Pinecrest Energy Insider Buying

Red Earth Creek, Alberta Location (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PRY

 TSV : $1.19

According to new insider filings, Wade Becker, President & CEO of Pinecrest Energy, bought 400,000 common shares of the company through the public market at a price of $1.15 on February 13. In addition, Dan Toews, CFO, also purchased 150,000 common shares through the public market at a price of $1.15 on February 13.

Last week, PRY approved a $136-million budget for 2013, focusing on the Slave Point light oil play in its greater Red Earth project in Alberta. The company said in a statement that the budget accounted for the drilling and completion of 24 for 30 wells targeting the Slave Point formation, in addition to tie-ins to pipelines and facilities. The budget also accommodates for waterflood schemes and maintenance. The company said itwould be financed with a combination of cash flow and the company’s expanded credit facility. In a move to accelerate the  implementation of the waterflood schemes, PRY had drilled 12 infill horizontal wells in Q3/12 and Q4/12.

As well as the Red Earth project, the company has been approved to perform three additional waterfloods, at its Loon, Evi 3 and Otter projects. The Loon project is scheduled for injection in the middle of this month. PRY also reported that its first operated waterflood scheme, at the Evi 2 project, had resulted in oil production from the offset wells increasing from 95 barrels per day to 280 bpd. Year-to-date, PRY has fallen nearly 23%.

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Join The Canadians Buying U.S. Housing

Sept. 5, 2012Join The Canadians Buying U.S. Housing 

At the depths of the New York commercial real estate market the Reichmans bought a group of office towers .  The New York Times described that purchase as occurring at 11:45 before the day the market turned up.Warren Buffett was recently quotes as saying that if he had the capacity he’d buy up 1000’s of homes to take advantage of the market.

Today many predict that there is about to be the long  sought/ predicted turn in housing in the U.S.  In Canada there are weekend seminars on buying  U.S. properties but individual investors have few choices outside of home builders. .  Self anointed gurus are promoting  ( mainly ) Arizona and California single family homes  and multi-unit investments.  An individual is limited if their option is one home .For an investor there is a publicly traded Canadian company buying properties on a national basis and in amounts that offer both diversity and leverage.

Tricon Capital ( TCN on Toronto – website www.triconcpital.com)  describes itself as a leading residential real estate investment company with over $1 billion in assets. It offers a size and diversity which is large by Canadian standards but a small cap by U.S. measurement. In addition to Canadian assets it has raised capital for projects in California , Texas, Arizona , Georgia and Florida. A caution is that – in addition to predicting a turn in the market – these U. S. investments are only at a starting point . The Company through partnerships has purchased more than 400 homes with the intention of renovating  and renting properties – awaiting a turn in valuations . Some properties will be listed for sale after renovation. In July it raised $51 Million in convertible debentures to fund the acquisitions. That money will go into several projects as the company contribution and as with most real estate ventures the funds are leveraged by way of mortgage financing .The results of the first series of purchases – the company states – will not benefit its financials until the last quarter of 2012 because it will take two to three months to upgrade the newly acquired homes.

The Company raises funds through partnerships and then earns a fee as a manager and a further fee based on performance – in addition to the return it sees as an investor. One recent example is a partnership to purchase 242 homes in Florida. This is the fourth such partnership  in 2012 in the U.S. The company’s U.S. distressed single-family strategy appears to be progressing well. In its Q2/12 results (reported August 13), Tricon had advanced $32 million towards the purchase of 185 distressed single-family homes with its three operating partners. Currently, the total number of homes has grown to 420, of which approximately 50 homes will be renovated for immediate sale and the remainder will be held as rental units. This business appears to be the key growth driver for Tricon, and management expects to have $90-100 million invested in this strategy by the end of 2012.

 

The Company reported a profit of $2.159,000  (  $.08 )for the quarter ending June 30,2012 compared to a loss of $ 509,00 ( $.03) the prior year. Assets under management were $ 1.2 billion – up $200 Million ( all figures are reported in Canadian dollars).

There is a further caution. In addition to these U.S. housing projects being at a start-up stage the shares trade at a very modest daily number ( 25,000 plus).  Therefore use market orders and stage your investment  if you are going to make a purchase in Tricon ( $5.32 on August 31) .

 

Insider Buying : CEO David Berman purchased 100,000 Tricon shares in the public market at an average cost of $5.50. Berman now holds 3,930,355 shares representing 12.6% of Tricon. In addition to his stock holdings, Berman also holds $1 million worth of Tricon’s recently issued 6.375% Convertible debentures due 08/31/2017 

I own shares in Tricon but will not be making any additional purchases in the next 72 hours .

 

 

 

Best Buy – Founder Seeking Buyout Group

English: Logo of Best Buy, US-based retail chain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

July 30

Bloomberg reports Best Buy Co. founder Richard Schulze has been recruiting executives to help lead the retailer if his attempt to take the company private is successful, according to a senior Best Buy executive.

“He is talking to people he trusts,” J.D. Wilson, senior vice president of enterprise capabilities, said in an interview. “There is a small group he’d like to have with him in righting the ship. He is serious as a heart attack.” Wilson, who said his position is being eliminated as part of Best Buy’s cutbacks, was approached by Schulze in June and said he would work for the company if a deal went through.

Schulze also has been seeking to recruit other executives such as former Chief Executive Officer Brad Anderson, said a person familiar with the matter. Anderson has told other former Best Buy executives he is interested in joining Schulze’s effort, the person said.

