I propose to use volatility to infer opportunistic insider sales. I argue that insider sales occurring when volatility is low are suspicious and that these suspicious sales are likely to be driven by insiders’ private information for the following reasons. Suppose that insider sales are not...

We document pervasive informed trading activity in equity options before M&A announcements. About 25% of takeovers have positive abnormal volumes. These volume patterns indicate that informed traders are likely using bullish directional strategies for the target and volatility strategies for the...

Government agencies routinely allow pre-release access to information to accredited news agencies under embargo agreements. Using high frequency data, we find evidence consistent with informed trading during embargoes of the Federal Open Market Committee's scheduled announcements. The E-mini S&P...

This study examines the impact of corporate earnings announcements on trading activity and speed of price adjustment, analyzing algorithmic and non–algorithmic trades during the immediate period pre– and post– corporate earnings announcements. We confirm that algorithms react faster and...

This paper examines the relation between voluntary disclosure of financial statement line items accompanying, and insider trading around, quarterly earnings announcements. We find that investors' reaction to positive earnings news is temporarily heightened by financial statement line items...

While pledging shares as collateral for personal loans is commonly practiced in many countries that protect minority shareholders, the empirical evidence has shown only its value destruction to shareholders. This paper offers an (partial) explanation of this puzzle by documenting a positive...