The market had it’s fugazi moment last week, when the world in one resounding mini crash concluded Nvidia might have limits on its unfettered growth and reign supreme. Skepticism is healthy. Analysts have been talking about the different needs of AI from training to inference but suddenly an open source research paper and LLM model named Deep Seek upended the entire AI industry. A Chinese hedge fund named High Flyer created it. Boy, did they even nail that name. You just have to wonder was this a giant short by High Flyer. If so, it was probably the best trade ever; at least since Soros bet the farm shorting the English Pound and John Paulsen literally brought down the house, shorting the housing market house of cards CLO finance structure.
Name: David A Ricks
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2025-01-28 Shares Bought: 2,250 Average Price Paid: $443.98 Cost: $998,946
Company: Adobe Inc. (ADBE)
Adobe is a global technology company that uses personalized digital experiences to change the world. Adobe’s innovations have changed the way people, groups, companies, organizations, institutions, and governments communicate and engage with each other across all media for over 40 years. Customers, communicators, creative professionals, developers, students, small and medium-sized organizations, and enterprises are among the company’s diverse user base. By granting creators authority over artificial intelligence in ways they deem responsible, they also empower artists.
David A. Ricks has been a member of Adobe’s board of directors since April 12, 2018. He is now the CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Ricks was the President and General Manager of Lilly China, a company that operates in one of the fastest-growing emerging markets in the world. Before joining Lilly Canada, he worked his way up through several management roles in U.S. sales and marketing. Purdue University awarded Mr. Ricks a B.S. in 1990, and Indiana University awarded him an M.B.A. in 1996.
Opinion: A lot of people are betting that generative AI will be extremely disruptive to Adobe’s Creative Cloud franchise. Others, including myself, are leaning toward just an improvement in the capabilities, not an annihilation.
Name: Craig W Kliethermes
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2025-01-24 Shares Bought: 5,000 Average Price Paid: $71.35 Cost: $356,750
Company: Rli Corp (RLI)
In 1965, RLI Corporation was established. The company runs operations through three insurance companies. Numerous insurance lines are written on an admitted basis in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam by RLI Insurance Company, the main insurance company of RLI Corporation. Illinois is home to all of the insurance companies. The business doesn’t operate in any major overseas countries.
Craig Kliethermes has served as RLI Corp. ‘s president and chief executive officer Since January 2022, Prior roles included executive roles at John Deere Insurance Company and GE Insurance/Employers Reinsurance, as well as senior vice president and director of quantitative analysis at Lockton Companies. Board/trustee memberships include: American Academy of Actuaries member; Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriters Society member; director of Heart of Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters; director of Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management at Saint Joseph’s University; and a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Opinion: This looks like an opportunistic buy near a six month low in share price, LA Fire related damage losses combined with a week quarter create a substantial overhead. I wouldn’t dive deeper until I see more or larger insider buying.
Name: Alfred F Kelly Jr
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2025-01-30 Shares Bought: 12,000 Average Price Paid: $50.66 Cost: $607,920
Company: General Motors Co (GM)
General Motors Company became a Delaware corporation. The company creates, manufactures, and markets automobiles, trucks, crossovers, and auto parts in addition to offering software-enabled services and subscriptions globally. The two segments of GM North America and GM International, which manufacture and/or sell cars under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands, are how the automotive operations meet customer expectations. The global division responsible for developing autonomous car technologies is Cruise. Through General Motors Financial Company, Inc., they provide financing services for automobiles.
Alfred F. Kelly Jr. has served as General Motors Co.’s director since 2024, Alfred Kelly served as Visa Inc.’s chairman of the board from 2019 to 2024, and as CEO from 2016 to 2023. Before joining Visa, Kelly served as president and CEO of the New York-New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee and as president of American Express until his resignation in 2010. He is a computer and information science bachelor’s degree holder.
Opinion: Tariffs be damned, Kelly he is buying GM. I guess he’s one informed insider that doesn’t think it will be too damaging.
Name: Russell E. Hutchinson
Position: Chief Financial Officer
Transaction Date: 2025-01-24 Shares Bought: 19,100 Average Price Paid: $39.45 Cost: $753,474
Company: Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY)
Name: Michael George Rhodes
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2025-01-27 Shares Bought: 25,634 Average Price Paid: $39.09 Cost: $1,002,097
Company: Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY)
Ally Financial Inc. is a financial services company with assets. The company, which is committed to “Do It Right” and being a consistent ally for consumers and communities, includes the largest all-digital bank in the country as well as a market-leading auto lending and insurance company. Deposits, mortgage lending, point-of-sale personal finance, credit card products, stock brokerage, and investment advising are just a few of the many online banking options available to customers. The company decided to sell Ally Lending, its point-of-sale finance division, on December 31, 2023.
Russ Hutchinson became the chief financial officer of Ally Financial in July 2023, he oversees Ally’s supply chain, investor relations, accounting, capital markets, treasury, finance, and modeling and analytics departments in this role. Before joining Ally, Hutchinson was the chief strategy officer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., where he oversaw strategy, innovation, and mergers and acquisitions. Hutchinson, a Canadian scholar, earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University in Canada.
Michael Rhodes has served as Ally Financial’s CEO since April 2024, Rhodes served as President and CEO of Discover Financial Services before joining Ally. In his role as Head of Innovation, Technology, and Shared Services, Rhodes improved the bank’s capacity to handle cutting-edge technologies like cloud migration and artificial intelligence while also boosting operational resilience, security, and efficiency. Rhodes holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University.
Opinion: Ally Financial, originally GMAC, began as General Motors’ financial wing, later gaining independence and now offering auto loans to GM and other automakers. IT doesn’t seem the tariffs bother these informed insiders either.