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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When we get questions about investing in stocks through split-share, our advice is, avoid the risk and invest in good stocks individually
IMPERIAL METALS $9.07 (Toronto symbol III; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-669-8959; www.imperialmetals.com; Shares outstanding: 74.9 million; Market cap: $715.9 million; No dividends paid) is down almost 42% since a dam broke at a tailings pond at its Mount Polley mine in B.C. The breach spilled wastewater and fine sand into nearby waterways.

The extent of the damage to local lakes and rivers is unknown at this point, but estimates of the total liability for the cleanup are in the range of $225 million. Imperial has just issued $100 million in convertible debentures to help pay these costs.

Meanwhile, Mount Polley will likely be shut down for at least one to two years, perhaps indefinitely. The mine is the company’s biggest producing asset and the main contributor to its cash flow. Imperial will now likely report cash flow of $0.40 a share in 2014, down from an estimated $1.05.

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AMAZON.COM $335.78 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 462.0 million; Market cap: $154.6 billion; No dividends paid) has launched its Kindle Unlimited service for a flat $9.99 monthly fee.

Kindle Unlimited offers access to over 600,000 books that can be read at no additional cost on Kindle e-book readers, as well as over 2,000 audiobooks. Amazon is offering a free 30-day trial to entice users to try the service, which is also available using the Kindle app on a smartphone or tablet.

The new Kindle Unlimited also lets users alternate between reading and listening to their books (if those books are available as audiobooks) without losing their place.

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p>ACI WORLDWIDE $19.07 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-334-5101; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 113.8 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; No dividends paid) has agreed to buy Retail Decisions (ReD) for $205 million in cash. ReD, based in Brockwood, England, is an e-commerce and fraud-prevention firm that serves the payments industry. ReD’s software, which includes ReD Shield, ReD Fraud Xchange, ReD PRISM, ReD Alerts, ReDi, ReD1 Gateway and LiveProcessor, helps customers better manage and cut losses from fraud.

ACI Worldwide is still a hold.

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GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. $25.46 (Nasdaq symbol GT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (330-796-2122; www.goodyear.com; Shares outstanding: 275.3 million; Market cap: $7.1 billion; Dividend yield: 0.9%) is the world’s largest tire maker, with 52 plants in 22 countries.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2014, Goodyear’s revenue fell 4.9%, to $4.66 billion from $4.89 billion a year earlier. The company sold fewer tires in Latin America, which offset higher tire sales in all other regions, including North America.

Even with the lower revenue, earnings per share rose 8.1%, to $0.80 from $0.74, excluding one-time items. Goodyear’s costs, for rubber and other raw materials, continue to fall. As well, the company now has a favourable new contract with the United Steelworkers.

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BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $42.03 (New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 120.7 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Dividend yield: 2.6%) earned $144.6 million in its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter, which ended June 30, 2014. That’s up 1.5% from $142.4 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 1.7%, to $1.17 from $1.15, on fewer shares outstanding.

Overall revenue gained 2.4%, to $885.9 million from $865.1 million. Revenue from contracts that pay recurring fees rose 7% and accounted for two-thirds of the total.

Excluding unusual items, Broadridge expects to earn $2.42 to $2.52 a share in fiscal 2015. The stock trades at a reasonable 17.0 times the midpoint of that range. The shares yield 2.6%.

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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $71.02 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 497.4 million; Market cap: $35.8 billion; No dividends paid) makes a range of software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use its software to create print publications and web pages.

In its fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended May 30, 2014, Adobe earned $186.3 million, up 1.9% from $182.9 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 2.8%, to $0.37 from $0.36, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 5.7%, to $1.07 billion from $1.01 billion.

The improved results are mainly because Adobe is signing up more subscribers to its Creative Cloud package of photo editing and desktop publishing programs. The company added 464,000 Creative Cloud customers in the quarter and currently has a total of 2.3 million. It now expects to end fiscal 2014 with 3.3 million users, up from its earlier target of 3.0 million.

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SYMANTEC CORP. $24.28 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 692.7 million; Market cap: $16.7 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%) sells computer-security technology, including anti-virus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. It also offers data-archiving software.

In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended July 4, 2014, Symantec’s earnings rose 0.6%, to $313 million from $311 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 2.3%, to $0.45 from $0.44, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 1.5%, to $1.74 billion from $1.71 billion.

The gains were mostly due to savings from a new restructuring plan that includes job cuts and simplifying product lines. In addition, Symantec separated its sales force into two groups: one focuses on winning new clients, and the other serves existing customers.

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NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $19.56 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $44.2 billion; No dividends paid) is Japan’s second-largest automaker, after Toyota.

In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2014, the company earned 112.1 billion yen ($1.1 billion U.S., or $0.49 per ADR), up 36.7% from 82.0 billion yen ($804.4 million U.S., or $0.36) a year earlier.

Revenue rose 10.8%, to 2.47 trillion yen ($24.1 billion U.S.) from 2.23 trillion yen ($21.8 billion). That’s because Nissan sold 1.24 million vehicles in the latest quarter, up 6.0% from a year earlier.

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DELPHI ENERGY $4.27 (Toronto symbol DEE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-265-6171; www.delphienergy.ca; Shares outstanding: 155.2 million; Market cap: $670.6 million; No dividends paid) develops, produces and explores for oil and natural gas. About 67% of its output is gas. The remaining 33% is oil.

In the three months ended June 30, 2014, the company’s production rose 36.2%, to 10,397 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 7,635 barrels a year earlier.

Cash flow per share jumped to $0.09 from $0.05. The production increase was the main reason for the gain. The company also realized higher prices for its oil and gas in the latest quarter.

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