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

Growth Stocks

Google’s Stock is About to Get Cheaper—Pat McKeough on YouTube

The more you know about investing, the more successful you will be. That has been Pat McKeough’s approach through four decades as an investor and investment counsellor. He regularly presents his views on specific investment topics—and specific stocks—on video in order to share the insights he has gathered over the years. Today’s topic is one of the world’s leading tech stocks. In the contest to see which company would become the dominant Internet search engine, Google (symbol GOOG on Nasdaq) was the clear winner. It has built upon that foundation. Four years ago, the company launched its Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers. This year, it purchased cellphone maker Motorola Mobility. Now it has announced a key re-organization that will make its richly-priced shares more liquid. We give an explanation of Google’s share initiative followed by Pat’s commentary. ...

2 min read

Jim Bates

7 Days Group (ADR) - Front of an inn photo

Growth Stocks

Chinese hotel operator looks to sustain rapid growth

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on 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 a question about one of China’s biggest budget hotel operators. In response, Pat gives an assessment of the potential rewards—and many risk factors—that come with investing in China. ...

3 min read

Jim Bates

Dividend Stocks

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $42 - Toronto symbol POT

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $42 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 859.1 million; Market cap: $36.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) is the world’s largest fertilizer producer....

2 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

The right way to use P/E ratios—Pat McKeough on YouTube

The more you know about investing, the more successful you will be. That has been Pat McKeough’s approach through four decades as an investor and investment counsellor. He regularly presents his views on specific investment topics on video in order to share the insights he has gathered over the years. In today’s video, Pat points out that while the knowledge you acquire is certain to enhance your success an investor, it is also true that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. That applies to one of the mainstays of stock research, the price/earnings ratio (the current share price divided by earnings per share). As a staple of stock quotes, the p/e ratio is widely used as a guide to the future profitability of a stock. But when it’s used on its own without taking other factors into account, Pat observes, it can lead to very costly mistakes. ...

2 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

This stock gains with a healthier diet

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on 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, one Inner Circle member asked Pat how he thinks one growing U.S. consumer chain measures up as a stock market investment. Tapping into the increasing demand for a healthier diet, this stock has already made its presence felt in Canada and aims to continue its ambitious expansion program....

3 min read

Jim Bates

Dividend Stocks

Canadian auto body firm grows rapidly through acquisitions

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on 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 past week, an Inner Circle asked us about one of the handful of companies (outside of REITs) that has remained an income trust. This auto repair firm has undertaken a program of rapid growth that involves buying up smaller shops and chains. Pat assesses the pros and cons of this aggressive strategy. Q: Dear Pat: What do you think about Boyd Group Income Fund? Could you please give me your insight and recommendation? Thank you....

4 min read

Jim Bates

Wealth Management

What You Need for a Successful Retirement—Pat McKeough on YouTube

We receive many questions from our readers and clients on retirement planning, and the subject has become even more popular as the first wave of the baby boom generation enters the retirement years. Many more will soon follow.

Most retirement questions revolve around how much money you need to retire, and the best way to generate a steady, comfortable income after you have left your working life behind....

3 min read

Jim Bates

How To Invest

Canadian printing firm diversifies with two U.S. acquisitions

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on buying 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. Recently, an Inner Circle member asked about a Canadian stock that is going through a transition period. This printing firm, which has specialized in cheques for many years, is using two acquisitions to help it diversify as electronic transactions become the norm. ...

2 min read

Jim Bates

Daily Advice

The Lessons of the Facebook IPO—Pat McKeough on YouTube

Almost three months ago, on May 18, Facebook issued one of the most highly-publicized Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in the history of Wall Street. A week before, Pat McKeough had already issued his own investment advice on the stock. He advised investors to take a pass. Just as Pat predicted, Facebook shot up briefly, only to reverse course and head into a decline that hasn’t ended yet. This week it disappointed investors again with bad earnings (as did another Internet issue that has taken a beating, games specialist Zynga Inc.). There’s a cautionary message for investors in this and it relates directly to one of Pat’s core principles: Avoid stocks that bask in the broker/media limelight. Stocks like these can cause investor expectations to rise so high that downturns can be brutal—which is exactly what happened in this instance. Here is Pat’s original warning about Facebook from May 11....

2 min read

Jim Bates