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
Growth Stocks
RTX Keeps Adding to Its Strong Backlog
RTX Corp. (formerly Raytheon Technologies Corp.) hits new all-time highs on unprecedented global demand.
4 min read
Jim Bates
Value Stocks
Finning International Has a Surging Backlog Amid Mining and Infrastructure Boom
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
Growth Stocks
Wall Street stocks: Strong competition pushes Supervalu to a loss
Supervalu Inc., New York symbol SVU operates 2,394 company-owned and franchised supermarkets. The Wall Street stock’s major banners include Save-A-Lot, Albertsons and Jewel-Osco. Supervalu gets 77% of its revenue from its retail stores. It gets the remaining 23% by supplying food to 1,900 independent grocery stores. The company continues to focus on its core business of food retailing, and has stopped selling other items, such as automotive goods and perfumes, in its stores. In its fiscal 2011 ended February 26, 2011, the Wall Street stock’s sales fell 7.5%, to $37.5 billion from $40.6 billion in fiscal 2010. Same-store sales fell 6.0%. The company closed underperforming stores, and was forced to cut its prices due to stronger competition from discount retailers, including Wal-Mart, which is selling more groceries in its stores....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Growth Stocks
U.S. stocks: Alcoa’s earnings rise with aluminum prices
Alcoa Inc., symbol AA on New York, is one of the world’s largest aluminum producers. The U.S. stock’s customers are mainly in the aerospace, automotive, construction and beverage industries. Alcoa operates in 31 countries. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the U.S. stock’s sales rose 21.9 %, to $6.0 billion from $4.9 billion a year earlier. Even so, the latest sales fell short of the consensus estimate of $6.1 billion. Alcoa earned $309 million, or $0.27 a share. If you exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate firms Alcoa recently bought, it would have earned $0.28 a share. On that basis, the U.S. stock’s latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.27 a share. A year earlier, Alcoa lost $194 million, or $0.19 a share....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Daily Advice
Today’s stock market: Discount sales hurt Reitman’s earnings
Reitmans (Canada) Ltd., symbol RET.A on Toronto, owns 968 women’s clothing stores across Canada. We analyze Reitmans in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing in today’s stock market. These include 364 Reitmans, 161 Penningtons, 158 Smart Set, 121 Addition Elle, 75 Thyme Maternity, 67 RW & Co. and 22 Cassis stores. Reitmans continues to actively monitor its regional markets, and open and close stores as necessary....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
2 reasons why now is a great time to invest in Canada’s top real estate investment trusts (REITs)
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) resemble income trusts, but with a key difference: REITs invest in income-producing real estate, such as office buildings and hotels. High-quality real estate investment trusts can make attractive, lower-risk additions to your portfolio. Even so, we continue to advise against overindulging in REITs. But if you’re thinking of investing in some of Canada’s top REITs, here are 2 reasons why now is a great time to do so:...
2 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
This real estate investment’s earnings rose sharply in the latest quarter
FirstService Corp., symbol FSV on Toronto, serves the following areas of the real-estate market: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property improvement. FirstService is one of the stocks we cover in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, the real estate investment’s revenue jumped 18.5%, to $552.1 million from $465.8 million a year earlier. (All figures except share prices in U.S. dollars.) Earnings per share rose 37.0%, to $0.37 from $0.27....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
U.S. stocks: Cintas reports higher sales and earnings
Cintas Corp., Nasdaq symbol CTAS, designs, makes and sells uniforms to about 800,000 business, mainly in North America. Cintas also offers related services, including office cleaning and document shredding. Cintas is one of the U.S. stocks we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. In the three months ended February 28, 2011, the company’s sales rose 8.8%, to $937.8 million from $861.8 million a year earlier (all figures in U.S. dollars). Earnings rose 20.6%, to $59.1 million from $49.0 million. Earnings per share rose 28.1%, to $0.41 from $0.32, on more shares outstanding. The latest earnings easily beat the consensus estimate of $0.36 a share....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Energy Stocks
Commodity investment: Delphi Energy reports sharply higher production
Delphi Energy, symbol DEE on Toronto, explores for oil and gas in Alberta and B.C. Natural gas makes up 76% of its daily output; the remaining 24% is oil. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, the commodity investment reported combined daily output of natural gas, liquid natural gas and crude oil rose 24.0%, to 8,539 barrels of oil equivalent from 6,888 barrels a year earlier. Delphi’s cash flow rose 26.5%, to $18.0 million from $14.2 million. Its cash flow per share rose 14.3%, to $0.16 a share from $0.14 a share....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
Stock market trading: PRT Forest revenue declines in latest quarter
PRT Forest Regeneration Income Fund, Toronto symbol PRT.UN, is the largest producer of container-grown forest seedlings in North America. It grows its seedlings in 13 greenhouses and open outdoor compounds. PRT expects to produce about 170 million seedlings in 2011. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, PRT reported cash flow of $0.07 per unit, compared to $0.12 per unit a year earlier. The fund received payment for an insurance claim in early 2010, and used a portion of the funds to pay off its $3.7-million bank debt. That significantly lowered its interest costs. However, that was not enough to offset a 9.4% drop in revenue, to $6.8 million from $7.5 million....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Growth Stocks
Emerging-market demand pushed up this U.S. stock’s earnings in the latest quarter
McCormick & Co. Inc., New York symbol MKC, makes spices, herbs, seasonings, specialty foods and flavours, and markets them to the food industry. In addition to North America and Europe, the company operates in Mexico, Central America, Australia, China, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa. The U.S. stock’s brands include McCormick, Old Bay, Thai Kitchen and Billy Bee. In the three months ended February 28, 2011, earnings rose 13.1%, to $76.8 million from $67.9 million a year earlier. The company spent $50.3 million on share buybacks during the quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 11.8 %, to $0.57 from $0.51. That beat the consensus earnings estimate of $0.54 a share. Sales rose 2.4%, to $782.8 million from $764.5 million a year earlier. Strong sales in China, India and Mexico offset weak or flat sales elsewhere. The company also raised its prices to offset the higher ingredient costs....
1 min read
Jim Bates
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