Understanding insider dealing

What the filings mean, which disclosures are actually purchases, and how much a director buying their own shares really tells you.

The filings

• SEC Form 4: how US insider trades become public
  What a Form 4 filing is, who has to file one, the two-business-day deadline, and how to read the transaction codes.
• The STOCK Act: congressional trading disclosure
  The law requiring members of Congress to disclose their trades, what it covers, and the reporting gaps that make it weaker than corporate insider rules.

Reading them

• Rule 10b5-1 plans and why they change what a trade means
  Pre-arranged trading plans, the affirmative defence they provide, and why a trade made under one carries less information.

Information only, not investment advice.