Good morning,

We had a handful of large purchases, and we’re seeing some things trickle in over at InsiderStockBuys.com. Be sure to check out the site… Remember, we only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. Here’s the list.

Global Water Resources (GWRS)

Utilities have been under pressure on our momentum screener over the last few weeks due to rising interest rates. This was an interesting buy down in the desert. Global Water Resources is a regulated water and wastewater utility in Arizona.

• Buyers: Directors Jonathan Levine ($5,766,819) and Andrew Cohn ($1,233,186), both at $8.85 on August 20.

I want to note that both bought at $8.85, a possible sign of a negotiated block or a participation in an offering. There was indirect buying, but there was also some buying support in direct purchasing. It’s worth studying a little further…

Alaska Air Group (ALK)

Alaska Air Group is one of the largest U.S. airlines.

• Buyers: Benito Minicucci, CEO and President. 25,000 shares at $40.06, $1,001,510 direct.

Minicucci bought a round $1 million of Alaska Air at $40.06.

This is a CEO buying seven figures of his own stock. It’s a clean signal, and he appears to be putthing personal money behind the integration of Hawaiian Airlines (a merger happening now) and the airline’s next story...

The Repeat Buyers, Again

Ernest Rady bought American Assets Trust (AAT) a fifth time, $1,137,500, days after his fourth buy.

At Elanco (ELAN), director Lawrence Kurzius, the former McCormick CEO, bought $935,920, the latest in a long line of Elanco insiders. When a relentless repeat buyer and a deep cluster both add on the same tape, it’s the pattern this letter is built around.

$100K-Plus and Notable Direct Buys

Nomad Foods (NOMD)

CFO Ruben Baldew, $335,231 at $11.85, in the frozen-foods company.

Keel Infrastructure (KEEL)

CEO Benjamin Gagnon, $129,497, joining the COO who bought twice this week.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS)

Director Jacques Butler, $99,994, a second water name.

Grocery Outlet (GO)

Insider Paul Miller, $87,200, his second buy in the discount grocer since July.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

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The first headline I ever wrote for Kent Moors’ energy newsletter… back in 2012… was “There’s Always Money in the Midstream.” It was a reminder that the energy sector is a cash-rich beast. Many people worry that a company might not be able to cover the lofty dividends that many MLPs kick off…

Well. Kelcy Warren certainly doesn’t care. That’s the bid of the day… (full disclosure, ET is one of my largest positions in my accounts)… so let’s talk about this one and the rest of the insider activity from Thursday…. It was a VERY busy day for energy names.

It think that people are starting to realize just how tricky this market’s about to get in the energy space if the diesel spreads keep running hard and fast. We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. Here’s the real one.

Energy Transfer (ET)

Kelcy Warren built Energy Transfer, one of the nation’s largest pipeline and midstream energy companies.

Buyer: Kelcy L. Warren, Director. 1,000,000 shares at $21.26, $21,263,520 (indirect and direct).

Warren took Energy Transfer from a small pipeline operator into a midstream giant, and he remains its executive chairman and largest individual holder. He just keeps building his stake. And it follows a buy from Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and board director. Again, I’m long…

Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR)

Alpha Metallurgical is a leading U.S. producer of metallurgical coal for steelmaking.

• Buyer: Kenneth S. Courtis, Director. 15,000 shares at $193.50, $2,902,552 direct.

Courtis bought $2 million of Alpha Met near $200 on August 4. He’s adding more more at $193.50, and now has over a million shares. He’s a veteran energy economist telling us something important about energy prices as we look into the fall. Recall that if things go sideways with weather in Europe, they may end up rationing energy.

Gold, Autos, and the Rest

i-80 Gold… IUAX (I had to look it up)

This is a Nevada gold miner. Its President and CEO, Richard Young, bought $1.62 million in the stock. That comes after buys in the market on Aura Minerals and Caledonia.

A BorgWarner (BWA) director opened a $500,664 position in the auto-parts maker…

A Bridger Aerospace (BAER) director bought $354,050 of the wildfire-aviation name.

$100K-Plus and Notable Direct Buys

Core Scientific (CORZ)

Director Eric Weiss, $134,358 at $19.19, in the bitcoin-mining and data-center company.

Senseonics (SENS)

Director Douglas Roeder, $125,300 at $8.98, in the continuous-glucose-monitor maker.

