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

Value Stocks

Finning International Has a Surging Backlog Amid Mining and Infrastructure Boom

Finning Int’l Inc. has a bright outlook spurred by mining and infrastructure growth.

2 min read

Jim Bates

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

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

How To Invest

Monsanto aims for product diversity as shares rise

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....

2 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

CN moves ahead with improved efficiency, lower Canadian dollar

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....

2 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

Valeant aims at a huge target with hostile bid for Botox maker Allergan

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. ...

4 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

Cutbacks could spur rebound for Thomson

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. (Toronto symbol TRI; www.thomsonreuters.com) gets 55% of its revenue by selling news and information to professionals in the banking industry. The remaining 45% comes from providing specialized information products to clients in the legal, accounting and scientific research fields. Thomson earned $137 million, or $0.16 a share, in 2013 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s down sharply from $2.0 billion, or $2.39 a share, in 2012....

2 min read

Jim Bates

investing for beginners stock market profits

Dividend Stocks

Successful Kraft spinoff Mondelez aims to keep share price rising

We’ve had great success with companies spun off from larger parent firms in the past few years. That’s mainly because spinoffs let both companies focus on their already well-established businesses. As well, a parent will only hand out a subsidiary’s shares to its own investors if it’s confident the spinoff will benefit both companies. Shares of this food producer we cover in Wall Street Stock Forecaster have jumped since it was spun off to become a separate firm. Here is our analysis of its future prospects....

2 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

Malaysian Airlines drama puts spotlight on Canadian stock’s flight systems

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice and 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 a Canadian stock whose products came into sharper focus following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Flyht Aerospace Solutions makes a number of products, but the two attracting the most attention are devices that collect and stream flight data and could have shed light on the fate of the Malaysian airliner as it disappeared. Pat examines the company’s business and assesses its prospects for growth in a highly competitive market. ...

3 min read

Jim Bates

Energy Stocks

Cenovus aims for big growth from its oil sands projects

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. (Toronto symbol CVE; www.cenovus.com) gets about 40% of its output from its oil sands projects in Alberta. Conventional oil and natural gas wells supply the other 60%. U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of Cenovus’s main Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects in Alberta. These properties produce heavy bitumen, which Cenovus ships to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX) owns the other 50% of these refineries. In 2013, refining accounted for 66% of Cenovus’s revenue and 40% of its earnings....

2 min read

Jim Bates

Canadian insurance giants aim for rising sales in Asia, less risk in U.S.

How To Invest

2 U.S. small cap manufacturers spur growth with new products, acquisitions

These two small-cap Manufacturing & Industry picks are riskier than most of the large-cap selections in that sector we cover in Wall Street Stock Forecaster. However, they are both market leaders that are investing in new products and making acquisitions. TENNANT CO. (New York symbol TNC; www.tennantco.com) makes industrial floor-cleaning equipment, including scrubbers, sweepers and polishers. It also manufactures cleaning gear for garages, stadiums, parking lots and city streets....

3 min read

Jim Bates

Blue Chip Stocks

Going beyond the banks for high-yielding financial stocks

In our flagship Canadian advisory, The Successful Investor, we recommend that when you select investments in the financial sector, you start by looking at Canada’s big-five banks. But we also recommend diversifying your holdings with non-bank finance stocks. Two weeks ago, we covered one such stock that more aggressive investors might consider, Home Capital (see the article here). Today we examine two conservative non-bank stocks....

2 min read

Jim Bates