If you are looking for clues to tell you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Mattson Technology (MTSN) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending Feb. 25 as insiders snapped up 5,000,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $12,350,000. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by -6.49% and now own 0.14% of MTSN stock.

Continue reading Insiders Snapping Up Mattson Technology, Acelrx Pharmaceuticals and More

Insiders Snapping Up Mattson Technology, Acelrx Pharmaceuticals and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was September 29 when I last wrote about GameStop (GME) in Chasing Value: Are GameStop's Days Numbered? At that time I strongly believed "The demise of GameStop is not imminent -- but it's inevitable." My opinion of this outlet for new and used video games has indeed changed since that time.

I now believe even more fervently that GameStop the gamer is a goner. If you own it, you are playing a game of chicken to see if you make a few bucks with GME as it bounces up and down before it sinks. A word of caution is in order: timing the market as a strategy is a losing proposition the majority of the time.

Continue reading Chasing Value: GameStop's Demise Not Imminent, Just Inevitable

Chasing Value: GameStop's Demise Not Imminent, Just Inevitable originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week's column gave five questions for investors to ask before they buy or sell a stock. Here are five more to help start any research. They'll help save a lot of time and more important, money and loss of sleep.

6. What is Price to Book? This measures the price you pay compared to the amount of equity that's in the company. Equity is all the money investors have put in plus all the profits. When you can find a company that is selling for a Price to Book of less than 1, it means you are buying the equity in the firm for less than it's worth. It's like buying $1 for less than a dollar. Hard to find these stocks? Not now in the Financial sector. Look at Bank of America (BAC). It's Price to Book is 0.54. That means you're paying 54 cents for every $1 of equity. Of course, investors think there could be many more charges against that equity before the bank stabilizes, but if they're wrong, an investor might be picking up a real bargain here. Other examples: JPMorgan Chase (JPM) at 0.89; Citibank (C) at 0.74.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Keeping It Simple ... Part 2

Comfort Zone Investing: Keeping It Simple ... Part 2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was only a month ago I wrote a story comparing Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ), concluding the latter to be the better opportunity from a value investor's perspective. At the time Oracle was $27.49. Yesterday it closed at a new 52-week high of $29.23 -- a gain of 6.33%.

During this time, Oracle insiders have been selling shares and the trend is negative. In September alone, almost $300 million of the stock was sold off. If you examine Barron's weekly summary of insider activity, as one source, you will find that Oracle has been in the top five companies on the sell side for many weeks. As the stock has been rising, insiders have been selling into strength.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Oracle Insiders Selling as Stock Hits 52-Week High

Chasing Value: Oracle Insiders Selling as Stock Hits 52-Week High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Delta CEO Sells Stock: No Signs of Turbulence Ahead

Delta CEO Sells Stock: No Signs of Turbulence Ahead originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 May 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Manpower Drops After Insiders Sell Stock

Manpower Drops After Insiders Sell Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Corning Drops on Insider Selling

Corning Drops on Insider Selling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Netflix (NFLX) recent insider selling tops $2.2M

Netflix (NFLX) recent insider selling tops $2.2M originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The market takes an upward turn, and the insiders head for the exits.

In the wake of the largest stock market rally in 71 years, according to Bloomberg, the sale of insider shares has reached its most aggressive levels in the past two years. Insiders of companies in the S&P 500 were net sellers for 14 weeks in a row. Six people at Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), for example, sold $8.2 million in company stock.

Continue reading Inside out: Those closest to companies are selling

Inside out: Those closest to companies are selling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading McDonald's (MCD) CEO sells 150,000 shares

McDonald's (MCD) CEO sells 150,000 shares originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 May 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading UnitedHealth (UNH) sinks on insider selling

UnitedHealth (UNH) sinks on insider selling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Has anybody else out there noticed that Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), recently sold $135 million of his stock? Not to worry, these are his regular 10b5 plan sales that are pre-scheduled with the SEC. Just smart diversification I suppose.

