INSIDER BUYING HITS NEW LOW

Insider buying cratered in the week ending April 9th as corporate executives refused to buy into the rally after the recent surge in stocks. Buying has been consistently light since the rally started last March, but was particularly light this week. Total purchases of just $2.1MM was the lowest level during the entire 75% equity rally though the weekly average has ticked slightly higher over the last 8 weeks. Meanwhile, the heavy stream of insider selling continued as insiders unloaded $824mm onto the market.

Of course, insiders sell for various reasons so the high level of selling should be taken with a grain of salt, however, the very low levels of buying are clear evidence of skepticism with regards to the sustainability of any recovery. As evidenced in weak hiring trends and revenue trends corporate executives have yet to see much evidence that this recovery is anything other than a cyclical rebound as opposed to a new secular economic cycle.

Buying was very light this week so there were few notable purchases:

Notable selling:

Source: FinViz

INSIDERS CONTINUE TO SELL INTO THE RALLY

by Insider Zone - April 5th, 2010 3:46 pm

INSIDERS CONTINUE TO SELL INTO THE RALLY

Insiders continue to display a remarkably low level of confidence in the stock market via the use of their own money. The latest data on insider buying and selling shows the continuing negative trends. For the week ending April 2nd, insiders sold $421MM while buying just $13.5MM. Both buying and selling were down substantially from last week, but the discrepancy between the two remains equally large.

There were no notable buying trends this week:

[click on charts to enlarge and go to the Finviz website - Ilene]

Notable selling:

Source: FinViz

INSIDER BUYING REMAINS NON-EXISTENT

by Insider Zone - March 29th, 2010 7:29 pm

INSIDER BUYING REMAINS NON-EXISTENT

The latest data on insider buying and selling showed little change in the bearishness of corporate insiders. For the week ending March 26th, insiders bought just $38MM in stocks while at the same selling $999MM. Both buying and selling were down from last week’s reading (see here).

Insiders have been skeptical of the sustainability of the rally as they have seen meager gains in sales growth over the course of the “recovery”. While selling has been remarkably high, it is the low levels of buying that remains most worrisome.

Notable buying:

it23 INSIDER BUYING REMAINS NON EXISTENT

Notable selling:

it13 INSIDER BUYING REMAINS NON EXISTENT

Insider buying and selling

by Insider Zone - March 22nd, 2010 12:39 pm

By Ilene

Following up on Pragcap’s article on insider buying and selling (below), here are several charts that show the trends, via Insider Cow:

insider buying

numbers of insider buyers

Insider buy/sell ratio

insider selling in $

Insider buying and selling charts

by ilene - March 22nd, 2010 12:10 pm

By Ilene

Following up on Pragcap’s article on insider buying and selling, here are several charts that show the trends visually from Insider Cow:

insider buying

numbers of insider buyers

Insider buy/sell ratio

insider selling in $

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Mutual Fund Cash Depletion Highest Since 1991

by ilene - March 9th, 2010 4:54 pm

Mutual Fund Cash Depletion Highest Since 1991

Courtesy of Mish

In what can best be described as a contrarian indicator with an uncertain timing trigger, Mutual Fund Cash Depletion Highest Since 1991.

Equity mutual funds are burning through cash at the fastest rate in 18 years, leaving them with the smallest reserves since 2007 in a sign that gains for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may slow.

Cash dropped to 3.6 percent of assets from 5.7 percent in January 2009, leaving managers with $172 billion in the quickest decrease since 1991, Investment Company Institute data show. The last time stock managers held such a small proportion was September 2007, a month before the S&P 500 began a 57 percent drop, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Stocks will rally this year as the prospect of higher interest rates lures cash from fixed-income securities to equity accounts, says Mark Bronzo at Security Global Investors. Data from ICI, the Washington-based lobbying group for professional money managers, show investors have pumped $369 billion into bond funds since March 2009 versus $23.4 billion for equities.

“There’s so much money in the fixed-income market and there’s so much money in money-market instruments paying almost nothing,” said Bronzo, whose firm oversees $21 billion, in an interview from Irvington, New York. “If that money shifts to stock funds, it’s going to be very bullish.”

