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

ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA INDEX FUND $60.73 (New York Exchange symbol EWY; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Korea Index.

The ETF’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics, 20.1%; Hyundai Motor Co., 5.5%; Posco (steel), 3.4%; Naver (Internet content), 3.2%; SK Hynix Semiconductor, 3.1%; Shinhan Financial, 3.1%; Hyundai Mobis (auto parts), 3.1%; Kia Motors, 2.3%; LG Chemical, 2.2%; and KB Financial, 2.1%.

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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND $39.78 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Its geographic breakdown includes China, 18.3%; South Korea, 16.0%; Taiwan, 11.7%; Brazil, 10.6%; South Africa, 7.4%; India, 6.4%; Russia, 6.2%; Mexico, 5.4%; Malaysia, 3.9%; and Indonesia, 2.2%.

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ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $12.04 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.

The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.1%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Softbank Corp., 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Canon, 1.3%; and Mitsubishi Estate Co., 1.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.5%; Consumer Discretionary, 20.9%; Industrials, 19.3%; Information Technology, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Health Care, 6.0%; Materials, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.8%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%.
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PENGROWTH ENERGY $6.66 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 519.8 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.2%; www.pengrowth.com) recently sold off $1 billion of less-important properties to raise funds for its $590-million Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta.

As a result, Pengrowth’s average daily production fell 11.7% in the three months ended September 30, 2013, to 83,275 barrels of oil equivalent (57% gas, 43% oil) from 94,284 a year earlier. But thanks to higher prices, cash flow per share rose 10.7%, to $0.31 from $0.28.

The stock is up 33% since the start of 2013, but it still trades at just 5.8 times the company’s forecast 2014 cash flow of $1.14 a share.
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ENERPLUS CORP. $18.97 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 202.1 million; Market cap: $3.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.7%) produces an average of 87,729 barrels of oil equivalent a day (52% gas and 48% oil).

The company’s properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as the Marcellus Shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

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ARC RESOURCES $28.78 (Toronto symbol ARX; Shares outstanding: 313.6 million; Market cap: $9.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.arcresources.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. The company’s average daily output of 94,915 barrels of oil equivalent (including gas) is weighted 62% to gas and 38% to oil.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2013, ARC’s cash flow per share rose 29.1%, to $0.71 from $0.55 a year earlier. Production gained 5.6%, plus its gas prices rose 20.0% and oil prices increased 24.6%.

ARC’s long-term debt is $739.8 million, or a low 8.0% of its market cap. It trades at 8.6 times its forecast 2014 cash flow of $3.36 a share.
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BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $64.40 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $77.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Div. yield: 3.9%, www.scotiabank.com) is the third-largest of Canada’s five big banks, with assets of $743.8 billion.

In its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter, which ended October 31, 2013, the bank earned $1.30 a share, up 10.2% from $1.18 a year earlier.

Higher loan demand and an increase in deposits pushed up the Canadian banking division’s earnings by 23.3%. That includes the contribution from ING Direct, which Bank of Nova Scotia bought for $3.1 billion in late 2012. ING Direct offers a variety of no-fee banking services, mainly over the Internet. It has 1.8 million customers and $30 billion of deposits.
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Home Depot stands to profit from rising U.S. housing prices and severe winter storms
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on the top stocks to buy as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle....
Two U.S. wireless giants aim to spur sales with ever faster wireless networks
AT&T and Verizon keep making their wireless networks faster, which is fuelling demand for new services, like mobile video. They are also making upgrades to their regular phone networks in order to spur sales of high-speed Internet access....