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
TRANSCANADA CORP. $46.71 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.0 million; Market cap: $33.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) now estimates that it will cost $5.4 billion U.S. to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump crude from the Alberta oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. That’s up from $5.3 billion U.S.

TransCanada hopes the U.S. government will approve Keystone XL in early 2014. If so, it could start up in 2016.

If the company has to cancel Keystone XL, it will probably have to write off the $2.0 billion U.S. that it has already invested in it. That’s equal to about 50% of the company’s annual cash flow, but it’s still a manageable amount.
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VERESEN $13.86 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 200.9 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Yield: 7.2%) 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. Enbridge owns the other 50%. Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, and Veresen and Enbridge together hold 85.4% of the Aux Sable NGL plant.

In February 2012, Veresen paid Encana Corp. $920 million for the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex. Encana signed a long-term deal to buy most of this facility’s gas.

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PEMBINA PIPELINE $34.42 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 313.0 million; Market cap: $10.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Div. yield: 4.9%; 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.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2013, Pembina’s revenue rose 34.9%, to $1.2 billion from $870.9 million a year earlier. The gains came from pipeline expansions and Provident Energy, which Pembina bought for $3.2 billion last year. Provident extracts, transports and stores NGLs.

Cash flow jumped 41.7%, to $188.7 million from $133.2 million. Cash flow per share gained 32.6%, to $0.61 from $0.46, on more shares outstanding.
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ENCANA CORP. $20.28 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 740.2 million; Market cap: $15.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.4%; www.encana- .com) is one of North America’s largest natural gas producers.

However, rising shale gas production has cut prices from $11.50 U.S. per thousand cubic feet in 2008 to just $3.63 today.

That’s prompting Encana to cut its reliance on gas by narrowing its focus from around 30 properties to five: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta), DJ Basin (Colorado), San Juan Basin (New Mexico) and Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (Louisiana).
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GREAT-WEST LIFECO $32.20 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 999.5 million; Market cap: $32.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.8%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s largest insurance company. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Financial owns 68.1% of Great-West.

Excluding costs to integrate Irish Life, Great-West’s earnings per share rose 7.3% in the three months ended September 30, 2013, to $0.59 from $0.55 a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with $705.1 billion of assets under administration.

Earnings at the Canadian division (which supplies 56% of the total) rose 18.6%, as higher sales of personal insurance offset lower demand for group policies. The value of the assets this business administers also rose, which increased its wealth management fee income.
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Cash flow jumps on production upgrades for these two U.S. energy stocks
Oil and gas industry. Work of refinery petrochemical plant. Oil reservoir and storage tank of mineral oil. Blue sky above factory
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DEVON ENERGY CORP. (New York symbol DVN; www.dvn.com) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 57% gas and 43% oil....
SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $36 (www.suncor.com) produced an average of 437,000 barrels of oil a day at its oil sands projects in November 2013. That’s up 16.5% from 375,000 barrels in October, when the company slowed production due to the temporary shutdown of a pipeline....
CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $95 (www.canadiantire.com) has developed a new all-season tire with a special sidewall that changes colour when the outside temperature falls below a certain point. That tells the driver it’s time to install snow tires. Unique products like this should give Canadian Tire an edge over big U.S....
ENBRIDGE INC. $43 (www.enbridge.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 11.1%, to $0.35 a share from $0.315. The new annual rate of $1.40 yields 3.3%. The company expects to start operating several new oil pipelines in the next few months. As a result, its earnings should rise from a projected $1.79 a share in 2013 to between $1.84 and $2.04 a share in 2014....