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Executives sold $2.4 billion worth of their own companies' stock in July, a number that is right in line with the historic five-year monthly average for selling. But they bought only $73 million worth of stock last month, giving July the lowest monthly level of insiders' stock purchases in two years,

So the evidence is not that insiders were selling an unusually large amount of stock, but that they were buying less than usual. That does not strike me as a rush to get out of the market.

That does not strike me as a rush to get out of the market.

You are right. The rush is starting to look more like a panic to get out.

Richard W.

It is important to note one thing: the only 144 reporting that is required is INSIDER buying and selling. It is not reported if the president of Exxon Mobil buys shares in IBM.

When an insider buys, he is probably adding to an already large position of his company’s stock., creating a situation where a dangerous part of his net worth is tied up in one stock.

In the lifetime of the modern executive we have never had a market melt-down like the one of 2000-2002. Many tech executives went from multimillionaires to poverty (some owing more in taxes than their stock positions were worth).

THAT is a lesson that they will never forget.

I would be surprised if anyone with half a brain would expect people who are already over-concentrated in a single stock to repeat the mistakes that got them - and their neighbors - into trouble just a few years ago.

I confidently predict that we will see much more 144 selling than buying for years to come. Their wives, friends, neighbors and financial advisors will all tell them to diversify.