investment advice

Every time you buy or sell a stock and increase your portfolio turnover rate, you face three costs

Today we look at one of Canada’s most intriguing penny stocks. Mountain Province Diamonds holds 49% of the Gahcho Kue diamond mine, which is currently being built in the Northwest Territories. The partnership of DeBeers Canada with this junior Canadian diamond stock gives the project special interest. It also raises the possibility of a takeover. A member of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle who owns Mountain Province wished to know whether to continue to hold the stock or sell it. In response, Pat McKeough examines the ownership structure of the companies behind the project, the mine’s production prospects and how they affect the speculative appeal of Mountain Province. ...

Penny stock Semafo aims to multiply its gold production with a big West African acquisition—and we assess the opportunities and risks

Kina Securities plans to undertake an initial public offering and list on the Australian Securities Exchange and Papua New Guinea’s Port Moresby Stock Exchange. The IPO aims to raise $97 million Australian ($93 million Canadian), giving the company a $164-million (Australian) market cap. Kina is one of Papua New Guinea’s largest financial institutions, offering services such as fund management, investment advice, corporate consulting, custodian and trustee services, and financial planning, in addition to a stock brokerage. It has over $2.5 billion (Australian) under management. The company will use part of the IPO funds to buy the Papua New Guinea subsidiary of Malaysia’s Maybank. This business is Papua New Guinea’s fourth-largest bank, offering commercial banking and advisory services, mostly in the timber and fisheries industries....

Our recommendation on a Canadian oil stock that has promising oil sands projects, but as yet no guarantee of success.

Our view on a Canadian solar stock that has new power plants and long-term contracts but remains dependent on government subsidies.

There are two basic approaches to investing in stocks: bottom-up and top-down. Bottom-up investing is the better of the two by far.

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. Each week, we offer you a highlight from these Q&A sessions. This week, why the world’s largest farm equipment maker isn’t among our U.S. stocks to buy.

Q: How do you see things shaping up for Deere & Co.? Is it a buy? Thanks.

A: Deere & Co. (symbol DE on New York; www.deere.com) started up in 1837 when its founder, John Deere, began making polished-steel plows at his blacksmith shop in Grand Detour, Illinois.

Today, the company is the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, with plants in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and Argentina. In addition to John Deere, its top brands include Frontier, Kemper, Green Systems and SABO.

Deere mainly sells these products through independent dealers and home-improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s. It has three divisions:

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Starbucks is opening 1,650 new shops in 2015 and has strong growth overseas—our take on whether that makes it a good stock investment

At major turning points in the market, “this time it’s different,” is one piece of investment advice that’s usually wrong…but not always.