How To Invest
In addition, Pat thinks then beginner investors should cultivate two important qualities: a healthy sense of skepticism and patience.
Investors should approach all investments with a healthy sense of skepticism. This can help keep you out of fraudulent stocks that masquerade as high-quality stocks. It will also keep you out of legally operated, but poorly managed, companies that promise more than they can possibly deliver.
If you are a new investor, you should also realize that losing patience can cause you to sell your best choices right before a big rise. All too often, investors buy a promising stock just as it enters a period of price stagnation. Even the best-performing stocks run into these unpredictable phases from time to time. They move mainly sideways in a wide range for months or years before their next big rise begins. (Stock brokers often refer to these stocks as “dead money.”)
If you lack patience, you run a big risk of selling your best choices in the midst of one of these phases, prior to the next big move upward. If you lose patience and sell, you are particularly likely to do so in the low end of the trading range, when stock prices have weakened and confidence in the stock has waned.
[text_ad use_category="18"]
Read More
Close
ENERPLUS CORP. $24.31 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 202.8 million; Market cap: $5.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.5%) produces an average of 94,167 barrels of oil equivalent a day (54% gas and 46% 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.
In the three months ended December 31, 2013, Enerplus’s production increased 10.1% from a year earlier. However, cash flow per share fell 11.9%, to $0.89 from $1.01, as a short-term lack of pipeline capacity made it harder for the company to sell its oil at market prices.
...
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.
In the three months ended December 31, 2013, Enerplus’s production increased 10.1% from a year earlier. However, cash flow per share fell 11.9%, to $0.89 from $1.01, as a short-term lack of pipeline capacity made it harder for the company to sell its oil at market prices.
...
ARC RESOURCES $32.52 (Toronto symbol ARX; Shares outstanding: 314.9 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.arcresources.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its average daily output of 100,883 barrels of oil equivalent is weighted 59% to gas and 41% to oil.
In the three months ended December 31, 2013, ARC’s cash flow per share rose 11.8%, to $0.76 from $0.68 a year earlier. Production gained 5.4%, and the company’s realized gas price rose 8.7%. Oil prices increased 2.9%.
ARC’s long-term debt is $859.2 million, or a low 8.3% of its market cap. It trades at 9.7 times its forecast 2014 cash flow of $3.34 a share.
...
In the three months ended December 31, 2013, ARC’s cash flow per share rose 11.8%, to $0.76 from $0.68 a year earlier. Production gained 5.4%, and the company’s realized gas price rose 8.7%. Oil prices increased 2.9%.
ARC’s long-term debt is $859.2 million, or a low 8.3% of its market cap. It trades at 9.7 times its forecast 2014 cash flow of $3.34 a share.
...
CRESCENT POINT ENERGY $44.59 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 395.7 million; Market cap: $17.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Div. yield: 6.2%; www.crescentpointenergy.com) continues to add to its production in southeastern Saskatchewan’s Bakken light-oil area.
The Bakken, which covers parts of Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan, could contain more than 500 billion barrels of oil.
Oil was first discovered in the Bakken region in 1951, but it has always been hard to extract from the shale rock. However, modern techniques, such as horizontal (or slant) drilling, have made it easier for companies like Crescent Point to access the oil.
...
The Bakken, which covers parts of Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan, could contain more than 500 billion barrels of oil.
Oil was first discovered in the Bakken region in 1951, but it has always been hard to extract from the shale rock. However, modern techniques, such as horizontal (or slant) drilling, have made it easier for companies like Crescent Point to access the oil.
...
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $171.14 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 175.7 million; Market cap: $29.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.8%; www.cpr.ca), transports freight between Montreal and Vancouver, and connects with hubs in the U.S. Midwest and northeast.
In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, CP’s earnings per share rose 16.1%, to $1.44 from $1.24 a year earlier. Revenue increased 0.9%, to $1.51 billion from $1.50 billion.
CP’s operating ratio improved to 72.0% from 75.8% a year ago. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing regular operating costs by revenue. The lower the ratio, the better.) It continues to benefit from its efficiency improvements, mainly replacing locomotives, improving tracks and adding software that optimizes train loads and speeds.
...
In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, CP’s earnings per share rose 16.1%, to $1.44 from $1.24 a year earlier. Revenue increased 0.9%, to $1.51 billion from $1.50 billion.
CP’s operating ratio improved to 72.0% from 75.8% a year ago. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing regular operating costs by revenue. The lower the ratio, the better.) It continues to benefit from its efficiency improvements, mainly replacing locomotives, improving tracks and adding software that optimizes train loads and speeds.
...
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice about investing in 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. This week an Inner Circle member asked us about a drug company that specializes in combatting viruses. Hepatitis C is the primary target of treatments developed by Gilead Sciences, but it also plays a significant role in treatments for HIV/AIDS. Pat examines the status of the company’s leading drugs and analyzes its ability to maintain a position of leadership in a fiercely competitive field. ...
METRO INC. (Toronto symbol MRU; www.metro.ca) operates about 600 supermarkets in Quebec and Ontario. It also has over 250 drugstores that operate under the Brunet, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners. Metro continues to cut costs in response to competition from larger Canadian chains, like Loblaw and Sobeys, and big box stores like Wal-Mart and Costco. It is also converting some of its underperforming Metro outlets in Ontario to the faster-growing Food Basics discount banner....
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on stock tips 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. This week we had a question from an Inner Circle member concerning a proprietor of retirement homes in Canada. Amica Mature Lifestyles aims its appeal to members of the baby boom generation who are looking for luxury residences. Pat analyzes the company’s business and looks at its prospects as a premium brand competing in a growing retirement home market....
MONSANTO CO. (New York symbol MON; www.monsanto.com) sells technology-based agricultural products, such as genetically modified seeds, to farmers, grain processors and food producers. The company’s seeds make crops more resistant to pests, diseases and bad weather. Monsanto gets about 70% of its revenue from genetically modified seeds for corn, soybeans and other crops. The remaining 30% comes from selling herbicides, mainly under the Roundup brand....
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. (Toronto symbol CNR; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its 32,350-kilometre network stretches across the country and through the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. Thanks to strong shipping volumes in the wake of the recession, CN’s revenue rose 43.5%, from $7.4 billion in 2009 to $10.6 billion in 2013....
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice about stock picks 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. This week an Inner Circle asked us about one of the few major pharmaceutical stocks based in Canada. Valeant Pharmaceuticals was purchased in 2010 by Biovail, then Canada’s largest pharmaceutical firm, and the new company adopted the Valeant name. Valeant is making headlines with its hostile takeover bid for U.S. drug maker Allergan, the maker of the cosmetic drug Botox. ...
