Verizon Communications Inc.

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CORP., $17.39, symbol CHK on New York, is down about 50% from its high of $35.75 last August. That’s largely because natural gas prices have fallen to near 10-year lows. However, the drop has accelerated lately, partly on news that the company’s co-founder, CEO and chairman, Aubrey K. McClendon, took out loans that could put him in a conflict of interest. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now investigating....

China Mobile Ltd. (ADR), $55.34, symbol CHL on New York (ADRs outstanding: 4.0 billion; Market cap: $221.4 billion; www.chinamobileltd.com) is China’s leading cellular service provider, with over 667 million customers and 72% of the country’s mobile market. The company also has the world’s largest cellular network, and is the largest wireless firm in the world by number of subscribers. It also provides cellular services in Hong Kong. China Mobile began trading on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges in October 1997. Each American Depositary Receipt represents five China Mobile common shares. Chinese government-owned China Mobile Communications Corp. owns 74.2% of China Mobile....

VeriFone Systems Inc., $52.77, symbol PAY on New York (Shares outstanding: 106.7 million; Market cap: $5.6 billion; www.verifone.com), manufactures and develops technology that makes electronic payments faster and more secure. The company makes many different kinds of point-of-sale equipment, including cash registers, card and cheque readers, and receipt printers. VeriFone also makes software that manages online transactions. Seventy per cent of the top 200 retailers in the U.S., including Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Safeway and Whole Foods, use VeriFone’s products. The company also has a number of clients beyond retailers, including banks and government agencies. VeriFone began operating in 1981. It first sold shares to the public on May 4, 2005, for $10.00 each....

TELUS $57.67 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 324.5 million; Market cap: $18.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.telus.com) plans to merge its common shares and its non-voting class A into a single class of shares.

Telus created the non-voting shares in 1998, when U.S.-based Verizon Communications (symbol VZ on New York) held a major stake in the company. The move let Telus comply with regulations preventing foreign control of Canadian telecom firms. Verizon sold its non-voting shares in 2004. Non-Canadian investors now hold less than 20% of Telus’s stock.

Telus now has about 174.9 million common shares and 149.9 million non-voting shares outstanding. Under the proposal, each non-voting share will become one common share. Investors holding two-thirds of each share class, voting separately, must approve the change.

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VITERRA INC., $13.58, symbol VT on Toronto, jumped almost 21% today after the company said it had received expressions of interest from unnamed parties interested in taking it over. Viterra is a Saskatchewan-based agribusiness that mainly operates in Canada and Australia. The company accumulates, stores, transports, processes and markets grains, oilseeds and specialty crops, including lentils and mustard. The stock was our Pick of the Month in the last issue (March 2012) of Stock Pickers Digest. At the time, it was trading at $10.09. That’s a 34.6% gain in less than one month. Our view is that the company is well positioned to benefit from an expected rise in Canadian and Australian crop yields in 2012, as well as the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on western Canadian wheat and barley sales. In addition, its Australian operations’ sales to Asia continue to rise....

TELUS $57.67 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 324.5 million; Market cap: $18.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.telus.com) plans to merge its common shares and its non-voting class A into a single class of shares. Telus created the non-voting shares in 1998, when U.S.-based Verizon Communications (symbol VZ on New York) held a major stake in the company. The move let Telus comply with regulations preventing foreign control of Canadian telecom firms. Verizon sold its non-voting shares in 2004. Non-Canadian investors now hold less than 20% of Telus’s stock. Telus now has about 174.9 million common shares and 149.9 million non-voting shares outstanding. Under the proposal, each non-voting share will become one common share. Investors holding two-thirds of each share class, voting separately, must approve the change....

TELUS CORP., Toronto symbols T $57.22 and T.A $56.71, wants to merge its common shares and its non-voting class A shares into a single class. Telus created the non-voting shares in 1998, when U.S.-based Verizon Communications Inc. (New York symbol VZ) held a major interest in the company. The move let Telus comply with regulations preventing foreign control of Canadian telecom firms. Verizon sold its non-voting shares in 2004. Right now, non-Canadian investors hold less than 20% of Telus’s stock. The company currently has about 174.9 million common shares and 149.9 million non-voting shares outstanding. Under the terms of the proposal, each non-voting share will become one common share. Investors holding two-thirds of each share class, voting separately, must approve the plan at a special meeting on May 9, 2012....

AT&T and Verizon are upgrading their wireless networks to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, which is up to five times faster than today’s systems. LTE networks can also more easily handle network-heavy features, like mobile video calling. These improvements should continue to spur both companies’ earnings, and give them more cash for dividends. AT&T INC. $30 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.9 billion; Market cap: $177.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 5.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) gets 50% of its revenue from its 103.2 million wireless customers. The other 50% mainly comes from its 39.0 million telephone clients and 16.4 million high-speed Internet users. The company recently cancelled its plan to buy rival wireless carrier T-Mobile from Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG; AT&T felt that competition regulators would have blocked the deal....

As the stock market rebounded in 2009 from one of the worst crises in years, Pat McKeough was invited by Jonathan Chevreau of the Financial Post to appear on his ‘Wealthy Boomer’ telecast. In a two-part interview, Pat aired his views on a wide variety of investment subjects. Now, with the stock market coming off last autumn’s lows, we think it’s an appropriate time to replay the interview. Pat discusses not only specific solutions for volatile markets, but also how his investment advice applies in all market conditions. Here is part two of the interview, entitled “Spreading investments” on YouTube. (View part one here: Pat McKeough’s investment ideas as shown on YouTube.)...

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. $38 (New York symbol VZ, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 2.8 billion; Market cap: $106.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 5.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.verizon.com) is the largest provider of wireless
services in the U.S., with 108.7 million subscribers. Wireless accounts for 63% of its revenue. It also has 24.1 million phone and Internet customers.

In 2011, Verizon added 6.3 million new wireless subscribers (net of deactivations) and 278,000 new high-speed Internet customers. These gains offset the loss of 1.9 million phone customers.

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