Trading

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

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  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?

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

How Reliable is Insider Selling? Not Very

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We look at insiders buying and selling of their companies’  stock. Analyzing insider selling can be tricky, though, and does not guarantee a negative outlook. People sell  for a variety of reasons: there are planned sales, employees retiring, and people just wanting to cash in their returns but they buy for one reason, to make money. It’s normal to see insiders selling on a regular basis. That doesn’t raise red flags. However, we look for unusual patterns: insiders selling at 52-week lows (not something you want to see in a stock you own), cluster selling, and smart insiders(those that have exhibited … Read more