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Insider trading in Australia: Contrarianism and future performance

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  • Katselas, Dean

Abstract

This paper examines, within the Australian market, the extent to which legal insider trades are information driven, premised on a disconnect between the market's assessment of firm value, and that of more informed insiders. I address the notion that insiders, endowed with superior information about their firm, are contrarian, reflecting disagreement with the market's current perception of firm value, and also use this knowledge by trading in advance of future performance indicators not known to the market. I find that insiders, directors in particular, are contrarian traders; they buy when their firm is in the bottom tercile according to prior returns (losers), and sell if their firm is a prior winner. Further, this behaviour is exacerbated if the firm is a value (glamour) stock. Finally, I show that even after controlling for the aforementioned factors, directors engage in net buying prior to positive accounting performance changes in the subsequent and following 12 month periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Katselas, Dean, 2018. "Insider trading in Australia: Contrarianism and future performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 112-128.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:48:y:2018:i:c:p:112-128
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2018.01.004
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    1. Dean Katselas & Baljit K. Sidhu & Chuan Yu, 2021. "Liquidity and information asymmetry around unscheduled mining announcements," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 3053-3087, June.
    2. Dean Katselas, 2020. "Strategic insider trading around earnings announcements in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 3709-3741, December.
    3. Zou, Gaofeng & Du, Shuchang & Yang, Yulong & Huang, Zuo, 2022. "The effect of realized future growth opportunities on insider trading," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).

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