Put five Fools in a room, ask them how they invest, and you'll likely get five different answers. Some like growth, others value, or small caps, or dividends, or, well, you get the picture.
Yet, while our styles differ, we all want excellent, engaged managers running the companies we own. We like it even more when these managers are also owners -- investors like you and me who, in trying times like these, are willing to buy as others sell. That's why I write this column weekly.
The week's buying
So which rich executives are buying now? Have a look, courtesy of our friends at Form 4 Oracle:
|
Company |
Closing Price 1/27/09 |
Total Value Purchased |
52-Week Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bank of America |
$6.50 |
$4,123,465 |
(82.9%) |
|
BlackRock |
$108.39 |
$1,049,720 |
(47.6%) |
|
General Maritime |
$10.59 |
$94,755 |
(51.4%) |
|
PacWest Bancorp |
$18.30 |
$162,649 |
(45.4%) |
|
Popular Inc. |
$3.02 |
$136,700 |
(75.4%) |
Sources: Fool.com, Yahoo! Finance, Form 4 Oracle.
Can America bank on this stock?
Raise your hand if John Thain's $1.22 million collection of office decor disgusted you. Me, too. That B of A bet on this guy doesn't say much about the company, or the stock.
But there are plenty of reasons not to like Bank of America, argues CAPS investor crescentrv. "So it might go up or down, but -- like GM -- this is completely dependent on the good will of the Fed Govt." Continuing:
There is a decent chance that the Govt's hand will be forced, due to the massive injections that would be needed -- and they will take the equity holders to zero.
Our Fool has a point. Bank of America has twice dangled its feet in the bailout pool, the second time to cover huge losses from its acquisition of megabroker Merrill Lynch. That deal made B of A the largest bank in the country, with $2.7 trillion in assets.
But shareholders paid dearly. Bank of America at first agreed to a $50 billion acquisition for Merrill, but according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, CEO Ken Lewis miscalculated what it would take to consummate the deal and begged regulators for help. Thain has since resigned. Lewis probably should.
And shareholders? They're left wondering just how bad it will get. You'll find plenty of skeptics in our 125,000-strong Motley Fool CAPS community:
|
Metric |
|
|---|---|
|
CAPS stars (out of 5) |
*** |
|
Total ratings |
7,466 |
|
Percent bulls |
87.7% |
|
Percent bears |
12.3% |
|
Bullish pitches |
1,181 |
Data current as of Jan. 28, 2009.
Interestingly, you'll find the loudest-snorting bulls inside B of A: Ten executives and board members bought shares between Jan. 20 and 22, including Thain and Lewis. Combined, they committed more than $4 million to new holdings.
And they aren't the only bank insiders buying. At JPMorgan Chase
Should you be bullish, too? I'm not so sure. Foolish colleague Morgan Housel raises a good, if cynical, point about these and other bank buys: They increase confidence, which makes it easier to raise capital. Tread carefully, Fool.
There's your update. See you back here next week when we dig through more insider filings in search of the next home run stock.
Get the inside scoop on stocks of all sizes:
- Find out which executives were buying last time.
- And here's a look at those who've been selling.
- It's been 53 years since we've seen news this bad.
- All millionaire-maker stocks share one trait.
- Buffett would probably hate highfliers like these.
