Jim Bates

Jim is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Jim has held the Chartered Financial Analyst designation since 1992 and spent more than a decade at the Financial Post DataGroup before joining TSI Network. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.

Posts by the author
McDonald's Corp. plans to keep aggressively opening locations to continue to power its sales.
Blue Chip Stocks
McDonald’s Reports Higher Sales Despite Economic Headwinds
McDonald’s Corp. plans to keep aggressively opening locations to continue to power its sales.
2 min read
Jim Bates
Dividend Stocks
T. Rowe Price Group Offers a High 4.8% Yield Enhanced by a Key New Strategic Alliance
1 min read
Jim Bates
Mattr Corp. (formerly ShawCor Ltd.) has a strong position in an expanding infrastructure materials market.
Growth Stocks
Mattr Is a High-Growth Infrastructure Materials Play, Trading Cheaply Right Now
2 min read
Jim Bates
investing for beginners stock market profits
How To Invest
Cintas targets small competitors as it expands market share
Stock Investing
Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. 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, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

CINTAS CORP. (Nasdaq symbol CTAS; www.cintas.com) provides a range of products and services to over one million businesses, mainly in North America.

The company gets 71% of its revenue by renting uniforms that it makes and cleans. This business also rents a variety of related products, such as mats, towels, mops and cleaning supplies. Cintas gets a further 10% of its revenue by selling uniforms.

In addition, the company sells first aid kits, fire extinguishers, sprinklers and emergency-exit lights (11%). It also shreds corporate documents (8%). In April 2014, it merged its shredding operations with Shred-it International. In exchange, Cintas received 42% of the combined company, which uses the Shred-it brand, plus $180 million in cash.

Cintas used the proceeds from the deal to pay a special dividend of $0.85 a share. It also increased its regular annual dividend by 10.4%, to $0.85 a share from $0.77. The new rate yields 1.1%. The company has now raised the payout annually for the past 31 years.

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3 min read
Jim Bates
Mining Stocks
Mining Stocks
Uranium junior presses ahead with new mines
Mining Stocks
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock 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 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.

Recently an Inner Circle member asked us about a uranium mining and exploration stock. Uranium Energy Corp. has one producing mine and several development-stage projects in Texas as well as exploration projects elsewhere. Pat examines the prospects for this junior in light of the growing demand from nations that still have millions living without electricity. He balances that against the competitive and regulatory issues that nuclear power faces in the U.S. and Canada as it competes with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel source.

Q: Hi, Pat: I would like your opinion on Uranium Energy Corp. Thank you.

...
2 min read
Jim Bates
Stock Investing
How To Invest
Split into two media firms unlocks profit opportunity for Gannett
Stock Investing
Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. 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, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

In August 2014, Gannett announced it would split into two companies. One will focus on newspapers and their associated websites, and the other will hold its TV stations and stand-alone websites.

The stock is down 11% since the spinoff announcement, mainly because investors are worried about falling advertising revenue.

Still, studies have shown that after the first few months, spinoffs tend to outperform groups of comparable stocks for several years. That’s mainly because companies will only take on the costs of a spinoff when they have reason to believe it will boost the value of both the new and remaining businesses.

GANNETT CO., INC. (New York symbol GCI; www.gannett.com) is the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., with 82 dailies, including USAToday, its flagship paper.

...
4 min read
Jim Bates
Stock Investing
How To Invest
Demand may rise for Canadian flight data system
Stock Investing
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on 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 member asked us about FLYHT Aerospace Solutions. This Canadian company supplies a number of products and services. But the two that have attracted the most attention in the past year are devices that collect and stream flight data. The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014—and the recent crash of AirAsia flight QZ850—underlined the potential value of those devices. Pat looks into the company’s business and assesses its prospects for growth in a highly competitive market.

Q: Pat: I would appreciate having your thoughts on the following company: FLYHT Aerospace Solutions. Thank you.

A: FLYHT Aerospace Solutions (symbol FLY on Toronto; www.flyht.com) supplies a number of products and services to the aviation industry. The company changed its name from AeroMechanical Services in 2012.

The company’s products include the AFIRS UpTime data-collection device, which records flight information as it happens and relays it to the aircraft operator’s facilities by satellite. FLYHT also sells an emergency device called FLYHTStream that sends real-time data to the ground for immediate analysis. As well, it recently introduced the Dragon, a lightweight, portable satellite communication device that lets users access FLYHT’s technology with an iPad.

