for $136.1 million.

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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.78 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 318.8 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.5%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, RioCan’s revenue rose 6.3%, to $322.3 million from $303.2 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit gained 2.4%, to $0.42 from $0.41.

The trust has now agreed to unwind its 50/50 joint venture with U.S.-based Kimco Realty. This business manages 35 malls across Canada.

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