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Significant Insider Buys: Merrill Lynch, XL

Written on August 2, 2008 by Ryan Freund

When we research stocks, insider purchases are one of our main criterion for selecting our picks. Why? Quite simply because insiders almost always know more about the business than any analyst could ever know. Obviously we cannot rely solely on insider purchases, but it’s a very good place to start researching. Here are some significant insider purchases that we ran across during our research that are intriguing.

Merrill Lynch

Though we are loathe to even discuss Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), we find ourselves curious as to why insiders have purchased so much stock in the past few days. 8 insiders, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Thain, have purchased more than $17.5 million in Merrill stock between July 29th and 30th, 2008.

Perhaps this is simply a ploy by insiders to soothe investors, but who knows. Either way, we won’t be touching this stock for a long, long time.

XL Capital

Four XL Capital (NYSE: XL) insiders (CEO, two directors, and an Executive Vice President) purchased nearly $2.6 million worth of stock in the past few days. This certainly intrigues us because we know there are some financials (excluding investment banks) out there that are undervalued. Many, in fact. XL Capital appears to be one of them and I will certainly research the company more.

Affymetrix

One of our favorite biotechs, Affymetrix (NasdaqGS: AFFX), pleasantly surprised us this past week with an FDA Approval and a moderate amount of insider buying.

The Chairman and CEO of Affymetrix purchased $150,000 worth of stock on July 30th, just a few days after the FDA approval. Since Affymetrix is trading near it’s all time low, now might be the perfect time to begin picking up shares.

Freund Investing Managing Member Ryan Freund holds no position in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Freund Investing has a solid Disclosure Policy.

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Read more on Affymetrix, Insider Trading, XL Capital at Wikinvest



Written by Ryan Freund · Filed Under Stock Screeners |  

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