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
If you want to ensure a higher (and safer) rate of return for your retirement portfolio, then it’s important to know what not to invest in after retirement
TRANSCANADA CORP. $49.58 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.0 million; Market cap: $34.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) may face higher costs for its proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump crude oil from Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. From there, existing lines would carry it to refineries in the U.S.

A court recently overturned a Nebraska law that let the state’s governor force property owners to accept the pipeline. As a result, TransCanada may have to seek permission from individual landowners on the route.

So far, the company has spent $2.2 billion U.S. on the $5.4-billion U.S. project. If the U.S. government rejects the line, TransCanada could use some of the materials on other projects, which would limit any potential writedown.
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SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $74.08 (New York Exchange symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) aims to track the S&P China BMI Index, which is made up of all publicly traded Chinese stocks available to foreign investors. Right now, this ETF holds 251 stocks.

The $778.9-million fund’s top holdings are Tencent Holdings, 8.8%; China Construction Bank, 6.0%; China Mobile, 5.3%; Baidu, 5.2%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 5.1%; Bank of China, 3.2%; CNOOC Ltd., 2.9%; China Petroleum & Chemical, 2.4%; PetroChina, 2.4%; and China Life.

The ETF was launched on March 19, 2007. It has a 0.59% MER and yields 1.3%.
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POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $91.06 (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.

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SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $163.35 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The SPDR Dow Jones ETF’s top holdings are Visa, IBM, Goldman Sachs Group, ExxonMobil, Chevron, 3M, McDonald’s, Caterpillar, United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.17% of its assets.

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SPDR S&P 500 ETF $187.75 (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, Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer, Berkshire Hathaway, Verizon and Wells Fargo. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

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ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $24.40 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of its assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%. It yields 3.8%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.0%; TD Bank, 6.3%; National Bank, 6.2%; Bonterra Energy, 6.0%; Bank of Montreal, 5.6%; Royal Bank, 5.1%; BCE, 4.3%; AG Growth International, 4.3%; and IGM Financial, 3.9%.

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GREAT-WEST LIFECO $30.32 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 999.3 million; Market cap: $30.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 4.1%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) acquired the London Life insurance company in 1997.

In response, former London Life policyholders launched a class-action lawsuit accusing Great- West of using $220 million of London Life’s surplus funds, which they felt belonged to them, to finance the deal.

In 2010, a court ordered Great-West to pay $455.7 million in damages. The company appealed the ruling, and last year a higher court cut the award to $284.6 million.
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MANULIFE FINANCIAL $21.24 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $39.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.5%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment-management services. The company operates globally and has $599 billion of assets under management.

Manulife’s earnings per share rose 25.0% in the three months ended December 31, 2013, to $0.35 from $0.28 a year earlier. However, revenue declined 2.4%, to $5.92 billion from $6.07 billion. Insurance revenue fell mostly due to lower sales in Asia, where the year-earlier quarter was unusually strong ahead of tax changes. That offset higher demand for mutual funds and investment products.

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SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $38.90 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 609.4 million; Market cap: $23.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.sunlife.ca) sells savings, retirement, pension and life insurance products to individuals and corporations.

Sun Life mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., but it continues to expand into Asia. It has $640 billion of assets under management.

Last year, the company sold its riskier, moneylosing U.S. annuity business, which offers products that guarantee minimum long-term returns even if markets fall.
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