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
Energy Stocks
Depressed natural gas prices weigh on this commodity stock’s earnings
Encana Corp. (symbol ECA on Toronto) earned $665 million, or $0.90 a share, in 2010 (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). The commodity stock’s latest earnings were down 62.4% from its 2009 earnings of $1.8 billion, or $2.35 per share. Cash flow per share fell to $6.00 from $6.68 in 2009. (Note: The 2009 figures assume that the breakup of the old EnCana Corp. into the new Encana and Cenovus Energy took place at the start of 2009 instead of December 1, 2009.) Depressed natural gas prices were the main reason for lower earnings and cash flow. (Natural gas accounts for more than 95% of the commodity stock’s average daily production.) Encana’s average selling price for gas fell 22.0 % in 2010, to $5.48 per thousand cubic feet from $7.03 in 2009. The price decline offset a 12.0 % rise in the company’s total production....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Energy Stocks
Egyptian turmoil highlights this oil stock’s potential
Canada’s oil sands continue to face strong opposition from environmentalists. That’s mainly because the process of recovering heavy oil from the oil sands produces higher carbon emissions than conventional sources. However, new technology has let oil stocks cut way down on their oil-sands emissions. As well, turmoil in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries highlights the oil sands’ strategic importance to the U.S. and Canada. These factors make it less likely that Ottawa will introduce regulations that would slow oil-sands development.

Cenovus: a diversified producer with a focus on the oil sands

...
2 min read
Jim Bates
Growth Stocks
Growth stock picks: Western Union reports higher revenue and earnings in 2010
Western Union Co. (New York symbol WU) provides money-transfer and foreign-exchange services in over 200 countries. In 2010, Western Union reported revenue of $5.2 billion. That’s up 2.1% from $5.1 billion in 2009. If you exclude the negative impact of exchange rates, revenue would have risen 3%. The company earned $909.9 million in 2010, up 7.2% from $848.8 million in 2009. During the year, Western Union spent $584 million on share buybacks. Due to fewer shares outstanding, the growth stock pick’s earnings per share rose 12.4% to $1.36 from $1.21 the year before. If you exclude one-time items, including restructuring expenses, earnings per share would have risen 10.1%, to $1.42 from $1.29....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
Stock market picks: Overseas sales lift C.R. Bard’s results in 2010
C.R. Bard Inc. (symbol BCR on New York) makes medical devices in four main areas: urology products, such as vascular products, including stents and catheters (28% of 2010 sales); oncology products that detect and treat various types of cancer (27%); drainage and incontinence devices (26%); and surgical tools and other products (19%). Bard is one of the stock market picks we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. In 2010, Bard’s sales rose 7.3%, to $2.7 billion from $2.5 billion in 2009. Earnings rose 10.7%, to $509.2 million from $460.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share climbed 15.7% to $5.32 from $4.60, on fewer shares outstanding. If you exclude unusual items, such as merger costs, earnings per share would have risen 10.0%, to $5.60 from $5.09....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
Stock market research: Briggs & Stratton sales rise, earnings decline
Briggs & Stratton (symbol BGG on New York) is the world’s largest lawnmower engine maker. This business accounts for 62% of Brigg’s revenue. It gets the remaining 38% by making other home and garden equipment, such as portable and standby generators, pressure washers and snow blowers. In the three months ended December 26, 2010, sales rose 14.6%, to $450.3 million from $393.0 million a year earlier. Larger shipments of engines to European and Asian manufacturers boosted revenue, as did sales of snow blowers, lawn mowers and pressure washers. However, the company lost $1.3 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to earnings of $3.0 million, or $0.06 a share, a year earlier. The loss resulted in part from $4.6 million in restructuring and refinancing charges....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Daily Advice
Stock market trading: Arkansas-Best reports narrower loss in 2010
Arkansas Best Corp. (symbol ABFS on Nasdaq) specializes in “less-than-truckload” shipping, which involves loading freight from a number of customers onto a single truck. In 2010, Arkansas Best’s revenue rose 12.6%, to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion on 2009. The company lost $32.7 million, or $1.30 per share, in 2010. However, that was a big improvement on the $127.5 million, or $2.46 per share, that it lost in 2009. Arkansas-Best shipped more freight as the economy gradually recovered in 2010, particularly during the fourth quarter. Strong competition has been keeping shipping rates down, however. Arkansas-Best is now raising its rates to cover rising fuel costs....
1 min read
Jim Bates
Energy Stocks
Ethanol demand brightens this commodity investment’s prospects
Archer Daniels Midland Co., New York symbol ADM, processes corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, flaxseed, peanuts, cocoa and other crops into a wide variety of food ingredients, such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It mainly sells its products to firms that make and process food for both humans and animals. The company is also the largest maker of ethanol from corn in the U.S. Ethanol is a gasoline additive that lowers harmful emissions. Archer Daniels has more than 270 plants worldwide. The company is one of the commodity investments we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. In its 2011 second quarter, which ended December 31, 2010, the commodity investment’s revenue rose 31.6% to $20.9 billion from $15.9 billion a year earlier. That beat the consensus revenue forecast of $17.2 billion. Earnings rose 29.1%, to $732.0 million, or $1.14 a share, from $567.0 million, or $0.88 a share. The latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.78 a share....
1 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
How to profit from small cap stocks with less risk
Small cap stocks are companies with a “market cap” (the value of shares they have outstanding) below $2 billion, or some other arbitrary figure. (In the latest Wall Street Stock Forecaster, we updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a former U.S. small cap stock that has jumped that’s 89.1% since we first recommended it in May 2007. At the time, the company’s market cap was $1.6 billion. But it has more than doubled since, to $3.4 billion today. See below for further details.) Small cap stocks have the potential for strong gains, but they are generally more volatile than large-cap stocks. Temporary setbacks, such as a poor quarterly earnings report or the loss of a contract, can quickly cut their share prices. That’s why we view even the best small cap stocks as aggressive, and advise investors not to overindulge in small caps....
3 min read
Jim Bates
How To Invest
Saputo revenue and earnings rise in latest quarter
Saputo Inc. (symbol SAP on Toronto) is Canada’s largest producer of dairy products, including milk, butter and cheese. The company also makes snack cakes and tarts. Aside from Saputo, the Canadian stock pick’s main brands include Neilson, Stella and Dairyland. The company also has operations in the U.S., Argentina and Europe. Saputo is one of the stock picks we analyze in our Successful Investor newsletter. In its third quarter, which ended December 31, 2010, Saputo earned $111.8 million, or $0.55 a share. That fell short of the consensus earnings forecast of $0.57 a share. Even so, the latest earnings are up 7.2%, from $104.3 million, or $0.50 a share, a year earlier. The company reported revenue of $1.54 billion in the latest quarter, up 3.0% from $1.48 billion....
1 min read
Jim Bates
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