Earnings Blackout or Insiders Backing Off? Roller Coast Week of October 4, 2019

  The spike in insider buying that supported the brief rally in September has predictably collapsed in part because earnings blackout has begun, but equally important insiders buy their own company’s stock when they perceive it to be cheap.  There was a pickup in buying during the summer as the market stalled and pulled back. Note the yellow highlight on the red graph. Ulta Beauty’s major shareholder and Channel family advisor, Charles Heibroon bought $58.9 million of the beauty chain company, Ulta Beauty.  Ulta took a dump on August 30th, dropping $100 in price, losing almost a third of its … Read more

Coty Insiders Get Serious Again- How Long can it Remain Public?

It’s only going to get duller from here as we head into 3rd quarter earnings season blackout. With the trade war on hold until October and most insiders blacked out from buying pre-earnings release, there won’t be much to be learned from the insiders’ tea leaves. After the most buying all year, the market responded by rallying sharply. Now insiders have retreated with few exceptions.  They are Coty, the giant cosmetics company controlled by European investment firm JAB Ltd. Coty has struggled with weak sales and executive turnover. On July 19th, the company said it will restructure its operations and … Read more

Notable Insider Activity Week Ending 8-31-19

You have to love investors that put their money where their shareholders are. None are better than this than Richard Kinder, pipeline magnate. He bought almost $8 million of his namesake company, Kinder Morgan.  The 5% dividend yield looks both juicy and secure. Las Vegas Station Casino owner continues to pile into Red Rock Resorts. Maybe he hasn’t heard that a recession is on the way. Dish shareholders continue to bet the farm on the license spectrum and their highly risky and leveraged 5G buildout. 5G cellular is supposed to change everything and no doubt it will change Dish. Wayfair … Read more

Notable Insider Buys Week of 8-23-19 as Trump Tweets Scare Investors

We are throwing out AESE as this wasn’t filed correctly and upon further review, it was deemed not to be an open market purchase Fossil Group insiders bought $2.2 million worth of this watch and teen wear company. FOSL group is in a race down the down staircase with decreasing revenues and decreasing SGA. Change Health Care is McKesson’s giant conglomerate of health tech companies recently gone public with Blackstone as their private equity investors. I haven’t had good luck with private equity IPOs, saddled with debt and selling institutional investors. This one doesn’t have any long term debt but it … Read more

Insiders Put the Petal to the Metal as Animal Spirits Show Signs of Life

Animal spirits are picking up.  This is the most buying we’ve seen since the market sell-off last December. One thing for sure, Insiders buy stocks when they think they are cheap.  Highlights are: Several insiders bought GE stock immediately prior to and immediately after Harry Markapolis’s interview on CNBC where he alleged fraud. Axogen Chairman bought $1 million worth of stock after the company she leads plunged 30% on weaker earnings forecast Outdoor billboard leader, Clear Channel newly appointed Chairman bought $913k at $2.28 per share.  CCO is loaded with debt. Three CIT insiders took advantage of low prices to … Read more

‘s Getting Interesting- Insider Buying Picks Up Week Ending 8-9-19

After weeks of dull action, insider buying has finally picked up. Part of it is the end of 2nd Quarter earnings blackout and part of it is the market sell-off.  The highlights: Charlie Egren, the founder of Dish, is making a massive bet on 5G, buying assets in the pending TMobile Sprint network and committing billions to buy more bandwidth.  Its a bet the farm expensive gamble on a player late to the game.  But if the competing networks are slow in getting 5G rolled out, Dish might be able to lumber in and get a piece of the future … Read more

Stock Market gets Clobbered – 4 Insiders buy over $6 million of Pharma Giant AbbVie $ABBV

Another dull week for insider buying but not the market. Markets have the worst week of the year.  This hardly comes as a surprise as insiders are an endangered species, the lowest ratio of buying on record according to the Washington Service.  A word to the hopeful, there is always something to buy but expect it to be painful.   The pharmaceutical giant has seen its price plummet since announcing the purchase of Allergan. Abbivies’s #1 drug, Humira, is coming off patent.  Humira is the brand name of the biologic medicine adalimumab and was first approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis … Read more

Are You Aggressive or Conservative? Better Check Your Beta..

By: Harvey Sax   A lot of that depends on the beta of your portfolio.  But before we get into all of that, let’s go over just what beta is. Stock Beta is a ratio that indicates how a stock fluctuates with relation to the market.  Beta is an indicator of market risk also called volatility.  When you research a stock, look at the beta to get an idea as to how choppy the returns on this stock will be with relation to the market.  If this doesn’t align with your risk tolerance, this stock may not be for you. … Read more

Thinking About Retirement? Forget 401Ks, Graffiti Pays… A Lot.

Ok, so maybe picking up a can of spray paint isn’t the best retirement option for everyone, but it certainly worked out for David Choe.  Back in 2005 and under the direction of Napster kingpin Sean Parker, he adorned the walls of the Palo Alto with his street styled tagwork (the rest of his mixed medium works can be seen here).  Upon completion, Parker asked if he would like to be compensated in cash or in an equal value of stock.  While Choe is no beacon of the mainstream social environment, he took a gamble and accepted the offer of … Read more

12 Rules Stockpickers Live By

The Magellan Fund has never been as strong and consistent a performer after Peter Lynch left the helm.  There are many postulates as to why this is the case.  I am going to introduce a new one.  Few believe Berkshire will be the same after Buffett.  In fact those trying to imitate Buffett’s style now have paled in comparison.  I believe that just like the two investors shared some things in common, one thing they shared that the market has failed to appreciate is that both investors constantly changed, they evolved and their styles of investing encompassed many and broad … Read more

Differentiating Between An Irrational Market Or Strong Bull Market Trend?

Guest post by: Kirk Differentiating Between An Irrational Market Or Strong Bull Market Trend? These past two weeks have been tough as an options trader. Differentiating between trading an a possibly irrational market or bull market trend is sometimes very difficult to assess. We all know that the stock market can push us to extremes and then, just when we “give up” and “give in” the turn happens. Timing is really everything. Blow-off Top or Pull-Back? Most traders I talk to are in one of two schools of thought right now. Either you think this is the best shorting opportunity for the … Read more

More than a coffee shop? Starbucks to offer beer, wine in select locations

In the search for increasing profits a number of fast food restaurants venturing away from their tried and true business models and testing the uncharted waters of breakfast; Subway, Wendy’s Co. and YUM brand’s Taco Bell are just a few.  In a similar venture at a select few locations, Starbucks is looking to add alcoholic beverages and a larger menu to match which would include light, appetizer style fare.  If successful, the coffee chain could be looking at a large increase in sales with little additional overhead costs.  Considering the frequency locations are used to conduct business, the addition of … Read more

Before you jump in up to your head, you better read this first.

  Stocks May Fall Further Despite Massive Sell-Off – Barrons.com Blood Not Yet Running in the Streets By MARK HULBERT | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR Despite the market’s steep plunge, investors are far less concerned and panicked than they were during last year’s Flash Crash. Contrarian-oriented investors may be wondering if Thursday’s free-fall constitutes the proverbial “blood running in the streets” that noted contrarian Nathan Rothschild famously said marked the time to buy. Unfortunately not, according to my contrarian analysis of advisory sentiment. via Stocks May Fall Further Despite Massive Sell-Off – Barrons.com.