WW International (WW)

Director Nikolaj Sjoqvist, $100,132 at $13.84, in the relaunched WeightWatchers. Do they sell GLP-1s and do so with AI? That would be a real business…

Colony Bankcorp (CBAN)

Chief banking officer Edward Canup, $86,500, a 13th bank in the summer’s thread. That matters, because I’ve said we’re seeing some stress from somewhere in the banking space, and I’m wondering if there are concerns about reserves for 2027.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

Good morning,

It was a bigger Wednesday for the real estate market on the insider buying front. Remember, we only track direct, personal, open-market purchases.

Here’s the recap for Wednesday…

American Assets Trust (AAT)

American Assets Trust is a West Coast owner of office, retail, and multifamily real estate.

• Buyer: Ernest S. Rady, Executive Chairman and 10% Owner. 63,586 shares at $22.59, $1,436,566 (indirect and direct). Fourth buy since May.

Rady is buying again… He was buying the stock back in May, then in June, and then again in August. So, this is his fourth buy and the biggest yet at $1.44 million.

He’s got a lot of money wrapped up…

The Chicago Atlantic Cluster

John Mazarakis runs the Chicago Atlantic lending complex He bought across two of its public vehicles on the same day.

He added $566,400 of Chicago Atlantic BDC as a 10% owner and $256,325 of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance as executive chairman.

The BDC’s co-CIO bought $420,807 and the REIT’s co-CEO bought $468,225.

That’s about $1.7 million from the leadership of two related cannabis-lending funds, all near their marks, a coordinated read on private-credit values from the people who set them.

The Other Names

Joel Marcus, the founder and executive chairman of Alexandria Real Estate (ARE), the largest life-science landlord, bought $231,400 of a stock that’s dropped well off its highs.

A Gaming & Leisure Properties’ (GLPI) director bought $422,400 of the casino-property REIT.

A Midera Food Processing (MFP) director bought $491,045, a Surgery Partners (SGRY) director added $143,500, and a Dorchester Minerals’ (DMLP) CFO bought $147,075.

Remember, we are long DMLP.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

It appears that Bill Gates is putting more money back to work.

His fund bought another $76.6 million of waste management company… Republic Services…

It’s just not on our list… This is an indirect buy, but his fund is a strategic-holder…

This isn’t an open market purchase.

We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. Here’s the real list.

Aura Minerals (AUGO)

Aura Minerals is a gold and copper producer.

• Buyer: Bruno Sousa Mauad, Director. 11,000 shares at $78.93, $868,230 (indirect).

An $868,000 director purchase is the largest genuine personal buy on the tape.

We saw similar activity on Caledonia Mining this week... This looks intriguing.

TechnipFMC (FTI)

TechnipFMC is a major oilfield-services and subsea-equipment company.

• Buyer: Eric D. Mullins, Director. 6,365 shares at $78.55, $499,971 direct.

Mullins bought a round $500,000 of TechnipFMC, extending the energy insider buying that’s run all week. After TXO, HF Sinclair, Magnolia, Gulfport, and Ameresco across the past several tapes, this purchase makes the energy sector the second-most-active thread behind the banks.

Clusters and Repeats

A few names kept building.

Compass Diversified had two insiders buy about $711,000 combined near $13.

Cardinal Infrastructure drew a seventh insider, director Richard Wimmer, who bought $293,475, a day after its entire leadership bought about $8 million.

Jean-Jacques Bienaime, the former BioMarin chief, bought another $493,000 of Ascendis Pharma.

$100K-Plus and Notable Direct Buys

EquipmentShare (EQPT)

Founder and president William Schlacks, $182,884 at $20.43, in the recently public equipment-rental company.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (VRCA)

CEO Jayson Rieger, $125,750 at $5.03.

Enviri (NVRI)

Director Carolann Haznedar, $99,747, a second Enviri insider after the CFO in June.

Elanco (ELAN)

General counsel Shiv O’Neill, $94,273, another Elanco insider to buy this summer.

Evolv Technologies (EVLV)

Director Henrik Kuhl, $85,950 at $5.73, in the security-screening company.

EyePoint (EYPT)

Director Karen Zaderej, $52,258 at $4.93, in the eye-disease biotech.

The Read

The real buying, smaller and spread across gold, energy services, and a still-growing Cardinal cluster. We’re looking for a trade, but understand that momentum is yellow.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

One of the largest clusters of the summer arrived…

At Cardinal Infrastructure, six insiders bought about $8.2 million on the same day.