Schulze, 71, has been exploring taking the world’s largest electronics retailer private after stepping down as chairman last month, a person familiar with the matter has said. An internal probe found he failed to tell the board about allegations that then-CEO Brian Dunn was having an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. Schulze said when he resigned that he would consider all options, including selling his 20% stake in the Richfield, Minnesota-based company.

Through a spokesman, Schulze declined to comment. Bruce Hight, a spokesman for Best Buy, declined to comment. Anderson didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Shares Rise

Best Buy rose 2.7% to US$18.24 at 9:41 a.m. in New York after advancing as much as 5.9%. The shares had fallen 24% this year through July 27.

While Schulze has had discussions with several former executives interested in rejoining the company, he hasn’t reached an agreement with anyone, said a person familiar with the matter. He has also been speaking with potential investors and private-equity funds about raising money from them, said this person.

Best Buy has struggled as customers migrated to Amazon.com Inc. and other online merchants, posting a net loss of US$1.23 billion on revenue of US$50.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended in March, its first annual loss since 1991, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Same-store sales have declined in seven of the last eight quarters.

It will be challenging for Schulze to find private-equity firms willing to take on the risks associated with Best Buy and to help fund a transaction, Michael Pachter, an analyst for Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles, said last month. Best Buy’s cash flow will keep declining and the company will continue to lose money, he said.

A buyout of Best Buy would cost at least US$30 a share to convince long-time investors to sell, Anthony Chukumba, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets in New York, said last month. That would equate to a total value of about US$11 billion, including net debt.

Warren Buffet : Interview Re : Wells Fargo

Warren Buffett (Photo credit: MarkGregory007)

Wells Fargo (WFC : NYSE : US$33.85)

July 16

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A : NYSE : US$126531.00)

 

Live from Dairy Queen:

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Warren Buffett said that Wells Fargo’s dominance of the U.S. mortgage market should pay off as the housing market rebounds. Buffett said, “They’ve got a sensational mortgage operation. The total mortgage market was at the $3-trillion level not that long ago. If it goes back up to $3 trillion, I hope Wells is doing a third of those.”

In the first quarter of 2012, Wells Fargo created one of every three mortgages in the U.S., and is looking to boost its market share to 40%. Additionally, the company said that the number of applications set a new quarterly high during the most recent three months. Buffett believes Wells Fargo is outpacing its competitors because it managed to successfully navigate the housing crisis. “Wells did the best job of the big players in the mortgage market and therefore they’ve garnered a share as the other fellows have fallen by the wayside.”

 Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has built its stake in Wells  Fargo to over 7%, according to Bloomberg, adding to its position earlier this year. In addition to the Wells Fargo investment, Buffett’s other bets on the housing market include the purchase of a brickmaker, the expansion of Berkshire’s real estate brokerage and the purchase of commercial property through a company jointly owned with Lecadia National Corp.

 

 

WebMD Auction Oversubscribed

Carl C. Icahn Center for Science - Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut, USA. Architect I. M. Pei, 1989. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WebMD Health (WBMD : NASDAQ : US$23.29)

April 5

Is this  what Doctor Icahn ordered?

WebMD expects to repurchase roughly 5.8 million shares at the high end of its estimated range as part of its Dutch auction offer for up to $150 million of its stock. It will pay $26 per share, roughly a 1% premium to Tuesday’s close, as the over was oversubscribed with approximately 18 million shares tendered.

Under the auction, which was unveiled earlier this year, shareholders were able to specify a price where they were willing to sell and the company set the lowest price at which it could repurchase the total amount. Management had said that if the tender offer was at the low end of its range, it would repurchase 11% of its shares.

Management has come under pressure of late with sales have falling as drug makers curb marketing spending in the face of rising competition from generics. Earlier this year, its CEO stepped down and the companycut its sale talks with several potential buyers.

 Carl Icahn had been pushing the company to spend up to $1 billion to repurchase shares through a Dutch tender offer.

 

 

Insider Buying May Indicate Takeover Premiums

List sorted by net insider purchases as a percent of share float.

1. Saks Incorporated (SKS): Operates fashion retail stores in the United States. Market cap of $1.57B. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 4.70M, which is 4.62% of the company’s 101.62M share float. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 2.55). The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 28.34% (equivalent to 10.99 days of average volume). The stock has lost 8.72% over the last year.

2. Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN): Focuses on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases in the United States. Market cap of $1.90B. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 1.48M, which is 1.30% of the company’s 113.40M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 22.38% (equivalent to 13.56 days of average volume). The stock has gained 7.5% over the last year.

3. Dell Inc. (DELL): Provides integrated technology solutions in the information technology industry worldwide. Market cap of $26.98B. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 17.23M, which is 1.13% of the company’s 1.52B share float. The stock has gained 9.72% over the last year.

4. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO): Operates as an apparel and accessories retailer in the United States and Canada. Market cap of $2.94B. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 579.63K, which is 0.35% of the company’s 166.69M share float. The stock has gained 8.83% over the last year.

5. Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM): Provides mobile voice and data communications services through satellites to businesses, the U. Market cap of $534.43M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 85.10K, which is 0.17% of the company’s 48.77M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 19.42% (equivalent to 18.83 days of average volume). The stock has lost 10.32% over the last year.

6. Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP): Provides digital wireless services under the ‘Cricket’ brand name in the United States. Market cap of $724.13M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 40.0K, which is 0.08% of the company’s 48.80M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 16.12% (equivalent to 6.09 days of average volume). The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 10.98% over the last week.

*Insider data sourced from Yahoo! Finance, all other data sourced from Finviz.

 

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