...
2 min read
Jim Bates
Stock Investing
How To Invest
Low oil is a big bonus for Newell Rubbermaid
Stock Investing
Black Coffee, Pen and Newspaper
Jieyu Lai
Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. 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, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

Newell uses oil to make its products, so it stands to gain from the almost 60% drop in crude prices since June 2014. And even when oil rebounds, it will continue to benefit from recent acquisitions and its high market share.

NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. (New York symbol NWL; www.newellrubbermaid.com) makes plastic storage bins, tools, window blinds, pens and many other household goods.

The company makes most of its products from oil-based resins, so it stands to gain from the recent drop in oil prices.

Newell continues to streamline its manufacturing and distribution operations, which should cut $270 million from its annual costs by mid-2015. The company now feels it can save an additional $200 million a year by the end of 2017.

...
2 min read
Jim Bates
Real Estate Investing
How To Invest
Same rewards, different risks for 2 industrial REITs
Investment Advice
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from Members of his Inner Circle for advice on specific investments 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 “U.S. Stock Picks” on Thursday. This week an Inner Circle member asked us about several real estate investment trusts (REITs) that focus on industrial properties. Dream Industrial REIT, formerly Dundee Industrial REIT, owns buildings spread fairly evenly across Canada. Pure Industrial REIT also owns buildings across the country, but with almost half of them in Ontario. Both host a number of well-established tenants. Pat looks at the revenues and cash flow generated by these two REITs and their ability to sustain their distributions and high dividend yields. Q: Hi, Pat. I have a significant weighting in real estate investment trusts, including these two industrial REITs: Dream Industrial REIT and Pure Industrial REIT. Can you please comment on industrial REITs in general and these specifically? Thanks....
3 min read
Jim Bates
Stock Investing
How To Invest
$1.1 billion in takeovers spur growth for Bard
Stock Investing
Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. 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, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

C.R. BARD INC. (New York symbol BCR; www.crbard.com) makes over 15,000 medical devices in four main areas: oncology products that detect and treat various types of cancer (28% of 2013 sales); vascular products, like stents and catheters (27%); urology goods, such as drainage and incontinence devices (26%); and surgical tools (16%). Other medical products supply the remaining 3%.

The company’s products are typically only used once, so customers must continually buy new ones.

...
3 min read
Jim Bates
Investment Counsellor
Wealth Management
Buyout king nearing $100 billion in play
Investment Counsellor
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from Members of his Inner Circle for specific stock 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 “U.S. Stock Picks” on Thursday.

Recently we had a question from an Inner Circle member about one of America’s best-known venture capital firms, KKR &Co. Previously known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., the company earned notoriety when its leveraged buyout of Nabisco in the 1980s became the subject of a best-selling book and TV movie, Barbarians at the Gate. Pat looks at the company’s varied activities in the public, private and capital markets. He also assesses the strategies it is pursuing as it makes a flurry of deals aided by low borrowing rates.

Q: Pat: I was wondering if you could give me any information about KKR & Co. Your thoughts on it would be appreciated.

A: KKR & Co. LP (formerly Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP; symbol KKR on New York; www.kkr.com) is an asset manager with 14 offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

The company serves three main markets: private (investment funds); public (leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, special situation assets, distressed assets and rescue, debtor-in-possession and exit financings); and capital (debt/equity financing).

...
2 min read
Jim Bates
Tech Stocks
How To Invest
Pace of military spending big question for this U.S. giant
Stock Investing
YUNUS ARAKON
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from Members of his Inner Circle for specific stock tips 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 “U.S. Stock Picks” on Thursday.

Recently we had a question from an Inner Circle Member about the biggest defense contractor in the U.S., and the world, Lockheed Martin. Well-known for its fighter jets, Lockheed also supplies many more defense needs, including rockets and satellites, missiles and information systems. Pat looks at the company’s financial results and its expanding program of share buybacks. He also assesses the risk of depending heavily on military budgets against possible shifts in U.S. government policy.

Q: Pat: What is your opinion on Lockheed Martin Corp.? Thanks.

...
3 min read
Jim Bates
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