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Research from our insider trading data, and plain-English guides. Facts from SEC filings, never stock tips.

  • Do bigger insider buys beat the market? We checked 16,899 · 2 min read

    Short answer: no. Insider purchases of $1 million or more beat the S&P 500 over the next 90 days 44.0% of the time (3,279 cases since 2020). That's slightly worse than insider buys in general (45.8%), and the typical $1M+ buy trailed…

  • Insider buys made in October to December beat the market more often. January to April: much less · 2 min read

    Short answer: the calendar mattered more than who bought. Insider purchases filed in October, November and December beat the S&P 500 over the next 90 days 53% of the time (3,694 cases since 2020). Purchases filed from January to April…

  • Insiders buying the dip: does it work after a 20% drop? · 2 min read

    Short answer: barely. When insiders bought a stock that had already fallen 20% or more over the previous three months, it beat the S&P 500 over the next 90 days 46.5% of the time (4,000 cases since 2020). That's a hair better than…

  • Introducing Spy Mode: investigate any insider trade in one click · 3 min read

    Most insider-trading sites stop at the headline: a director bought $2 million of stock. That's where the useful questions start. Is that normal for this person? Were the other insiders selling? Was it planned months ago? And when…

  • Does a CEO buying stock mean it will go up? What 4,923 CEO and CFO buys show · 3 min read

    Short answer: not reliably. Since 2020, stocks bought by their own CEO or CFO beat the S&P 500 over the next 90 days 45.5% of the time (4,923 cases). Purchases by every other kind of insider beat it 45.9% of the time. The boss's money…

  • SEC Form 4 transaction codes explained (P, S, A, M, F, G and more) · 3 min read

    Short answer: on a Form 4, the transaction code is the single letter that says what kind of trade it was. Only two codes reflect an insider choosing to trade with their own money on the open market: P (purchase) and S (sale). Most of…

  • Why did Eric Sprott buy Hycroft (HYMC)? What his SEC filings show · 3 min read

    Short answer: his filings don't say why. Form 4 reports what an insider bought, at what price and when, never the reason. What the filings do show is unusual: Eric Sprott, a well-known precious-metals investor and a 10% owner of Hycroft…

  • Do insider stock buys beat the market? We checked every one since 2020 · 3 min read

    "Insiders sell for many reasons, but they buy for only one." It's one of the most quoted lines in investing, and it's the reason sites like this one exist. If the CEO spends her own money on her company's stock, she must know something,…

  • How to read an SEC Form 4 in 2 minutes · 3 min read

    Every insider trade on this site comes from one document: SEC Form 4. If you've ever clicked through to the original filing on the SEC's website, you know it isn't friendly. It's a dense government form full of codes and footnotes.

  • What happened 90 days after insiders bought together · 4 min read

    When one executive buys their own company's stock, it might mean a lot or nothing at all. Maybe they think the shares are cheap. Maybe they just got a bonus and their adviser told them to show some confidence.