Equities may be boosted by investors deploying some of the $3.17 trillion held in money-market funds tracked by ICI. While $754.3 billion has moved from the accounts in 14 months for the fastest decline on record, Bronzo says more cash will be withdrawn as investors gain confidence in the economy.

It gets tiring pointing this out, but the only time money can move into the equity market is at IPO time or other offerings. Otherwise it is impossible for sideline cash to move into equities. For every buyer there is a seller. At the end of any normal equity transaction, there is as much cash on the sidelines as before.

So many misunderstand the simple mathematical function of buying and selling, that I feel obliged to make corrections.

Sentiment, Not Sideline Cash, Is The Driving Force

Share prices do not move up because sideline cash comes in (as noted above it cannot happen in the first place). Share prices rise or fall…

Tags: Cash, Equities, insider selling, Mutual Funds, risk, sentiment, sideline cash

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INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

by Insider Zone - March 1st, 2010 10:09 am

Update on insider activity from Pragcap -- selling still far exceeds buying, confirming my thoughts on Feb. 20 that trends haven’t changed. - Ilene

INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

The recent uptick in stocks has not been met with much enthusiasm by corporate insiders. In fact, pessimism rules the day in the land of insider buying and selling trends. For the week ending February 26th insiders sold a total of $1.88B in stock and purchased just $13.22MM. Selling was up substantially from last week and buying was down substantially from last week. The selling was the highest level experienced this year. Interestingly, as the rally has continued insiders have actually increased their selling.

Of course, insiders sell for numerous reasons so it’s foolish to look at insider selling alone, however, the low level of buying tells the real story here. Insiders simply don’t trust the long-term viability of the equity rally based on the condition of their internal operations. Perhaps most alarming in this data is the fact that it is not solely a problem in the United States. As we noted last week, the problem is pervasive in China as well where insider buying and selling trends remain negative. Clearly, Main Street investors aren’t the only ones aware of the government induced rally in stocks. The stimulus based recovery in China is apparently causing some concern in the corner offices in Hong Kong as well.

There was no notable buying this week, however, there were some interesting trends in selling. Sales across the consumer discretionary space we particularly heavy. Selling was very heavy in Whole Foods (WFMI) where insiders clearly desire to take profits following the 25%+ rally in recent weeks. Other notable sales included sizable selling by the CFO’s of TJX and VF Corp. As we’ve previously mentioned, sales by CFO’s are always intriguing because no insider knows the company finances like the CFO. All notable buying and selling is attached:

it13 INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

Notable selling:

it23 INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

Source: FinViz

****

For updated Finviz data, go here for a list of recent buys and sells.

INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

by ilene - March 1st, 2010 10:07 am

Update on insider activity from Pragcap — selling still far exceeds buying, confirming my thoughts on Feb. 20 that trends haven’t changed. – Ilene

INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

it13 INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

Notable selling:

it23 INSIDER SELLING HITS NEW 2010 HIGH

Source: FinViz

****

For updated Finviz data, go here for a list of recent buys and sells.

Tags: equity, insider buying, insider selling, Stock Market, stocks

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INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

by Insider Zone - February 22nd, 2010 12:33 pm

Here’s another article on recent insider buying and selling by The Pragmatic Capitalist. He agrees with my assessment over the weekend (Insider Buying and Selling Trends) that there’s nothing to get excited about yet. - Ilene

INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

Insider selling soared 17% for the week ending February 20th and hit a new 2010 high. Total buying also picked up, but remains near historically low levels. Total selling reached $956MM while buying totaled just $96.3MM?. Insider buying has been unusually low throughout the rally as economic fundamentals remain questionable. Recent signs of recovery have done little to encourage insiders to invest their personal dollars in their own companies.

There were no notable purchases this week. On the sell side, large sales from CFO’s are also interesting. In this week’s report we saw large sales from the CFOs of Netflix and Walter’s Industries. Arguably, there is no one more familiar with corporate financial condition than the CFO so we always take notice of insider sales by CFO’s. All notable sales are attached:

it12 INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

Notable selling:

it22 INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

Source: Finviz

Tags: insider buying, insider selling, Stock Market

INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

by ilene - February 22nd, 2010 12:31 pm

INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

it12 INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

Notable selling:

it22 INSIDER SELLING SOARS TO 2010 HIGH

Source: Finviz