Corporate Insiders Most Bearish in 20+ Years
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- Corporate insiders sold far more of their companies' shares than they bought during July, per MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulbert
- Insider bearishness has reached a level not seen in more than 20 years, the most extreme reading in decades
- Hulbert frames the signal as worrisome because insiders 'presumably know more about their companies' prospects than the rest of us do'
- The column warns the stock market is 'likely to succumb to the gravitational pull of insider bearishness' over time
Why it matters: Insider selling hitting a 20-year extreme is a contrarian flag because insiders theoretically have superior information about their own firms' outlooks; a sustained imbalance of selling over buying can foreshadow deteriorating corporate fundamentals before they show up in consensus estimates.
