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To: ild who wrote (23606)	12/20/2004 1:28:04 PM
From: russwinter	Respond to of 110194

Reasons for insiders' selling spree are unclear By Rachel Beck The Associated Press Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - New York - Talk about a double standard. While corporate leaders tout the benefits of investors owning their stocks, many executives seem to be running for the doors themselves. Selling of shares by insiders - which includes executives and other top officers and directors at a company - has been rampant in recent months, with sales rising to their highest level in more than four years in November. While no one can pinpoint an exact reason for the run-up, the implication is troubling since big insider selling is often considered bearish for the overall market as well as for individual stocks. Of course, not all insider selling should be construed as a bad sign. Some stock sales may just be routine or may be executives wanting to free up money to cover personal expenses or to help pay the taxes on shares they buy after exercising options. And in some sectors, namely technology, stock compensation is often the bulk of executive pay, so they sell their stock for income. In addition, November has historically been a busy time for insider selling. That's because it comes after most companies have reported their third-quarter earnings and restrictions for selling have been lifted. In addition, some executives sell in November for tax purposes. Still, insider-trading trackers at Thomson Financial say the recent selling bonanza is "particularly noteworthy." About $6.6 billion in insider stock sales took place last month, the highest level since the $7.7 billion in sales tallied in August 2000, according to Thomson. The most selling came from in the financial sector, where executives sold $882 million of their own stock in November, and health care companies, whose insiders sold $734 million worth of shares. Selling in both sectors was double the five-year monthly average, according to Thomson. Consider what has gone on at networking company Avocent Corp., whose statements seem to contradict insiders' actions. On Nov. 1, it announced a buyback plan for up to 2 million shares and stated that the purchase "represents a solid investment for our shareholders." Apparently, the company's insiders seemed to have ignored that memo. In the month following the announcement, they sold 578,565 shares out of an aggregate of 645,756 insider shares sold during the past 12 months, according to Vickers Weekly Insider.