Insider Buys and Sells: Weekly Wrap-Up
Monday, May 5, 2008 | Tycoon StaffRating:
For all the analysts and pundits in the financial media, there is still no better judge of a company's health and future prospects than the owners and executives of those companies themselves.
That's why insider buying and selling is a critical piece of data that is monitored by people who invest for a living.
As part of our continuing effort here at The Tycoon Report to level the playing field between individual investors and the fat cats on Wall Street, we've decided to keep you informed -- on a daily basis and at no cost whatsoever -- of the most significant insider buying and selling.
Below is a weekly re-cap of the past week's activity. We publish this re-cap every Monday, and it can be accessed in your email issues or on the Tycoon Report website.
Very important note: While these Monday re-caps are available on the Tycoon Report website, if you want the most timely information we provide on insider buying and selling you've got to be sure and read the email issues that we send each weekday morning. Daily buys and sells can be found in the email version of The Tycoon Report near the top of the right-hand column (see for yourself ... we've got some recent news today, too).
Without further ado, below are is a summary of the insider buys and sells reported last week ...
BUYS
Jefferies Group Inc. (JEF)
Two directors at the investment bank purchased more than $91 million in company stock each (this is not a typo).
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Anixter International Inc. (AXE)
A director of this electronics wholesaler purchased nearly $60,000 worth of company stock last week.
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Novellus Systems Inc. (NVLS)
The semiconductor materials company CEO bought a combined $218,000 of company stock.
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Atp Oil & Gas Corp. (ATPG)
Centennial Energy Partners, 10% owners of ATP, purchased just over $2.5 million in company stock.
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Novamerican Steel Inc. (TONS)
Part owner of TONS, Scopia Management, added more than 900,000 shares, for a total of $2.5 million and change.
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Entrust Inc. (ENTU)
Empire Capital Management has added to their stake and bought $1.3 million worth of ENTU stock, which is on top of the nearly $3 million in stock that they've acquired since the beginning of February.
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Mercer International Inc. (MERC)
10% owner Peter Kellogg has completed two purchases of company stock worth an additional $1.1 million.
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Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (ETH)
A company Director has bought nearly $300,000 worth of ETH stock.
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Cybex International Inc. (CYBI)
The CEO, a company director, and one large shareholder purchased a combined $1.4 million worth of CYBI stock.
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National City Corp. (NCC)
One director of the midwest banking firm purchased $619,000 worth of company stock.
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Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB)
A company executive has purchased 9,000 shares of KMB (once "recommended" in The Tycoon Report), worth approximately $575,000.
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Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN)
Two investment firms have bought a combined total of nearly $20 million in AMLN stock.
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Owens Corning (OC)
Harbinger Capital Partners have added more than $11 million in OC stock to their Special Situations fund.
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Avid Technology Inc. (AVID)
Blum Capital Partners has purchased more than $8 million shares.
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SELLS
Shaw Group Inc. (SGR)
The CEO, over several transactions last week, sold more than $23 million worth of SGR stock.
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Schwab Charles Corp. (SCHW)
CEO Charles Schwab has sold 3.3 million shares of company stock, totaling just over $72 million.
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Blackrock Inc. (BLK)
The company's CEO, along with the President, sold a combined total of more than $18 million in BLK stock.
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Gamestop Corp. (GME)
GME executives have sold more than $55 million worth of company stock.
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Nike Inc. (NKE)
A company director has sold nearly $60 million in NKE stock in April.
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Nvr Inc. (NVR)
The CEO of this homebuilder has sold more than $19.5 million worth of company stock.
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US Bancorp (USB)
Several C-level executives have sold USB stock for a combined total of over $5 million.
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Korea Fund Inc. (KF)
The City of London Investment Group has sold nearly 1.5 million shares of KF for a total exceeding $37 million.
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Half Robert International Inc. (RHI)
A company Director has sold 100,000 shares, totaling nearly $2.4 million.
