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insider-trade-tracker

Data & APIs

Track and interpret SEC Form 4 insider buying and selling activity across US-listed equities using the Finskills API.

Install

openclaw skills install insider-trade-tracker

Insider Trade Tracker

Monitor SEC-reported insider buying and selling activity using the Finskills API SEC endpoints. Surfaces unusual insider transactions, cluster buying signals, and corporate officer behavior — one of the most reliable alternative data signals for identifying high-conviction investment opportunities.

Setup

API Key required — Register at https://finskills.net to get your free key.
Header: X-API-Key: <your_api_key>

Get your API key: Register at https://finskills.net — free tier available, Pro plan unlocks real-time quotes, history, and financials.

When to Activate This Skill

Activate when the user:

  • Asks "is management buying their own stock?"
  • Wants to check recent insider transactions for a specific company
  • Asks for unusual insider buying or selling activity across the market
  • Wants to understand what Form 4 filings mean
  • Uses insider activity as part of their investment screening process

Background — Insider Trading Signals

Corporate insiders (officers, directors, 10%+ shareholders) must file Form 4 with the SEC within 2 business days of any transaction. Key signal principles:

Insider Buying Signals:

  • Cluster buying (3+ insiders buying within 30 days): High conviction ⭐⭐⭐
  • CEO/CFO buying (most informed executives): Strongest signal ⭐⭐⭐
  • Open-market purchase (not options exercise): More meaningful ⭐⭐
  • New director buying shortly after joining: Board confidence signal ⭐⭐
  • Buying at or near multi-year lows: Turnaround signal ⭐⭐⭐

Insider Selling Signals (interpret carefully):

  • Insiders sell for many reasons (diversification, tax planning, personal needs)
  • Cluster selling by multiple insiders simultaneously: Warning signal ⚠️
  • CEO/CFO selling > 50% of holdings: Significant concern 🚨
  • Selling before known negative catalyst: Potential information advantage (SEC investigates) 🚨
  • Pre-planned 10b5-1 sales: Less meaningful (scheduled in advance)

Data Retrieval — Finskills API Calls

1. Symbol-Specific Insider Trades

GET https://finskills.net/v1/free/sec/insider-trades/{SYMBOL}

Extract:

  • filerName: insider's name
  • filerTitle: role (CEO, CFO, Director, 10% owner, etc.)
  • transactionType: Purchase (P) or Sale (S) or gift (G) or option exercise (A)
  • transactionDate: date of transaction
  • shares: number of shares transacted
  • pricePerShare: transaction price
  • totalValue: total dollar value of transaction
  • sharesOwnedAfter: total shares owned after transaction
  • filingDate: date filed with SEC

2. SEC EDGAR Filings (for context)

GET https://finskills.net/v1/free/sec/filings/{CIK}

(If the company's CIK number is known)
Extract: recent 8-K, 10-Q, 10-K filings to provide context for insider timing

Analysis Workflow

Step 1 — Transaction Filtering

Filter the insider trade feed:

  1. Remove option exercises (transactionType = 'A'): These are pre-planned, not discretionary
  2. Remove gifts (transactionType = 'G'): Non-economic, planning-related
  3. Focus on Open-Market Purchases ('P') and Sales ('S'): True economic decisions

Step 2 — Insider Hierarchy Weighting

Assign signal weight by filer title:

RoleSignal Weight
CEO⭐⭐⭐ Highest
CFO⭐⭐⭐ Highest
President / COO⭐⭐⭐ High
Director (Board)⭐⭐ Medium
VP / Other Officer⭐⭐ Medium
10% Shareholder⭐ Lower (may have strategic not informational motivation)

Step 3 — Cluster Signal Detection

Cluster Buy Signal (high conviction):

  • ≥ 3 distinct insiders purchasing within a 30-day window
  • At least one C-suite (CEO/CFO) included
  • Total purchase value > $500K combined → Flag: CLUSTER BUY ⭐⭐⭐

Cluster Sell Signal (caution):

  • ≥ 3 distinct insiders selling within a 30-day window (excluding 10b5-1)
  • Combined shares represent > 20% of their aggregate holdings → Flag: CLUSTER SELL ⚠️

Size Signal:

  • Purchase > $1M by a single insider: High conviction
  • Purchase > $5M: Exceptional conviction

Step 4 — Transaction Context Analysis

Compare transaction price to current stock price:

Unrealized Gain/Loss % = (current_price - transaction_price) / transaction_price × 100

If CEO bought at $X and stock is still near $X: Insider is "underwater" → management's money at risk too (alignment signal).

If CEO bought and stock has already risen 30%: Signal may be partly priced in, but confirms thesis.

Step 5 — Trend Summary

Compute rolling 90-day stats:

  • Count of buy transactions vs. sell transactions
  • Net buy/sell dollar value
  • Number of unique insiders transacting

Net Insider Sentiment Score:

Score = (buy_transactions × buy_value) / max(sell_transactions × sell_value, 1)
  • Score > 2.0: Net buying pressure — bullish insider signal
  • Score 0.5–2.0: Balanced / neutral
  • Score < 0.5: Net selling — caution

Output Format

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║    INSIDER TRADE REPORT — {TICKER}  ({DATE})        ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

📌 INSIDER SENTIMENT (Last 90 Days)
  Net Sentiment:   {BULLISH / NEUTRAL / CAUTIOUS}
  Buy Transactions:  {n}  ($${total_value}M)
  Sell Transactions: {n}  ($${total_value}M)
  Unique Insiders:   {n} buyers / {n} sellers

{CLUSTER BUY SIGNAL ⭐⭐⭐}  OR  {CLUSTER SELL WARNING ⚠️}  if triggered

📋 RECENT TRANSACTIONS (Last 90 Days, open-market only)
  Date        Insider                Title    Type     Shares    Price    Value
  2025-04-05  John Smith             CEO      BOUGHT   50,000    $42.10   $2.1M
  2025-03-28  Jane Doe               CFO      BOUGHT   15,000    $39.80   $597K
  2025-03-10  Robert Johnson         Director BOUGHT    8,000    $41.20   $330K
  2025-02-15  Alice Chen             VP Ops   SOLD     12,000    $44.50   $534K
  ...

  [Only showing open-market purchases and sales, excluding option exercises and gifts]

📊 SIGNAL ANALYSIS
  Key Buy Signal:   {Date}: {Name} (CEO/CFO) purchased ${amount}M at ${price}
                    → {Interpretation / context — near 52-week low? Vs. current price?}

  Ownership Context: After purchase, CEO holds {shares} shares (${value} at current price)
                    → {high/medium/low} skin-in-the-game vs. annual compensation

  Price Action Since:  Stock is {+/-}% from average insider purchase price

⚠️ CAVEATS
  • {Any pre-planned 10b5-1 sales noted in filings}
  • {Any concurrent SEC investigation or litigation}
  • {Acquisition-related transactions to exclude}

📈 OVERALL VERDICT
  Insider Signal: {STRONG BUY / MILD BUY / NEUTRAL / MILD CAUTION / CAUTION}
  Confidence:     {High / Medium / Low}
  Rationale:      {2 sentence summary of why}

Limitations

  • Form 4 filings can be delayed up to 2 business days; very recent transactions may not appear.
  • Insider selling is inherently ambiguous — always consider alongside valuation and fundamentals.
  • This skill does not identify illegal insider trading; all transactions shown are SEC-reported.
  • CIK numbers must be obtained from SEC EDGAR for company-specific filing lookups.
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