JUSIPER

 
Record Insider Selling

Posted by Sini

What's this all about?

The surge of selling also suggests that many executives realized that stocks remain decidedly expensive, despite the bear market of 2000 to 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index closed on Friday at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 20, well above its historical average.

Insider sales have slowed in recent weeks as the market has fallen, but the amount of money made this year remains impressive. Executives sold $14.4 billion worth of stock in the first four months of the year, up from $4 billion in the period last year, according to Thomson Financial.

'We have been tracking insider sales since 1971, and in the last few months they have never been higher,' said David Coleman, editor of Vickers Weekly Insider Report. 'There has been some pullback in the last few weeks.'

12:05 AM |