The buyers included the CEO, CFO, COO, and three other directors.

That included housing analyst Ivy Zelman, all at open-market prices near $38.

Cardinal Infrastructure (CDNL)

Cardinal Infrastructure is an infr…

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A quick one today.

We got two inflation reports this week and both came in soft. Consumer prices cooled on Wednesday, and producer prices were flat on Thursday. That was enough to ease rate-hike fears. Odds of a September hike fell from about half to a third, and the S&P closed at a record on Thursday, clearing 7,800 for the first tim…

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We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. Here’s the list.

Aptiv (APTV)

Aptiv makes electrical systems, software, and components for the auto industry.

• Buyer: Kevin Clark, Chair and CEO. 51,190 shares at $48.89.

Last week we led on Aptiv director Paul Meister’s $5 million buy. Now the chair and CEO, Kevin Clark, has added $2.5 mi…

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The bank buying won’t quit. A tenth bank joined the thread...

Coastal Financial (CCB)

Coastal Financial is the holding company for Coastal Community Bank...

BRRRR…

• Buyer: Director and 10% owner Steven Hovde ($658,250 at $43.88) and CEO Eric Sprink ($444,500 at $44.45).

Hovde bought $658,250 and Sprink added $444,500. Steven’s daughter and son-in-law are good friends of mine from Northwestern, and I know how Hovde approaches names. This is a solid buy, and they’re always positioned well. I’ll write a report up on this one and talk to Tim Melvin about it.

I’m gonna BUY… in 48 hours.

American Bitcoin (ABTC)

American Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency-mining company. I’m long BTC once the Fed has to increase its exposure to our system. I’m think we’re a few months away. I’m long gold for now. But I’m gonna start selling puts on names linked to BTC out about January - and down 30% from here. I’m gonna get long… I’m just trying to time it…

• Buyer: Justin Mateen, Director. 306,981 shares at $6.2858, $1,929,607 direct.

American Assets Trust (AAT)

American Assets Trust is a West Coast owner of office, retail, and multifamily real estate.

• Buyer: Ernest S. Rady, Executive Chairman and 10% Owner. 35,763 shares at $22.84, $816,772 (indirect and direct). Third buy since May.

The San Diego billionaire bought $816,772 of American Assets at $22.84, his third purchase since late May, bringing his 2026 buying in the name to nearly $4 million.

$100K-Plus and Notable Direct Buys

OneMedNet (ONMD)

Director and 10% owner Thomas Kosasa, a round $1,000,000 at $0.69, though in a sub-$1 micro-cap where the size and price deserve caution.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)

Director Joseph Tabacco, $91,400 at $4.57, in the relaunched retailer.

ADTRAN Holdings (ADTN)

CFO Timothy Santo, a round $50,000 at $7.60, in the telecom-equipment maker.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

Kate Johnson runs Lumen Technologies (LUMN).

In November 2023, with the stock under a dollar and most of Wall Street sure the company was heading for zero, she bought a million shares at 97 cents.

Lumen trades north of $6 today. That buy is worth over $6 million today. Up more than 500%.

This week, CEO Kate stepped in and bought more.

Fo…

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A director wrote the biggest check today, and two chief executives bought their own companies. We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. Here’s the list.

Aptiv (APTV)

Aptiv makes electrical systems, software, and components for the auto industry.

• Buyer: Paul M. Meister, Director. 105,631 shares at $47.33, $4,999,959 (indirect and …

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Now that earnings season is wrapping… we have a much busier tape, and a bigger number of reasons to get active. We just saw a CEO write a massive check for his own stock. And it’s time to start back up… let’s get busy.We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. It’s a full list today.

Boston Scientific (BSX)

Boston Scientific is one of the world’s largest medical-device makers…

• Buyer: Michael F. Mahoney, Chairman, President and CEO. 186,240 shares at $48.33, $9,001,408 (indirect and direct).

This is one of the biggest buys of the summer. Mahoney has run Boston Scientific for more than a decade, through one of the best runs any medical-device company has had, and he just put $9 million of his own money into the stock at $48.33, lifting his stake above 1.6 million shares.

A CEO at a company this big rarely buys in the open market at all, because his pay comes loaded with equity. Writing a personal eight-figure check on top of that is a statement few CEOs ever make. Director David Habiger added $56,887 the same day, and we logged Edward Ludwig’s $227,400 on the prior tape. This is a more liquid name that makes for a compelling trade.

