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
A conservative, step-by-step Canadian guide: account choice, W-8BEN, FX cost cuts, first trade, and DRIP, built for steady dividend income.
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $101.36 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares- .com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on 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 companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.

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

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SPDR S&P 500 ETF $202.31 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. companies that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, Chevron, General Electric, Berkshire Hathaway, and Wells Fargo & Co. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

If you want exposure to the S&P 500 Index, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF is a buy.

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ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $24.27 (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 3.9%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.3%; TD Bank, 6.8%, National Bank, 6.7%; Bank of Montreal, 6.1%; Royal Bank, 5.5%; BCE, 4.8%; Ag Growth International, 4.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.5%; Bonterra Energy, 4.2%; and Laurentian Bank of Canada, 3.9%.

The ETF holds 55.2% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, 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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IBM $155.05 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 989.7 million; Market cap: $197.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.8%; www.ibm.com) has signed several new cloud computing contracts. These deals will help boost its cloud computing revenue to $7 billion in 2015, or about 7% of its total projected revenue of $99 billion.

Among them is a 10-year, $2.0-billion deal to build and manage a cloud platform for ABN Amro, one of the Netherlands’ leading banks.

The company has also signed a seven-year, $1.25-billion contract to build a cloud-based system for U.K.-based advertising agency WPP plc. Under the deal, IBM will combine WPP’s mainframe computers with new remote servers.

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VERESEN $16.23 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 279.6 million; Market cap: $4.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.2%; www.vereseninc.com) owns pipelines, power plants and gas-processing facilities across North America.

A major holding is 50% of the Alliance gas line, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C. Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, 42.7% of the Aux Sable NGL plant, and the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex in the Cutbank Ridge region of Alberta and B.C.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Veresen’s cash flow per share rose 4.5%, to $0.23 from $0.22.

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PEMBINA PIPELINE $39.55 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 336.0 million; Market cap: $13.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.pembina.com) owns pipelines that carry half of Alberta’s conventional oil, 30% of Western Canada’s natural gas liquids (NGLs) and almost all of B.C.’s conventional oil.

Pembina also owns extensive facilities to extract, process and store NGLs.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Pembina’s cash flow per share fell 6.2%, to $0.61 from $0.65. But that’s mainly because the company hired new employees and more consultants to support its continued rapid growth.

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TD BANK $52.89 (Toronto symbol TD; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $90.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.td.com) is Canada’s largest bank, with $944.7 billion of assets. It also operates 1,318 branches in the U.S.—compared to 1,165 in Canada—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 15.1% in the fiscal year ended October 31, 2014, to $4.28 from $3.72. Revenue gained 9.2%, to $30.0 billion from $27.3 billion.

TD continues to benefit from its early 2014 deal with Aimia (Toronto symbol AIM) to become the main credit card issuer for the popular Aeroplan travel-reward program. The bank’s Canadian and U.S. retail operations are also profiting from stronger growth in both loans and deposits. In addition, the U.S. business is gaining from acquisitions, including Target Corp.’s U.S. credit card portfolio.

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CANADIAN REIT $48.21 (Toronto symbol REF.UN; Units outstanding: 72.4 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.creit.ca) owns 198 properties, including retail, industrial and office buildings, across Canada and in Chicago. These holdings contain 24.6 million square feet of leasable area. The trust’s occupancy rate is 95.3%.

In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Canadian REIT’s revenue rose 1.5%, to $100.8 million from $99.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit gained 2.8%, to $0.74 from $0.72.

Canadian REIT added $191.1 million worth of buildings in 2013. That followed $401.9 million of purchases in 2012, including 50% of Calgary Place, a 575,000-square-foot office and retail complex, for $156.0 million. So far this year, it has made one acquisition: a 261,000-square-foot industrial property near Toronto’s Pearson International Airport for $29.3 million.

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ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $39.54 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 74.7 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 138 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 9.9 million square feet of leasable area.

Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors.

Allied bought $400 million of properties in 2012 and $182.4 million in 2013. In the first three quarters of 2014, it added seven more for $210.0 million.

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