Monday, July 23, 2012

Jamie Dimon Buys 500,000 Shares of JP Morgan

As I mentioned in the post on Chesapeake insiders:
When looking at insider buying the hierarchy of insiders is:

#1 CFO's--if the money guy is buying, pay the offer.
#2 CEO's--because they are the company's ambassador they often buy stock just for show, pay attention.
#3 Directors--newly elected directors often buy as a show of support, others because they buy what they know. Look for decent-sized additions to existing positions.
From the WSJ's Overheard blog (Heard on the Street):
Jamie Dimon Takes Out His Check Book
At least one person thinks it’s safe to go back into the bank-stock water.

J.P. Morgan Chase chief James Dimon last week bought 500,000 shares of the bank’s stock at $34.22 a share, according to a regulatory filing Friday. Unfortunately, his $17.1 million show of confidence hasn’t had an immediate impact. In fact, with J.P. Morgan stock falling along with other financials in the face of European upheaval, Mr. Dimon is already in the red by nearly $300,000.

And the bank and Mr. Dimon have had a decidedly mixed record on timing J.P. Morgan’s stock. In the second quarter, the bank repurchased about $1.4 billion in shares before it had to halt buybacks due to the “London Whale” trading debacle.

In doing so, it showed some prowess: J.P. Morgan paid an average price per share of $30.88, according to data released with earnings two weeks ago. That was just 5 cents above the stock’s low for the quarter and nearly 14% below the period’s closing price....MORE