Zero Hedge – 11/11/2020
On Monday, Pfizer shares soared 16% following a bullish statement on the company’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine showed 90% effectiveness in preliminary results. Then on Tuesday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sold 62% of his stock.
The SEC Form 4 filing showed Bourla sold 132,508 shares at an average price of $41.94 per share, equivalent to $5.6 million – nearly top-ticking the 52-week-high.
Bourla’s sale was conducted under Rule 10b5-1, established by the SEC, allowing the corporate insider to sell a predetermined number of shares at a predetermined time. A Pfizer spokesperson told Axios that the CEO’s predetermined trading plan was formed in August.
Despite the sale being perfectly legal under Rule 10b5-1 to avoid accusations of insider trading, the optics aren’t great for Bourla, who still managed to top-tick the 52-week-high on the sale on news day. One can argue that he couldn’t have known the results of the vaccine trial months ahead of time. And while all this is coming out just days after a critical US election, though it’s not clear if that was a trigger.
Other pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna, also producing a COVID-19 vaccine, experienced similar insider selling over the summer around vaccine news – where insiders dumped tens of millions of dollars of stock.
Under the cover of Rule 10b5-1, corporate insiders at some pharmaceutical companies are already running for the exits by dumping their stock, of course, it’s easier to commit to pre-plan sales of stock when you know you can pump the price by simply publishing a press release.
[…]
Via https://alethonews.com/2020/11/11/pfizers-ceo-dumps-62-of-his-stock-on-covid-vaccine-announcement/
The Most Revolutionary Act 
What is the point of having all those shares if you can’t do anything with them? As long as the published release is factual I don’t have a problem with that behaviour. As far as I an concerned the stock market at that level is a fools game anyway … let them go for it. It’s a pity so many people/govts/media use it as a gauge of financial and economic health. It isn’t! Find me a piece of land where you can grow food, trees and shelter your family any day…..
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I think the point of the article, Steve, is to fill in the back story that is left out of mainstream media narrative. The major point of Pfizer’s press release was to allow company executives to executive their pre-planned sell-off of shares at a profit. If you look at the actual study that was done, no one over 50 was given the vaccine, even though the most vulnerable populations for COVID19 are over 70.
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Gambling for rich people is the stock market.
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The stock market is only gambling for poor people, Trace. For rich people it’s a sure thing. They know how to bend the rules and get away with it.
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Reblogged this on Alexanders' Blog.
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