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.

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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.

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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

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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)

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Data Retrieval — Finskills API Calls#

1. Symbol-Specific Insider Trades#

text

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)#

text

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

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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 WeightCEO⭐⭐⭐ HighestCFO⭐⭐⭐ HighestPresident / COO⭐⭐⭐ HighDirector (Board)⭐⭐ MediumVP / Other Officer⭐⭐ Medium10% 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:

text

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:

text

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

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Output Format#

text

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║    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}

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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.