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American Water Works Company Inc. (AWK)
A major shareholder has sold 58,000,000 shares of ABK, worth more than $1.2 Billion.
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SEI Investments Co. (SEIC)
The CEO sold nearly $2.3 million worth of SEIC stock on Tuesday, which comes after selling more than $5 million worth over the previous week.
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BEA Systems Inc. (BEAS)
Carl Ichan has sold more than $2 billion of BEAS stock.
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International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
An executive vice president has sold more than $34 million worth of IBM stock.
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Economic Calendar for the Week of May 5 - May 9
Monday, May 5
10:00AM - Non-Manufacturing ISM: Institute for Supply Management
formerly: Non-Manufacturing NAPM (National Association of Purchasing Managers)
Release Details
- Importance (A-F): This release merits an improved B-.
- Source: Institute for Supply Management
- Release Time: 10:00 ET on the third business day of the month for the prior month.
- Raw Data Available At: http://www.napm.org.
The non-manufacturing ISM report is a national survey of purchasing managers which covers new orders, employment, inventories, supplier delivery times, prices, backlog orders, export orders, and import orders. Diffusion indexes are produced for each of these categories, with a reading over 50% indicating expansion relative to the prior month, and a sub-50% reading indicating contraction.
The index should be far more indicative of the broader economy given its inclusion of service-producing as well as good-producing sectors outside of manufacturing. However, the short history of the index dates to only July 1997 and doesn't provide the insight of a longer period inclusive of varied economic climates. The seasonal adjustment of the index didn't begin until January 2001 with only 3 of the 9 components seasonally adjusted as of April 2001. The lack of historical data and lack of a tight correlation to the non-manufacturing economy leaves the relatively poor "B-" rating compared to the "A-" rating of the well-respected manufacturing ISM index.
Highlights
- March ISM Services index 49.6 ( 0.3 pts).
- A small rise still leaves the index below a neutral 50 for a third month.
- The survey components have been volatile. All four key components have been below 50 for at least one of the last 3 months.
- Employment and deliveries provided the March drag, new orders and employment the February drag after all four were below 50 in January.
- Prices paid rose to 70.8 with energy and commodity prices.
- The new calculation introduced in January gives equal weight to business activity, new orders, supplier deliveries and employment.
The index received a make over with the release of the January index as it now is computed from 4 components -- business activity (the old top line index), orders, employment and supplier deliveries. They are equally weighted for the monthly index and provide rationale for the top line movement. The non-mfg ISM readings are still a bit suspect given their extremely broad inclusion (entire economy ex manufacturing) and the significant swings from the large number of varied economic sectors (construction, finance, heath care, etc). A level above 50 marks positive growth in non-manufacturing business activity. The index has been below the 50 neutral mark (contracting) since the start of 2008 but has recovered from January's lowest level since October 2001 -- during the last recession and just post the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Thursday, May 8
8:30AM - Initial Claims
Release Details
- Importance (A-F): This release merits a C .
- Source: The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor.
- Release Time: 8:30 ET each Thursday (data for week ended prior Saturday).
- Raw Data Available At: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/main.htm.
There are two other statistics in this report -- the number of people receiving state benefits and the insured unemployment rate; neither is watched closely by the market. Some analysts track the number of people receiving state benefits from month to month as a guide for job growth, though this series has a poor track record in predicting the monthly employment report. The insured unemployment rate changes little on a weekly basis and is never a factor for the market.
Highlights
- Raw Data Available At: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/main.htm
Friday, May 9
8:30AM - International Trade
Release Details
- Importance (A-F): This release merits a C .
- Source: The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce.
- Release Time: 8:30 ET around the 20th of the month (data for two months prior).
- Raw Data Available At: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/press.html.
The volatility in the monthly trade balance can play an important role in GDP forecasts. Net exports are a relatively volatile component of GDP, and the trade report provides the only early clues to the net export performance each quarter.
Highlights
- Raw Data Available At: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/press.html
