Regional banks stocks are displaying some intriguing behavior in the last week. On one hand, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (US:KRE) extended its year-to-date decline, adding another 7.6% to that down move. The KBW Regional Banking Index is down about 30% since March 8.
On the other hand, data compiled by Fintel shows that insiders were busy buying up their individual bank shares during the week that ended on May 12.
Of course it’s not lost on us that over the last two months, there has been a great deal of concern about the outlook of U.S. regional banks and worries that their deposit outflows and balance sheet issues could cause problems for U.S. equities and for the American economy.
But maybe those insiders’ purchases of several regional bank stocks could indicate that these fears are overdone.
This post appeared at 24/7 Wall St.