Ecolab: Bill Gates has been buying large quantities of Ecolabs (ECL). Mr. Gates, or his foundation, bought five million shares over the course of five days from 8/23-8/29. Given that the stock was down today, I am guessing he was not buying today. The shares he bought represent around $250 million. This is not exactly an insider buy by an executive, but is interesting nonetheless. While he was buying it, the stock recovered almost its whole loss since it gapped down in July. A significant driver in the price recovery was probably his buying, but there were probably others who bought just knowing he was buying.
Ecolab (ECL)
Economic News: Jobless claims were roughly as expected today. However, the market moving number was the ISM manufacturing survey from August. ISM came in at 50.6, better than the expected 48.5. Any number greater than fifty is considered positive, so the market reacted well to the news.
August: August was a brutal month for the stock market. The S&P 500, which was one of the stronger indices, was down 5.4%. The Russell 2000 was down 8.7%. A drop as severe and quick as we experienced early in the month is very rare. In fact since the Great Depression, it had only occurred twice before, in 2008-09 and in 1987.
Russell 2000 (One Year)
Market Today: The market began the day weak. At ten o’clock, the ISM data came out, providing an instantaneous one percent move up in the market. Once that was over, the selling continued. In the end, the market was down, with only a few positive outliers. There were probably some beginning of the month reallocations away from stocks, helping to move the market lower today.
Have a good day!
Brent
