What Canadian insiders bought in August

Between August 1 and September 2, insiders at 276 Canadian companies made 1,015 open-market purchases worth $104.4 million. Insiders at 196 companies sold $456.7 million across 857 trades. That ratio, roughly four dollars sold for every dollar bought, is normal. Insiders sell for tuition, houses and diversification. They buy for one reason.

These are the buys that stood out, from the SEDI weekly summaries we import by hand.

The biggest single cheques

Equinox Gold (EQX). Ross Beaty, a director, bought 600,000 shares on August 12 at $16.11, a $9.7 million purchase. It was the largest single insider buy on the TSX in the period.

Rusoro Mining (RML). Silver Point Capital, reporting as a 10 percent holder, bought 5.25 million shares on August 13 at $1.19, about $6.2 million, and $8.1 million across its two trades.

NFI Group (NFI). Adam Gray, listed as a senior officer, bought 186,400 shares on August 26 at $22.23 for $4.1 million, then added 40,900 two days later and 8,300 the week before. Three other officers bought smaller amounts in the same weeks, which puts NFI in the cluster list below with $5.6 million from four buyers.

Morguard (MRC). Sime Armoyan, a 10 percent holder, bought 34,200 shares on August 31 at $104.30, $3.6 million, part of $6.5 million across six trades.

Mayfair Gold (MFG). Muddy Waters Capital, better known for shorting things, bought 733,400 shares on August 19 at $4.15, $3 million, as a 10 percent holder.

Versamet Royalties (VMET). An entity of Tether, the stablecoin issuer, reporting as a 10 percent holder, bought 186,700 shares on August 11 at $13.68 for $2.6 million. Two buyers put $7 million into the name over seven trades.

i-80 Gold (IAU). Richard Scott Young, a senior officer and director, bought one million shares on August 18 at $2.25.

EQB (EQB). Fifteen buys on fifteen consecutive trading days from August 10 to 28, 8,000 shares a day at first and then 16,000 and 26,000, $19.6 million in all. The filer is shown on SEDI as Loblaw Companies Limited, reporting as a 10 percent holder. [ADAM: confirm the filer before this goes out; that is what the SEDI summary says, and it is unusual enough to check against the filing itself.]

Add Goldgroup Mining ($6.6 million, two buyers), Allied Gold ($4.2 million) and P2 Gold ($1.8 million) and the pattern is hard to miss. Seven of the twelve largest buying totals were gold or royalty names.

Where several insiders bought at once

One insider buying is a data point. Several in the same month is the pattern this site is built around.

• Dominion Lending Centres (DLCG): six insiders, $993,000. Director Trevor Bruno made four purchases totalling $461,000 between August 14 and 27, and Belkorp Industries, a 10 percent holder, added $450,000 over three trades.
• Trekor Metals (TKO), the company formerly called Taseko Mines: five senior officers, $1.27 million, all between August 10 and 25. The largest were $516,000 from Stuart McDonald and $377,000 from Robert Rotzinger.
• Stack Capital Group (STCK): five buyers and $714,000, with Jeffrey Parks and Jason Meiers each buying on seven or more days between August 7 and 25.
• NFI Group (NFI): four buyers, $5.6 million, most of it Adam Gray.

[ADAM: your read]

How to use this

Every filing above is on the Insider Tracker with the price, the role and the date, and each ticker's page carries the 90-day net and the cluster flag. Canadian filings reach this site through a weekly import from SEDI, so the tracker runs a few days behind the US side, which updates nightly from EDGAR.

None of these are recommendations. A director buying $9.7 million of his own company's stock is a fact with a receipt. What it means is the reader's work.

Opinion and personal record, not investment advice.