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Weekly Comic: Market insiders selling at the top to retail investors. Is the crash near?

Published 2017-02-23, 09:06 a/m
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Investing.com - Optimism about U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-growth economic agenda has lifted U.S. equities to record high territory, with the Dow marking its ninth straight record close on Wednesday.

Overall, U.S. stocks are now up almost 15% since the election, boosted by Trump's promises of tax reform, infrastructure spending and bank regulation.

The tremendously high valuations has led to some hedge funds to bet that the rally is coming to an end, as enthusiasm over Trump's policies is overdone and political risk in Europe isn't priced in.

The level of shorts - a bet that a stock will fall - taken out against the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 13% in the 30 days to February 20.

In addition, the first seven weeks of this year have seen insiders selling 5.5-times as many shares as they bought, meaning that insiders are dumping shares at an aggressive pace.

This comes at a time when retail investors are jumping into the market looking to make some quick gains.

Trump has been credited with being a major catalyst behind Wall Street's impressive rally since election day, with some dubbing it the "Trump Jump", as investors welcomed his promises of tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation.

However, recent gains have led to speculation of a near-term reversal with some fund manager likening the current stock market euphoria to the dotcom bubble, which reached a peak on the last day of 1999 and then burst dramatically.

The question remains, who or what will be the cause of the reversal.

To see more of Investing.com’s weekly comics, visit: http://www.investing.com/analysis/comics

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