Pfizer (PFE)

We stick with the healthcare side. Pfizer is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. It’s pulled back a lot from the COVID era.

• Buyer: Directors Ronald Blaylock ($998,821 at $25.46) and Mortimer Buckley ($960,369 at $25.52). Both August 5.

Two Pfizer directors bought close to $1 million each on the same day. One of them, Mortimer Buckley, ran Vanguard as its CEO until recently, so this is one of the most respected names in asset management. Ron Blaylock, a longtime finance executive, matched him.

Tractor Supply (TSCO)

Tractor Supply is America’s largest rural-lifestyle and farm-supply retailer.

• Buyer: President and CEO Harry Lawton ($501,524 at $32.15) and director Edna Morris ($50,606 at $32.44). Both August 4.

Lawton bought $501,524 and Morris added $50,606. A sitting CEO, with a director alongside, extends the run of consumer and retail insiders buying all summer.

The Bank Thread Adds a Ninth

GBank Financial Holdings, a Nevada bank, had four insiders buy on August 4 near $21.50…

They were chairman and CEO Edward Nigro ($197,852), GBank president Jeffrey Newgard ($699,025), director Timothy Herbst ($214,971), and secretary Todd Nigro ($105,350), about $1.22 million combined at varying prices.

That’s a full open-market cluster, not a conversion at a flat price.

$100K-Plus and Notable Direct Buys

Ingersoll Rand (IR)

Director Aurobind Satpathy bought a round $1,000,091 at $86.68, a brand-new position in the industrial-equipment maker.

Houlihan Lokey (HLI)

CFO J. Lindsey Alley, $500,570 at $124.52, a brand-new stake from the finance chief of the investment bank.

Wesco International (WCC)

EVP Daniel Castillo, $351,254 at $365.89, in the electrical-products distributor.

Jabil (JBL)

Director N.V. Tyagarajan, the former Genpact chief executive, $149,815, though the transaction is dated July 17.

Evogene (EVGN)

Director Leon Recanati, $400,000 at a flat $0.50, in the small Israeli agriculture-technology company.

Indivior (INDV)

Chief accounting officer Woodrow Anderson, $54,420, in the addiction-treatment drugmaker.

Stay disciplined.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases, and today there’s a real list to work with. Here it is.

Harley-Davidson (HOG)

Harley-Davidson makes the American motorcycle. But for a decade, it’s seen soft demand and an aging core rider.

• Buyer: Daniel J. Nova, Director. 40,000 shares at $24.57, $982,700 direct.

Nova bought $982,700 of Harley at $24.57, nearly doubling his stake to more than 47,000 shares. A director committing close to a million dollars of his own money to a consumer brand that’s been out of favor is a real bet, not a board formality.

Huntsman (HUN)

Huntsman is a global manufacturer of specialty chemicals.

• Buyer: Peter R. Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO. 100,000 shares at $9.81, $981,000 (indirect and direct).

Peter Huntsman runs the company his father built, and he already holds more than eight million shares.

A $981,000 buy at $9.81, a single-digit price for a company that traded far higher in past cycles, is a founder-CEO adding to an already large stake during a weak stretch for chemicals.

Albertsons (ACI)

Albertsons is one of the largest U.S. grocery chains.

• Buyer: Sharon McCollam, President and CFO. 9,000 shares at $11.48, $103,320 direct.

This completes a sweep.

We led two editions this week on Albertsons, the M&A chief’s near-$2 million buy and then the CEO’s. Now the chief financial officer, Sharon McCollam, has bought $103,320 at $11.48.

The Bank Thread

Two more banks, and the count keeps climbing.

Hanover Bancorp’s president, Kevin O’Connor, bought $268,800, and an Equity Bancshares director, Donald Rogerson, added $100,500.

Rogerson has bought Equity Bancshares before, in one of this letter’s earliest editions, so this is a repeat. The bank-buying thread now spans First Citizens, First Guaranty, SmartFinancial, Rhinebeck, CVB, Norwood, Hanover, and Equity Bancshares, eight unrelated banks with insiders buying their own stock since May. It’s the most durable pattern of the summer, and it grew again today.

$100K-Plus and Notable Direct Buys

ProQR Therapeutics (PRQR)

CEO Daniel de Boer, $353,960 at $1.77, a sitting chief executive buying his own RNA-medicines company.

Boston Scientific (BSX)

Director Edward Ludwig, $227,400 at $45.48, in the large medical-device maker.

