Information transfers and learning in financial markets: Evidence from short selling around insider sales
43 Pages Posted: 15 Jan 2008 Last revised: 7 Jan 2013
Date Written: November 15, 2011
Abstract
We document significant increases in short positions on days when company insiders sell their firms’ shares. Short selling increases before insider sales are publicly reported and often before insiders finish selling. Furthermore, the magnitude of short selling activity is consistent with short sellers’ knowledge of the insider’s rank (e.g., CEO, CFO, or a lower-ranked manager) and with knowledge of the unobservable size of the insider’s trading position. We show that short sellers’ superior timing is consistent with (i) monitoring of order flow and (ii) obtaining price-relevant information from brokerages that execute insider sales. Some of our results extend to insider purchases.
Keywords: Insider trading; Short selling; Information transfers; Brokerage effect
JEL Classification: G14, G30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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