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
Apple strives to hold off competition from cheaper mobile devices
Technology stocks tend to be riskier than our other recommendations in the Manufacturing & Industry sector. That’s mainly because innovations can quickly make today’s products obsolete....
Suncor hits record production with new oil sands projects
Suncor is shipping more oil by rail while waiting for governments to approve new pipeline, such as TransCanada’s Keystone XL. At the same time, recently completed oil sands projects are raising the company’s production....
Two precious metals ETFs and the outlook for gold and silver
The price of gold hit a low of around $1,200 in July 2013. It then moved up to $1,400 in two months. The price subsequently moved back down and is now close to $1,320....
BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.08 and BBD.B $4.04; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $7.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) has won a contract to build 65 railcars for a new public transit line in London, U.K. The company will build these cars at its plant in the country and deliver them from May 2017 to December 2018. Bombardier will also build a maintenance depot for the new line. The deal is worth $1.6 billion U.S., or 9% of Bombardier’s annual revenue of $17.9 billion U.S. The cheaper class B shares are the better choice because of their slightly better liquidity and higher dividend....
POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $37 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 856.1 million; Market cap: $31.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) earned $2.04 a share in 2013, down 13.9% from $2.37 in 2012 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Sales fell 7.8%, to $7.3 billion from $7.9 billion. North American potash demand should rebound in 2014, because farmers will need more fertilizer to replenish their soil after last year’s record crops. However, delayed orders will likely slow exports to Asia, because buyers feel prices will keep falling after last July’s breakup of a marketing alliance between producers in Russia and Belarus. Potash Corp. is still a hold.
CAE INC. $14 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 262.2 million; Market cap: $3.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) earned $46.1 million in its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended December 31, 2013. That’s up 22.9% from $37.5 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 28.6%, to $0.18 from $0.14. Sales rose 2.5%, to $513.6 million from $500.9 million. The company sold 12 flight simulators in the quarter and three more since January 1. That brings this fiscal year’s total to 43—a new record. As a result, sales at its civilian simulator and pilot-training businesses (55% of total sales) rose 3.2%....
CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $89 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 399.3 million; Market cap: $35.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) is the fifthlargest Canadian bank, with $398.4 billion of assets. CIBC recently launched a new credit card loyalty plan for travellers after it lost the Aeroplan contract to TD (see page 21). This plan, called Aventura, lets cardholders earn points on their purchases and redeem them for free flights and other benefits. Losing the Aeroplan business will cut CIBC’s annual earnings by $0.45 a share. To put that in context, it earned $3.6 billion in its 2013 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2013, up 6.5% from $3.4 billion in 2012. Earnings per share gained 8.8%, to $8.78 from $8.07, on fewer shares outstanding....
BANK OF MONTREAL $70 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 644.5 million; Market cap: $45.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) is Canada’s fourth-largest bank, with $537.3 billion of assets. The bank is buying U.K.-based F&C Asset Management, which sells investment services to individuals and institutional clients, such as pension plans and insurance companies. F&C has $136 billion U.S. in assets under management, which will increase the assets that Bank of Montreal’s Global Asset Management division administers to $269 billion U.S. The purchase will also add many wealth management clients outside North America....
BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $63 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $75.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) is Canada’s thirdlargest bank, with assets of $743.8 billion. The bank continues to profit from its November 2012 purchase of ING Direct, which offers a variety of no-fee banking services. ING has 1.9 million customers and $30 billion in deposits. Bank of Nova Scotia will soon change ING’s name to Tangerine (it has to stop using the ING brand by May 2014). The change will let this business keep using the orange colour associated with ING Direct. In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2013, the bank’s earnings rose 3.6%, to $6.7 billion from $6.5 billion in fiscal 2012. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share fell 1.3%, to $5.15 from $5.22. Without unusual items, such as a gain on a real estate sale, per-share earnings rose 10.2%, to $5.08 from $4.61....