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

Energy Stocks

Chevron makes huge investment in Australian LNG

U.S. oil production is up 40% since 2008. That’s largely because of new technologies like hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This involves injecting water, sand and chemicals to break up shale and other tight rock formations and allow access to the oil and gas. The best way to profit from this volatile industry is through companies with high-quality reserves and diverse operations. Here is one of the diversified U.S. energy stocks we cover regularly....

2 min read

Jim Bates

Mortgage and loan software acquisitions spur growth for cheque printer

How To Invest

European acquisition boosting sales for Molson Coors

MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A and TPX.B; www.molsoncoors.com) is one of the world’s leading brewers. Its main brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling. The company’s sales fell when it merged its U.S. brewing operations with those of rival SABMiller to form MillerCoors in 2008. Because it owns less than half of MillerCoors, accounting rules forced Molson Coors to stop including the sales from this business in its overall sales....

2 min read

Jim Bates

Wealth Management

Investor Toolkit: Take a clear snapshot of your total portfolio

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network....

3 min read

Jim Bates

Wealth Management

Why “averaging down” to buy stocks can be a bad bargain

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network....

3 min read

Jim Bates

Growth Stocks

BlackBerry aims for growth with new phones, a new name and new markets

Hidden value is a key factor we look for in our stock recommendations. A good example of an underappreciated asset is a company’s brand name. Balance sheets often fail to assign any value to brands, even household names that have built up multitudes of loyal customers over the years. The strength of the brands of certain companies can help them expand beyond Canada. That’s where one of Canada’s best-known tech stocks, now under a new name, aims to grow.
BLACKBERRY (Toronto symbol BB; www.blackberry.com) is the new name of Research in Motion Ltd. (old symbol RIM). (Note: The company’s legal name will remain Research in Motion until shareholders approve the name change at the next annual meeting.)...

2 min read

Jim Bates

Wealth Management

How you can profit from the 7 wonders of the investment world

With 2012 drawing to a close, 2013 about to begin and a good deal of uncertainty still hanging over the markets, it seems like an ideal time to take a look at “The 7 Wonders of the Investment World.”

Understanding how these 7 wonders work in relation to your investments will go a long way toward enhancing your long-term results and meeting your financial goals.

Compound interest — earning interest on interest — can have an enormous ballooning effect on the value of an investment over the long term, and lift the overall returns on your portfolio.

This applies to equity investments like stocks, as well as to fixed-return, interest-paying investments like bonds....

4 min read

Jim Bates

Dividend Stocks

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $86 - Toronto symbol CNR

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $86 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 431.5 million; Market cap: $37.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.7; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) will repurchase up to 5.8 million of its shares from a private seller at a discount to the market price....

1 min read

Jim Bates

Growth Stocks

World’s biggest generic drug maker keeps growing

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. 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 the Inner Circle. This week, an Inner Circle member asked about the world’s biggest generic drug maker. This Israeli-based firm, which trades as an ADR, has grown steadily by acquisition. Pat examines the prospects for growth as an aging population demands more drugs, but he also looks at the challenges of increased competition and government regulation....

4 min read

Jim Bates

Energy Stocks

Remote oil and gas drillers and miners need this stock’s services

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. 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 the Inner Circle. This week, an Inner Circle member asked about one of the more versatile resource stocks in Canada. This company provides housing and a variety of other essential services for remote oil and gas rigs and mining sites. Pat looks at the company’s prospects for growth and its plans to begin making acquisitions in foreign markets....

3 min read

Jim Bates