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 CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $15.05 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the 15 Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The weight of each REIT is limited to 25% of the ETF’s value.

iShares CDN REIT’s expenses are 0.60% of its assets. The fund yields 5.2%.

The ETF’s largest holding is RioCan REIT at 19.4%, followed by H&R REIT (14.5%), Dundee REIT (8.3%), Canadian REIT (7.4%), Calloway REIT (6.7%), Cominar REIT (6.1%), Boardwalk REIT (5.9%), Canadian Apartment REIT (5.7%), Allied Properties REIT (5.5%), Artis REIT (4.8%), Chartwell REIT (4.4%), Granite REIT (4.3%), Dundee International REIT (2.3%), Northern Property REIT (2.3%) and Crombie REIT (1.9%).
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INNERGEX RENEWABLE ENERGY $8.40 (Toronto symbol INE; Shares outstanding: 94.5 million; Market cap: $802.8 million; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield 6.9%; www.innergex.com) operates 23 hydroelectric facilities, five wind farms and one solar-power plant in Quebec, Ontario, B.C. and Idaho. Innergex gets 55% of its power from hydroelectric facilities. Wind farms supply 39% and solar generates 6%.

In contrast to Algonquin, Innergex is growing slowly, mostly by building its own hydroelectric and wind plants, rather than by making acquisitions. Right now, it is developing or building eight projects.

But like Algonquin, Innergex makes sure it has firm long-term power-purchase contracts in place before it starts building new facilities.
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ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $6.96 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 205.0 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.9%) has nearly tripled in size over the last year through a series of acquisitions.

The company’s regulated utility businesses now provide water, electricity and natural gas utility services to over 470,000 customers, up from 120,000 a year ago. Its hydroelectric, thermal energy and wind plants currently generate 1,100 megawatts of power, up from 460 megawatts.

Emera (Toronto symbol EMA), a recommendation of The Successful Investor, our conservative growth advisory, owns 24.5% of Algonquin.
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GEORGE WESTON $85.19 (Toronto symbol WN; Shares outstanding: 127.9 million; Market cap: $11.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 2.0%; weston.ca) owns 63.1% of Loblaw. It will help it pay for Shoppers by buying $500 million of new shares. After Loblaw completes the purchase, Weston will own 46% of Loblaw.

Loblaw will operate Shoppers as a separate chain and does not plan to close any stores. That makes sense, because most Shoppers stores are small outlets in urban areas where there is little overlap with Loblaw’s mainly suburban supermarkets.

Shoppers will also keep its own brands and loyalty program. However, combining marketing and distribution should save the company $300 million annually by the end of the third year.
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LOBLAW COS. $47.97 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 283.0 million; Market cap: $13.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.0%; www.loblaw.ca) is buying Shoppers Drug Mart (Toronto symbol SC), which operates 1,240 drugstores across Canada.

Assuming regulators and Shoppers shareholders approve, Loblaw aims to complete the $12.5-billion purchase in six to seven months.


GREAT-WEST LIFECO $30.31 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 951.5 million; Market cap: $29.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 4.1%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s largest insurance company. It also offers mutual funds, retirement planning and wealth management. Power Financial owns 68.2% of Great-West.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2013, earnings rose 6.8%, to $521 million, or $0.55 a share, from $488 million, or $0.51, a year ago. On June 30, Great-West had $596.0 billion of assets under administration.

Earnings from the Canadian division, which supplies 54% of the total, rose 11.1%. Stronger sales of group policies offset lower demand for individual insurance. As well, the value of the assets this division manages rose, which pushed up its fee income.
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Gold Bars Stock Photo
HECLA MINING COMPANY (New York symbol HL; www.hecla-mining.com) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S. and Mexico. Most of its silver output comes from its Greens Creek mine in Alaska and its Lucky Friday mine in Idaho. In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Hecla’s revenue rose 27.3%, to $85.3 million from $67.0 million a year earlier. The company lost $0.03 a share, compared to a profit of $0.01. The loss mostly came from lower silver prices and costs related to its recent acquisition of Aurizon Mines....
High-yielding farm equipment firm keeps growing by acquisition
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on buying stocks 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....
Constant innovation is the key to growth for Intel
The computer chip makers who will prosper in the coming years are those who adapt best to new trends. These include the growth of mobile technology, such as smartphones and tablet computers, which is hurting demand for traditional desktop and laptop computers....