Silke
21.02.2001, 22:10
..und das obwohl die companys optisch günstig erscheinen http://www.stock-channel.net/Board/smilies/frown.gif
Wednesday February 21, 3:50 pm Eastern Time
Insider Buying Drops to Lowest in 5 Years
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insider buying of stocks fell to its lowest level in January in more than five years, signaling increased pessimism over the U.S. stock market's prospects.
Purchases by executives of stocks of the companies for which they work fell to $125 million in January from $313 million in December, insiderSCORES.com, a Web site that tracks such purchases, said on Wednesday.
The January level is the lowest since September 1995, when insiders bought just $115 million of stocks, said Lon Gerber, insiderSCORES.com's director of research, in a note to clients.
Investors view the aggregate level of buying by insiders -- who have the best access to information on their companies' prospects -- as an indicator of market sentiment. Insiders presumably buy shares when they consider them a bargain relative to their companies' future business.
The drop in insider buying means ``a lot of stocks are still going down,'' said Eric Barden, a portfolio manager with the Texas Capital Value Fund, which has about $50 million in stocks.
The January decline also suggests ``that owners and operators of companies are still concerned that the market value of their companies is higher than what an informed buyer would pay for them,'' he said.
Insiders typically reduce purchases in January because of restrictions prior to the release of fourth-quarter earnings reports, insiderSCORES.com said. Still, ``the relative dearth of buying is surprising considering the current level of the market,'' Gerber wrote.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, a broad gauge of the market, has fallen 4 percent in 2001.
Insider selling -- sales by executives of stocks of the companies for which they work -- grew to $3.5 billion in January from $3.2 billion in December, according to Gerber.
Some increase is normal, he wrote, because insiders would often choose to defer sales to January from December in order to avoid paying capital gains taxes for the December tax year.
``However,'' he said, ``this year we would assume that much fewer executives are fortunate enough to actually have gains considering the performance of the market last year.''
The S&P 500 index fell 10 percent in 2000. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which is laced with technology companies, fell 39 percent.
Gerber said insiderScores.com's favor market indicator -- the ratio of dollars sold to dollars bought by insiders -- rose to 28.03 in January, its highest and most bearish level since the Web site began measuring the indicator in January 1996.
Last year, he wrote, the indicator reached highs in February and August, preceding a market correction in the ensuing months
Wednesday February 21, 3:50 pm Eastern Time
Insider Buying Drops to Lowest in 5 Years
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insider buying of stocks fell to its lowest level in January in more than five years, signaling increased pessimism over the U.S. stock market's prospects.
Purchases by executives of stocks of the companies for which they work fell to $125 million in January from $313 million in December, insiderSCORES.com, a Web site that tracks such purchases, said on Wednesday.
The January level is the lowest since September 1995, when insiders bought just $115 million of stocks, said Lon Gerber, insiderSCORES.com's director of research, in a note to clients.
Investors view the aggregate level of buying by insiders -- who have the best access to information on their companies' prospects -- as an indicator of market sentiment. Insiders presumably buy shares when they consider them a bargain relative to their companies' future business.
The drop in insider buying means ``a lot of stocks are still going down,'' said Eric Barden, a portfolio manager with the Texas Capital Value Fund, which has about $50 million in stocks.
The January decline also suggests ``that owners and operators of companies are still concerned that the market value of their companies is higher than what an informed buyer would pay for them,'' he said.
Insiders typically reduce purchases in January because of restrictions prior to the release of fourth-quarter earnings reports, insiderSCORES.com said. Still, ``the relative dearth of buying is surprising considering the current level of the market,'' Gerber wrote.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, a broad gauge of the market, has fallen 4 percent in 2001.
Insider selling -- sales by executives of stocks of the companies for which they work -- grew to $3.5 billion in January from $3.2 billion in December, according to Gerber.
Some increase is normal, he wrote, because insiders would often choose to defer sales to January from December in order to avoid paying capital gains taxes for the December tax year.
``However,'' he said, ``this year we would assume that much fewer executives are fortunate enough to actually have gains considering the performance of the market last year.''
The S&P 500 index fell 10 percent in 2000. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which is laced with technology companies, fell 39 percent.
Gerber said insiderScores.com's favor market indicator -- the ratio of dollars sold to dollars bought by insiders -- rose to 28.03 in January, its highest and most bearish level since the Web site began measuring the indicator in January 1996.
Last year, he wrote, the indicator reached highs in February and August, preceding a market correction in the ensuing months