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
Mining Stocks
Rising emerging market demand sent this blue chip mining stock’s earning soaring
BHP Billiton Ltd. ADRs, New York symbol BHP, is the world’s largest mining company, with major operations in Australia, South Africa, Chile and the U.K. It produces iron ore, coal, oil, aluminum, manganese, diamonds and titanium. BHP is one of the blue chip mining stocks we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, BHP earned $21.7 billion, or $7.87 per ADR (each American Depositary Receipt represents two BHP common shares). That’s up 73.9% from $12.5 billion, or $4.48 per ADR, in fiscal 2010. Even so, the latest earnings missed the consensus forecast of $7.16 per ADR. Revenue rose 35.9%, to $71.7 billion from $52.8 billion....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
Stock picks: High oil prices push up Precision Drilling’s earnings
Precision Drilling Corp., Toronto symbol PD, provides contract-drilling services to oil and gas producers. The company owns 360 drilling rigs in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We analyze Precision in The Successful Investor, our newsletter that recommends stock picks for conservative investors. Precision recently converted from an income trust to a regular corporation. Investors received one common share for each trust unit they held. The change was in response to Ottawa’s new tax on income-trust distributions, which came into effect on January 1, 2011....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
Canadian stocks: High raw material costs weigh on Dorel’s earnings
Dorel Industries, symbol DII.B on Toronto, makes a wide range of products: including bicycles; ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products, such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs (including Eddie Bauer and Disney Baby licensed products); home furnishings, including chairs, tables, bunk beds, futons and step stools; and recreational products. Dorel is one of the Canadian stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that recommends the stocks for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, Dorel’s sales rose 1.9%, to $619.0 million from $607.7 million a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). The Canadian stock’s recreational/leisure division’s sales rose 15.9%, mainly on strong demand for bicycles. That offset lower sales in the other divisions....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Wealth Management
Portfolio management: How to avoid the pitfalls of “averaging down”
“Averaging down” is the well-known market tactic by which investors buy more shares of a stock that has come down in price.

Averaging down lowers your average cost per share, but can cost you money in the long run. At the same time, you run the risk of distorting your overall portfolio management strategy.

Portfolio management: 3 reasons to avoid “averaging down.”



Here are three problems that crop up with averaging down:

  1. Averaging down ignores investment quality. Many investors have made lots of money by “averaging in” to the stock of a well-established, well-managed company — that is, buying more as funds became available over a period of years....
2 min read
Jim Bates
Daily Advice
Stock market investments: Rising newsprint costs weigh on Gannett’s earnings
Gannett Co. Inc., New York symbol GCI, reported revenue of $1.33 billion in the three months ended June 26, 2011. That’s down 2.2%, from $1.37 billion a year earlier. The company is seeing lower advertising revenue at its 82 newspapers, including its flagship paper, USA Today. That’s mainly because its 2010 revenue benefited from advertising tied to the U.S. midterm elections. However, the company’s revenue from its digital operations, such as CareerBuilder.com and newspaper web sites, rose 12.6% in the quarter. Earnings fell 13.5 %, to $151.5 million, or $0.62 per share, from $175.2 million, or $0.73 per share. The company’s publishing earnings were hurt by a 9.3% increase in newsprint costs. To cut costs, the company announced in June 2011 that it will cut 700 jobs, or 2% of its workers....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Daily Advice
Stock market news: Strong sales, smart merchandising send Macy’s earnings higher
Macy’s Inc., New York symbol M, operates 850 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores in 45 states. It also sells goods over the Internet. We analyze Macy’s in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that gives you stock market news and advice on U.S. stocks. In the three months ended July 30, 2011, Macy’s earnings rose 63.9%, to $241 million from $147 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 57.1%, to $0.55 from $0.35, on more shares outstanding. That was well ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.48 a share....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Energy Stocks
Big production jump pushed up this natural gas stock’s cash flow
Trilogy Energy Corp., symbol TET on Toronto, owns oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. About 76% of Trilogy’s production is natural gas. The remaining 24% is oil. Trilogy is one of the natural gas stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that recommends investments that may be appropriate for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, Trilogy produced an average of 29,320 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including natural gas). That was up 21.7% from 24,087 barrels a day a year earlier. Trilogy’s daily production should jump to an average of 30,000 barrels for all of 2011....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Growth Stocks
Tech stocks: Strong quarter for Intel
Intel Corp., symbol INTC on Nasdaq, is the world’s largest computer-chip maker. About 80% of all computers use its chips. In the three months ended July 2, 2011, the tech stock’s revenue of $13.0 billion. That’s up 21.1% from $10.8 billion a year earlier. The company’s recent acquisitions of McAfee Inc. and Germany’s Infeon Wireless Solutions (now Intel Mobile Communications) contributed $1.0 billion to Intel’s revenue, or 7.7% of the total. The tech stock’s earnings rose 10.0% in the quarter, to $3.2 billion from $2.9 billion. Earnings per share rose 15.7%, to $0.59 from $0.51, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude costs related to integrate acquisitions and other one-time items....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Energy Stocks
Resource stocks: Teck Resources’ earnings surge on higher coal and metal demand
Teck Resources Ltd., Toronto symbol TCK.B, is a leading producer of metallurgical coal, a key ingredient in steelmaking. It also produces other metals, including lead, copper and zinc. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, the resource stock’s earnings jumped 89.8%, to $1.12 a share from $0.59 a year earlier. Revenue rose 27.2%, to $2.8 billion from $2.2 billion. Teck saw higher prices for silver (up 111%), coal (up 49%), lead (up 32%), copper (up 30%), zinc (up 11%) and molybdenum (up 6%). However, higher operating costs and the strong Canadian dollar slightly offset these gains....
1 min read
Jim Bates
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