Investing 101: Insider Stock Picks Hitting New Highs

By Alexander Crawford, Kapitall 

March 23, 2012 

Article from The Motley Fools

Company insiders report when they buy shares of their employer, and when they do, analysts and investors view it as a very bullish indicator.

The reason why is insiders, which include members of the board and upper management, are expected to know more about their company than other investors, so when they express their optimism in the company's prospects, it's viewed positively.

To illustrate this idea, we ran a screen on stocks hitting new 52-week highs for those with the most significant net insider purchases over the last six months.

Business section: Investing ideas

Below are the results of this screen. These stocks have recently closed at new 52-week highs, and they also have seen net buying from insiders over the last six months indicating their optimism.

Are you also optimistic about these companies' prospects?

Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO  ) : Operates as an apparel and accessories retailer in the United States and Canada. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 1,134,490 shares, which represents about 0.68% of the company's 167.40M share float.

2. Calumet Specialty Products Partners (Nasdaq: CLMT  ) : Produces and sells specialty hydrocarbon products in North America. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 156,140 shares, which represents about 0.6% of the company's 25.90M share float.

3. Pharmacyclics (Nasdaq: PCYC  ) : Operates as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing and commercializing small-molecule drugs for the treatment of immune mediated disease and cancer. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 1,340,060 shares, which represents about 2.47% of the company's 54.25M share float.

4. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB  ) : Operates as a real estate investment trust. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 36,945 shares, which represents about 0.07% of the company's 50.60M share float.

5. Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ  ) : Produces and markets alcoholic beverages primarily in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 34,839 shares, which represents about 0.02% of the company's 164.53M share float.

Changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Kapitall's Alexander Crawford does not own any of the shares mentioned above. Insider data sourced from Yahoo! Finance.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal 

You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

The Motley Fool owns shares of Pebblebrook Hotel. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Pebblebrook Hotel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Article from The Motley Fools

Japanese Stocks: The Greatest Value Investment of 2012?

by Justin Dove, Investment U Research

Wednesday, March 21, 2012: Issue #1734

Article from Investment U

 

Could Japanese stocks be the best value play of 2012?

The investment surprise of 2012 so far isn’t the orderly Greek default, the sudden sell-off in U.S. Treasury bonds, or even the big move up in the Dow. It’s the astonishing outperformance of Japan, a market that’s even topping highflyers like China, Korea and Brazil.

The Wall Street Journal summed it up well last Thursday:

“Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average climbed above the 10,000 mark to close at its highest level in more than seven months, riding a surge in the dollar against the yen triggered by the bank of Japan’s surprise moves in February to stimulate the economy. The index has gained 19% this year, well above the 8% advance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the 6.7% gain in the U.K’s FTSE 100 index.”

Yet the Journal also noted “most U.S. investors have missed out on the big gains.” Not Oxford Club members, however. Chief Investment Strategist Alexander Green has been pounding the table on the Tokyo market for months now.

In a research note to members in February, Alex wrote:

“Japanese consumers and investors are flush with cash. They have largely ignored domestic stocks after decades of sub-par returns. But eventually that money will find its way out of mattresses and back into Japanese equities. When it does, the Tokyo market will lift off.

“This is doubly true when institutional money managers return to this country in a serious way. For years, global fund managers have outperformed the world benchmark simply by underweighting Japan. But let the Shinkansen leave the station without them and they will dash after it. Institutional money could hit the Japanese market like its coming out of a fire hose. When it does, you want to own what they’re buying. In short, Japanese equities are overdue for a significant rally.”

Oxford Club members know he backed up this forecast with two ETF recommendations, iShares MSCI Japan Index (NYSE: EWJ) and WisdomTree Japan Small Cap Fund (NYSE: DFJ). And then followed with a recommendation of Toyota (NYSE: TM) to Oxford Club members and to Investment U Plus subscribers in February. Both funds have pushed higher in recent weeks and Toyota has tacked on almost 20 points in less than two months.

Alex remains resolutely bullish. I recently caught up with him at the beautiful Grand Del Mar in San Diego for the 14th Annual Investment U Conference. He had this to say about the “unexpected rally in Japan” that he’s been calling for:

“This bull market in Japan is likely still in its infancy. The Bank of Japan has joined the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank in upping the level of quantitative easing. That will drive the yen lower and improve the sales and profit margins of big Japanese exporters like Toyota.

“Japanese stocks are still among the world’s cheapest. The Japanese market’s price/book ratio – the value of a company’s stock price relative to its assets – is currently 1.3. By comparison, the price/book ratio of the S&P 500 is 2.2. There is still plenty of upside here.”

Smart investors scour the globe for high-quality assets selling well below their intrinsic value. If you’re one of them, you owe it to yourself to heed this advice – add some exposure to the Japanese market today.

If history is any guide, you’ll be glad you did.

Good Investing,

Justin Dove

Article from Investment U