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.

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If you want to find out how to hire a stock broker who meets your needs, you need to watch out above all for conflicts of interest
CENOVUS ENERGY $20.58 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares outstanding: 824.6 million; Market cap: $17.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.cenovus.com) has temporarily shut down its Foster Creek oil sands project in northern Alberta because forest fires in the area are hindering traffic on the main road to the site.

Cenovus own 50% of Foster Creek, while U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns the other 50%. In the first quarter of 2015, Cenovus’s share of this project’s output was 68,000 barrels a day, or 31% of the company’s total oil production of 218,000 barrels.

The fires have also forced other oil projects in Alberta to close. In all, these operations account for 9% of the province’s total production. This has pushed up the spot price of Western Canadian crude, which should help Cenovus offset the lost revenue.

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BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $66.73 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $80.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.1%, www.scotiabank.com) is the third-largest of Canada’s five big banks, with $837.2 billion of assets.

In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended April 30, 2015, Bank of Nova Scotia earned $1.74 billion, or $1.42 a share. That’s up 2.5% from $1.70 billion, or $1.39 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.7%, to $5.9 billion from $5.7 billion.

The bank set aside $448 million to cover potential bad loans in the latest quarter, up 19.5% from $375 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because it’s loaning more funds to consumers in Canada and Latin America.

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TD BANK $54.90 (Toronto symbol TD; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $100.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.td.com) is Canada’s largest bank, with $1.03 trillion of assets. It also operates more branches in the U.S. than Canada (1,302 vs. 1,165) and owns 40.72% of TD Ameritrade (New York symbol AMTD), a leading online brokerage.

Excluding one-time items, TD’s earnings per share rose 4.6% in its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, 2015, to $1.14 from $1.09 a year earlier. Revenue gained 4.4%, to $7.8 billion from $7.4 billion, as low interest rates continue to spur loan demand.

The bank’s loan-loss provisions fell 4.3%, to $375 million from $392 million, because more U.S. credit card customers are repaying their loans on time.

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TORSTAR $6.12 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $492.2 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 8.6%; www.torstar.com) reported revenue of $192.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015. That was down 9.0% from $211.3 million a year earlier, mainly due to to lower ad revenue across its newspapers.

However, cost cutting, including layoffs, kept its per-share earnings unchanged at $0.02, before one-time items.

The company plans to launch a digital version of The Toronto Star for tablet computers in the fall of 2015. That should help it attract younger readers and spur online ad sales.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES $64.10 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 412.6 million; Market cap: $26.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%; www.loblaw.ca) saw its sales jump 37.8% in the three months ended March 28, 2015, to $10.0 billion from $7.3 billion a year earlier.

Shoppers Drug Mart contributed $2.6 billion to the latest quarterly sales. Even so, same-store sales at Loblaw’s supermarkets rose 4.0%, while Shoppers’ same-store sales gained 3.1%.

Earnings per share rose 35.2%, to $0.73 from $0.54, mostly due to successful cost cutting. The strong earnings prompted Loblaw to raise its dividend by 2.0%. The new rate yields 1.6%.

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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS EASTERN EUROPE INDEX FUND $18.22 (New York symbol ESR; buy or sell through brokers) has 66.4% of its assets invested in Russia, followed by Poland at 26.2%; Hungary, 3.7%; and the Czech Republic, 3.1%.

The fund’s top holdings are Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 13.4%; Lukoil (Russia: oil), 10.2%; Magnit PJSC (Russia: retailing), 5.7%; MMC Norilsk Nickel (Russia: mining), 4.2%; Sberbank (Russia: bank), 4.0%; and Novatek (Russia: natural gas), 4.0%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund’s expense ratio is 0.67%.

The fund’s concentration in Russia adds considerable risk. The country’s currency, the ruble, is near record lows against the U.S. dollar. This comes in the wake of falling oil prices, Western sanctions after Russia’s takeover of Crimea and the country’s continued threats against the rest of Ukraine.

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ISHARES MSCI BRAZIL INDEX FUND $33.27 (New York symbol EWZ; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that’s designed to track the Brazilian stock market.

Its top holdings are Cia Itau Unibanco Holding (banking), 9.6%; AmBev SA (beer and beverages), 8.8%; Petrobras (oil and gas), 8.7%; Banco Brandesco SA, 7.1%; Vale do Rio Doce (mining), 5.3%; BRF SA (food), 4.2%; and Cielo SA (payment processing), 3.8%.

The ETF was launched on July 10, 2000. It has a 0.62% expense ratio.

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ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $40.22 (New York symbol ECH; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index, which consists of stocks that mainly trade on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 10.9%; Enersis SA (electricity), 9.9%; Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 7.6%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electricity), 7.1%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 5.0%; Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 4.9%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 4.6%; Banco de Chile, 4.5%; Colbun SA (utility), 4.1%; and LATAM Airlines, 3.9%.

The fund’s industry breakdown consists of Utilities, 28.6%; Financials, 18.0%; Consumer Discretionary, 12.9%; Materials, 11.0%; Consumer Staples, 9.3%; Energy, 8.0%; Industrials, 7.0%; Telecommunications, 2.3%; and Information Technology, 2.2%.

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ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $29.74 (New York symbol EWG; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the stocks in the MSCI Germany Index.

This index aims to replicate 85% of the market capitalization of the German stock market. The remaining 15% is unavailable for investment, partly due to limitations on foreign ownership.

The ETF’s top holdings are Bayer (diversified chemicals), 9.8%; Daimler (autos), 7.5%; BASF (chemicals), 7.1%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 6.9%; SAP (software), 6.1%; Allianz (insurance), 6.0%; Deutsche Telekom, 4.5%; Deutsche Bank AG, 3.5%; Volkswagen AG, 3.3%; and BMW AG, 3.1%.

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