E-Trade Financial Corporation (ETFC) Can't Catch a Break

Did anyone else happen to catch this Barron's article - Former E*Trade CEO Trades Stock for Cash [subscription required] - which came out earlier this week? It notes how "director Mitchell Caplan, who recently resigned as chief executive officer, sold 300,000 shares for $1.2 million". It then goes on quote an adviser who said - "Selling after a stock has fallen as much as E*Trade has is never a good sign from an insider point of view"....

I usually don't follow insider transactions too closely but this one really jumps out when you look at the weekly chart below. The stock has been absolutely pummeled recently with some throwing the "b" word around so this can't make prospective buyers feel good.

As I said last week, strong declines are typically followed by a basing period which can be long. That process is only going to be delayed with news like this coming out...

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

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