Normally, I would think this is not that big a deal since he owns billions of dollars of the stock as the single largest shareholder. If I were him, I would be selling too, in particular because I have felt that AMZN is overpriced for quite a while. (See Serious Money: AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, ISRG -- at what Price?)

The stock jumped early this month when Amazon announced the retirement of debt and a stock buyback plan over the next two years. This was a temporary affect; the stock has been trading in the low $70's recently, give or take a few bucks.

But what strikes me as curious is that this buyback plan is announced while insider selling has rarely been higher! The buyback and Bezos selling inspired me to look at the latest insider trading. When I checked it out I discovered company directors, officers, and "affiliated persons" have all been sellers and only sellers. To be fair some of the sales are listed as 'planned'; however, the plan does not have to be filed very far in advance, so I am not impressed by this.

Continue reading Amazon insiders selling and stock buybacks too?

Amazon insiders selling and stock buybacks too? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) stock is falling this morning after one of the company's directors sold 10,000 shares of BBY common stock on Friday under a prearranged trading plan. This news, combined with investors' worries that lower-end shoppers are putting off discretionary purchases to keep covered on everyday staples, is pushing BBY down this morning. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BBY.

After hitting a one-year high of $55.59 last December, the stock hit a one-year low of $41.85 in August. As of 11:05, BBY is trading at $50.87, down 86 cents(-1.7%). The chart for BBY looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a very positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bear-call credit spread above the $57.50 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in 7 weeks as long as BBY is below $57.50 at January expiration. Best Buy would have to rise by more than 12% before we would start to lose money.

BBY hasn't been above $56 at all in the past year and has shown resistance around $52 recently. This trade could be risky if the holiday season turns out to be a big one for electronics and gadgets, but with increasing energy prices and dropping home values, consumers may not have too much discretionary income to spend on holiday presents.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in BBY.

Best Buy (BBY) insider sells 10K shares originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Did insider selling predict trouble at Crocs?

Did insider selling predict trouble at Crocs? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Under Armour (UA) insiders trim positions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After hitting a one-year high of $56.66 in July, the stock has struggled against resistance in the mid-$50's. This morning, IR opened at $54.03. So far today the stock has hit a low of $51.79 and a high of $54.15. As of 11:05, IR is trading at $52.89, down $1.40 (-2.6%). The chart for IR looks neutral but improving, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a November bear-call credit spread above the $60 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.2% return in 7 weeks as long as IR is below $60 at November expiration. Ingersoll-Rand would have to rise by more than 14% before we would start to lose money.

Continue reading Ingersoll Rand (IR) hedged options strategy

Ingersoll Rand (IR) hedged options strategy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're a fan of using insider sentiment to predict the future course of a stock, you may want to stay far away from Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA).

A piece in this week's Barron's takes a look at the pattern of insider selling at the company. The long list of form 4's for the company's page in the SEC's Edgar Database tells the story: Shares of Papa John's have been weak performers of late, but that hasn't stopped founder John Schnatter from selling $8.5 million worth of stock on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week alone. Of course, the company explained that the sales were motivated by estate planning and diversification needs, but would he really be dumping if he thought the stock was about to go on a run?

In addition to the sales, Schnatter has also recently reduced his role with the company. He has gone from "executive chairman" to "non-employee founder chairman," and is now receiving stock options in lieu of a cash salary. He will continue to act as a spokesman in the company's ads.

Many restaurant companies have struggled as their entrepreneurial founders reduced their roles and eventually left. Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) is the most high-profile example of this, having struggled mightily since founder Dave Thomas's passing. A video posted on YouTube describes Schnatter's journey from a tiny restaurant to a huge franchise and, while less iconic, it would not be a stretch to suspect a similar fate for Papa John's.

Taken at face value, the insider sales are not a reason to go bearish on Papa John's, but Schnatter's reduced role in the company he founded could be a serious risk factor.

Papa John's (PZZA) founder serves up shares of his declining stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Insiders ditching Adobe (ADBE) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mortgage market news and insider selling likely connected originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.