A free, step-by-step series on tracking legal insider activity. Learn to read Form 4 filings, decode 10b5-1 plans, find cluster buys, and build insider sentiment into a repeatable research workflow — using real OmniFolio tools.
Most insider data is noise. The skill is knowing which 5% to look at — and building a workflow that surfaces it automatically.
SEC Form 4, Form 5, Form 144
Every legal insider transaction is disclosed on a public SEC form within two business days. The guides walk you through each form so you can read them yourself.
Cluster buys, CEO buys, sentiment
Most insider activity is noise — pre-scheduled sales, tax-driven sales, and option exercises. The real signal lives in a small subset of transactions, and these guides show you how to isolate it.
Weekly screen, not daily noise
Insider data only works if you have a repeatable workflow. The advanced guides build a weekly screen that turns the Form 4 firehose into a short, defensible shortlist.
Twelve focused guides — from Form 4 basics to a repeatable weekly insider screen. Sorted by skill level and reading time.
What is insider trading?
Legal vs illegal · The basics
A quick primer on what counts as legal insider trading (disclosed Form 4 transactions) vs illegal trading on material non-public information.
Read a Form 4 filing
SEC Form 4 · Direct & indirect
Walk through a real Form 4 line by line — transaction code, share count, price, ownership type, and what each field actually means.
Transaction codes explained
P, S, A, M, F, G
A reference table for every Form 4 transaction code — open-market purchases, sales, grants, exercises, gifts — and which ones actually carry signal.
10b5-1 plans demystified
Pre-scheduled selling
How 10b5-1 plans work, why most insider sales are pre-scheduled, and how to spot the ones that aren’t — those are the ones that matter.
Find cluster buys
Multiple insiders · Same window
Use the Insider Intelligence tool to find cluster buys — three or more insiders buying within a tight window. Historically the strongest insider signal.
CEO & CFO open-market buys
Top of the org chart
Why a CEO or CFO putting cash into their own stock matters more than any other insider transaction — and how to filter for them.
Use the Insider Sentiment tool
Net buying · Net selling
Walk through the Insider Sentiment tool — net insider activity across your watchlist, ranked by intensity and recency.
Sector-wide insider sweeps
Sector rotation signal
When insiders across an entire sector start buying or selling, that’s a top-down signal about sector positioning — not just single-stock noise.
Insider activity around earnings
Pre-print vs post-print
How to read insider transactions filed in the weeks before and after an earnings release — including the SEC blackout windows.
Spot illusory selling
Tax · Diversification · Charity
A lot of insider selling is just tax-driven, diversification, or charity — not bearish at all. Here’s how to filter it out before drawing conclusions.
Combine insider with 13F flows
Insider buy + smart money
Pair insider cluster buys with rising 13F institutional ownership — the overlap is where the highest-conviction setups historically live.
Build an insider screen
Repeatable workflow
A repeatable weekly screen — cluster buys + CEO/CFO + non-10b5-1 + size threshold — that turns the Form 4 firehose into a focused shortlist.
All examples cite SEC EDGAR Form 4 filings directly. Educational content only — not a recommendation to trade on insider activity.
Pre-sequenced playlists for insider intelligence — pick a track and read straight through.
Beginner: How insider trading actually works
~25 min · 3 guides
Beginner: Read a Form 4 cold
~20 min · 2 guides
Intermediate: Find cluster buys
~30 min · 3 guides
Intermediate: Insider sentiment workflow
~30 min · 3 guides
Intermediate: Earnings & blackout windows
~25 min · 2 guides
Advanced: Build a weekly insider screen
~45 min · 4 guides
After working through this category, the standard insider-trading questions stop feeling intimidating.
Built on primary-source SEC Form 4 filings, wired into the platform, and strictly educational.
Every example cites the original Form 4, Form 5, or Form 144 on SEC EDGAR — not a third-party scrape.
Each guide ends with a working link into the OmniFolio tool that runs the workflow — Insider Intelligence and Insider Sentiment.
These are research workflows for legal, disclosed insider activity. Nothing here is a recommendation to trade — and nothing here involves non-public information.
Free to read. From your first Form 4 to a weekly insider screen — every guide is built on real OmniFolio tools.