Month: July 2012

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

In trading on Tuesday, department stores shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 2%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Cafepress (PRSS), off about 41.8% and shares of Target (TGT) down about 2.1% on the day.

UBS (UBS) announced that profits in the second quarter fell by 58 percent to 425 million francs, or $434.16 million, mostly due to losses incurred in the Facebook (FB) IPO, as well as a decline in investment banking business. A year ago, the company earned 1.02 billion francs, or $1.2 billion.

Ciena (CIEN) was upgraded at Jefferies (JEF) from underperform to hold to Hold with a price target of $14.50, as the firm expects a strong July quarter. Shares are higher by about one percent.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task interviews Demos’ Lew Daly

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (NYSE: CBI) has come to an agreement with the Shaw Group Inc. to acquire it for $3.04 billion in cash and stock. This move comes as Chicago Bridge & Iron wishes to expand its portfolio across the entire energy industry by adding Shaw’s expertise in power generation. Shaw Group stock holders will receive $46 a share, which is a 72% premium over Friday’s closing price. The deal will be financed by cash on hand at both companies in addition to a debt of approximately $1.9 billion.The deal is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2013. Chicago Bridge & Iron will operate its new acquisition under the name CB&I Shaw. For more on this story and analysis of the business world follow us on twitter @FNNOnline.

A reader asks Jane Mayer: What aspect of the Super PAC phenomenon needs to be written about more?

In trading on Monday, advertising shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.7%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Lamar Advertising (LAMR), down about 4.5% and shares of Millennial Media (MM) off about 4% on the day.

The first trading day of the week has investors speculating about the outcome of Fed and ECB meetings that will happen this week. Good morning, this is Sayoko Murase with the Week Ahead Market Report for July 30, 2012.