stock investing

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock investing advice 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 a report on one of the stocks profiled in these Q&A sessions. We give you Pat’s buy-hold-sell recommendation as well as his analysis of the stock. This is part of the specific buy, hold and sell advice we offer you in our daily posts. Every week you get “A Stock to Sell” on Monday, “Best Canadian Stocks” on Tuesday, and “Our Top U.S. Stocks” on Thursday.

Recently an Inner Circle member asked us about Parkland Fuel, a company that sells gasoline and operates convenience stores through its own brands and under license to bigger companies like Imperial Oil. Parkland recently lost a major supply contract with Suncor Energy and Pat examines the company’s attempts to replace that business with new acquisitions. He also looks at the impact of lower oil prices on Parkland’s profits.

Q: Hi Pat: Could you give us an update on Parkland Fuels? They are continuing to make acquisitions, and the stock continues to rise. Would you consider it a buy now? Regards.

A: Parkland Fuel Corp. (symbol PKI on Toronto; www.parkland.ca) operates gas stations, convenience stores and a fuel distribution business, mostly in Western Canada and Ontario. It was called Parkland Income Fund before it converted to a dividend-paying corporation on December 31, 2010.

The company owns 144 rural gas stations and convenience stores. Brands include Fas Gas Plus, Race Trac Gas and Short Stop. Many of Parkland’s stations sell propane in addition to gasoline and diesel fuel. The company also operates Esso stations in Western Canada and Ontario under a licensing deal with Imperial Oil (symbol IMO on Toronto). It recently signed an agreement to use the Chevron brand in B.C.

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Every Monday we feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in the stock at this time. Domtar Corp. (symbol UFS on Toronto; www.domtar.com), is among North America’s largest producers of paper (sold in huge rolls), with an annual capacity of about 3.4 million tons....

Every Thursday we bring you “Best U.S. Stocks.” You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

More consumers are shopping online instead of in stores. That trend has forced some book and music stores to close and is putting pressure on electronics chains and sellers of office and computer equipment.

Even so, most consumers still prefer to shop for clothes in stores, where they can try them on before buying. That’s a plus for Nordstrom. Moreover, the company continues to invest heavily in e-commerce and make it easier for shoppers to pick up their online orders in stores.

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Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock investing advice, 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 a report on one of the stocks profiled in these Q&A sessions. We give you Pat’s buy-hold-sell recommendation as well as his analysis of the stock. This is part of the specific buy, hold and sell advice we offer you in our daily posts. Every week you get “A Stock to Sell” on Monday, “Best Canadian Stocks” on Tuesday, and “Our Top U.S. Stocks” on Thursday. Last week an Inner Circle member asked us whether a well-known watch and jewellery distributor is a “steal” after its share price slumped following a recent surge. Movado does not make watches, but sells and distributes them under its own brand and through notable designer names. Pat assesses the company’s business and its growing market share and looks at Movado’s prospects of maintaining its leading position in the $500 to $1,500 price range for watches. Q: Movado is a steal, or so it appears: it surged to around $44 but has now slumped. Is this a buy, or are the fundamentals wrong in this overly competitive fashion business?...

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re an aggressive or a conservative investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice and stock investing tips. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “It’s easy to assume that frequently-quoted investment rules are based on successful experience, but they can often prove to be misleading and harmful.”...

The shift toward online shopping continues to pick up speed: over the next 10 years, e-commerce could account for 40% of all retail sales in developed nations and 30% in emerging markets. We feel the best way to profit from this trend is through shares of companies that process online payments and fulfill orders. Here are two such stocks we cover in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster. VISA INC. (New York symbol V; www.visa.com) operates the world’s largest electronic payments network, through which it processes credit, debit, prepaid and commercial transactions....

PFIZER INC. (New York symbol PFE; www.pfizer.com) is the world’s largest maker of prescription drugs. Its main brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis), Viagra (erectile dysfunction) and Prevnar (a pneumonia vaccine). Pfizer also makes popular over the-counter drugs, including Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup)....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific stock investing advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “There are too many occasions when an investment that is in a broker’s best financial interest will actually bring the investor higher costs and greater risk.”...

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....

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....