Filings, Insiders & OwnershipExtended setlive in production

Insider Routine Decoder

Updated dailyData needs: low

2012

Cohen, Malloy & Pomorski 2012, Journal of Finance, 'Decoding Inside Information'

In plain terms

Many insider trades are clockwork 10b5-1 plans with zero info. Filter them out using trade-date entropy; only opportunistic cluster buys predict +82 bps/month.

How it works

Each insider has a 'routine' footprint (monthly/quarterly 10b5-1 clockwork buys) vs 'opportunistic' trades. Filter OUT routine insiders — the remaining cluster buys predict 82bps/month. Routine alone is zero.

Live results

0 times picked on its own · 15 times inside a blend (15 beat the stock) · updated 2026-06-06

This strategy is a frequent ingredient in blends that combine a few strategies on one stock. It has contributed to 15 such blended picks (15 of which beat simply holding the stock). Picking it on its own is only one of the ways it shows up.

How its picks scored vs. buy & hold

Each pick is graded on a recent year it was never tuned on, against simply owning the same stock

Where its edge concentrates

Share of picks in each company-size group that beat buy & hold

How often it trades

Active vs. patient. Bars on the left mean it waits for rare setups; bars on the right mean it trades often

Return vs. buy & hold

How much each pick beat or trailed simply owning the stock over the test year (extreme microcap moves trimmed)

Loading substrate evidence…

Data dependencies

SEC insider trades (≥3y history)
Form-4 insider transactions with role, size, and trade direction.

Expected edge

Reported return: 82bps/month VW alpha (Cohen-Malloy-Pomorski 2012)
Tested over: 1996-2009

82bps/month VW alpha on opportunistic-filtered (doubles signal-to-noise)

Example tickers where this is likely to fire

BAC C GS

Illustrative only, the signal fires based on the live data, not a fixed list.

Related families

Insider Cluster BuyingFilings, Insiders & Ownership

When several insiders buy their own stock within a short window (a 'cluster buy'), it's the most reliable insider signal. Sales are mostly noise.

Explore Insider Routine Decoder on alphactor.ai

See which tickers this family is currently firing on, with live signals and rankings.

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