Apnimed (APMD)

Director Paul Sekhri, a round $200,000 at $16.00, in the recently public sleep-apnea drug developer.

Goosehead Insurance (GSHD)

Director Peter Lane, $101,024 at $63.14, a brand-new position, and a personal buy this time, unlike the fund stake we set aside last week.

Mobileye (MBLY)

Director Frank Yeary, $98,633 at $7.98, in the Intel-controlled autonomous-driving company.

Darling Ingredients (DAR)

Director Charles Adair, $60,970 at $60.97, in the rendering and renewable-fuels company.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwiny

Back in 2022, Kroger agreed to buy Albertsons for $34.10 a share. The courts blocked it, and by the end of 2024 the deal was dead. Albertsons walked away and sued Kroger over the breakup.

That stock, the one somebody was ready to pay $34 for, trades under $12 today.

Great work, judge.

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I’ve been behind on a few things… but we’re still active in this market. The bigger news was the Fed yesterday and everything has turned into a big focus on Apple stock. This market is in choppy territory, with money rotating again and the majority of stocks under their 50-day moving average.

By definition, this should be a period of incr…

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I wanted to follow up quickly from today and yesterday, since all we sent out was the covered call. Figured I’d touch base before the weekend.

We sold the $28 call against our Peabody (BTU) shares for $0.52. BTU is down about 3% today, so the timing worked out. That pulls our cost basis down to $27.34.

Momentum is breaking down, and it…

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Two real insider clusters showed up on an otherwise quiet tape, and both had the top of the house buying.

Byrna Technologies (BYRN)

Byrna Technologies makes non-lethal self-defense weapons.

Buyers: Chairman TJ Kennedy ($102,286 at $3.53), CEO Conn Davis (about $77,003 at $3.47), and director Herbert Hughes ($74,249 at $3.42). All July 22.

Kennedy opened a brand-new $102,286 position, Davis added about $77,000, and Hughes bought $74,249, all on the same day. This is three separate open-market buys, not a fixed-price subscription. When the chairman, the CEO, and a director all step in on one tape, at a sub-$4 price, it’s the cleanest kind of small-cap cluster.

Rhinebeck Bancorp (RBKB)

Rhinebeck Bancorp is a community bank in New York.

Buyers: Director Nancy Patzwahl ($298,500), CEO Matthew Smith ($149,089), director Suzanne Loughlin ($149,120), and commercial-banking head Michael Vitale ($59,700). All near $12 on July 22.

Patzwahl led with $298,500, Smith and Loughlin each bought about $149,000, and Vitale added $59,700. Prices ranged from $11.93 to $12.00, so this is open-market buying, not a conversion at a flat offer price.

The Set-Aside Pile

Three to bench, including the two biggest. B&R Technology Merger Corp, a SPAC, showed a $6.875 million sponsor buy at a flat $10.

RA Capital bought $2.58 million of Artiva Biotherapeutics at $9.76 as a 10% owner, held indirectly.

Energizer’s Diez Ramirez family added $2.43 million more at $20.26, its fifth purchase since June 1.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

Insider buying is pretty dull right now… and we have an action to take…

But a few updates on the buyer front before we get to BTU…

We only track direct, personal, open-market purchases. Here’s the list.

51Talk Online Education (COE)

51Talk teaches English to students outside the United States, mainly across Asia and other emerging markets.

• Bu…

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Thibault Stracke, a senior PIMCO executive, bought 100,000 shares of the PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund on July 15 for $1,640,000, at $16.40. It’s the only clean personal open-market buy on the tape, and it comes with a wrinkle worth naming.

PDI is a closed-end credit fund, not an operating company, so this reads as a view on income and credit from someone who helps run that book, rather than a bet on a business. He now holds more than 179,000 shares.

• Buyer: Thibault Christian Stracke, PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund (PDI). 100,000 shares at $16.40, $1,640,000 direct.

Energizer’s Owners Bought a Fourth Time

The Diez Ramirez family’s holding companies added $1,657,756 of Energizer at $20.72 on July 15. Make it four filings since June 1, and each one has come at a higher price than the last.

That’s the tape.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin

Quick one today. I’m in Chicago, so we’ll keep it to what matters: a little housekeeping and one trade.

The market is under pressure this morning, with all three indices in the red. We’ve gotten a little bounce off the lows, so not a washout. The weight is coming from the mega-cap tech names.

Underneath that, the average stock is holdi…

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