Retail Investors Keep Buying as Insiders Keep Selling

Thanks to inflation, a penny stock today is considered any stock trading under $5 per share. That’s also the price where institutional investors are cut off from owning a stock – it’s just too low a price and it’s too easy for big money to buy shares.

But that isn’t stopping retail investors from buying sub-$5 stocks – and now, true penny stocks trading under $1.00.

Today, a whopping 47% of all market volume is in sub-$1 stocks:

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As mentioned in this morning’s Swan Dive, Regencell Bioscience started the year as a penny stock, trading as low as $0.09, split-adjusted.

It’s now been the best market performer year-to-date – even without any positive corporate developments to point out – just pure retail buying. (We also strongly urged you not to buy the stock.)

In the meantime, company insiders are now picking up the pace of their sales:

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Of course, insiders have many reasons to sell, from putting a kid through college, paying for a messy divorce – or just the good old-fashioned opinion that their shares are overvalued.

These two trends suggest that retail investors are getting ebullient, while the insiders who know their company’s value inside and out are hitting the cash register.

~ Addison

Good News for Stocks

50-year Wall Street veteran, Marc Chaikin is stepping forward to share why history gives him 90% historical confidence that stocks will end 2025 up. However, he also has bad news: the same data also tells him the REAL market crash will likely arrive in 2026. Click here to see the month and day he estimates it will begin.

P.S.: Looking for small-cap companies that are driven by fundamentals and not just retail sentiment?

Consider joining our Portfolio Director Andrew Packer at the Rule Investment Symposium in Boca Raton on July 7-11, 2025. Click here to attend and meet your future cutting-edge resource investments face-to-face.

And for paid-up members: Be sure to join us for Grey Swan Live! tomorrow, June 19, 2025. It’ll be Juneteenth, and we’ll be discussing international investing, value investing, and how to find massive stock winners over time with Chris Mayer. Chris is always a good conversation.

As always, your reader feedback is welcome: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com (We read all emails. Thanks in advance for your contribution.)

But that isn’t stopping retail investors from buying sub-$5 stocks – and now, true penny stocks trading under $1.00.

Today, a whopping 47% of all market volume is in sub-$1 stocks:

Turn Your Images On

As mentioned in this morning’s Swan Dive, Regencell Bioscience started the year as a penny stock, trading as low as $0.09, split-adjusted.

In the meantime, company insiders are now picking up the pace of their sales:

Turn Your Images On

Of course, insiders have many reasons to sell, from putting a kid through college, paying for a messy divorce – or just the good old-fashioned opinion that their shares are overvalued.

These two trends suggest that retail investors are getting ebullient, while the insiders who know their company’s value inside and out are hitting the cash register.

~ Addison

Good News for Stocks

P.S.: Looking for small-cap companies that are driven by fundamentals and not just retail sentiment?

As always, your reader feedback is welcome: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com (We read all emails. Thanks in advance for your contribution.)

Sunday night, Powell addressed the probe head-on in a video post — a rarity. He accused the White House of using cost overruns in the Fed’s HQ renovation as a pretext for political interference.

The White House denied involvement. But few in Washington believed it.

What followed was bipartisan condemnation of the investigation. Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen co-signed a blistering rebuke, warning the U.S. was starting to resemble “emerging markets with weak institutions.”

Estimates now indicate that the average consumer will default on a minimum payment at about a 15% rate – the highest level since a spike during the pandemic lockdown of the economy.

President Trump’s proposal over the weekend to cap credit card interest at 10% for a year won’t arrive in time to help consumers who are already missing minimum payments.

Not to fret, the other 85% of borrowers continue to spend on borrowed time. Total U.S. household debt, including mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and credit cards, reached record highs in late 2025, exceeding $18.5 trillion. This surge was driven partly by rising credit card balances, which neared their own all-time peaks due to inflation and higher interest rates.

There’s an old Wall Street maxim: “Don’t fight the Fed.”

This year, you could add a Trump corollary.

A wise capital allocator doesn’t fight that storm. He doesn’t argue with it. He respects it the way sailors respect the sea: with preparation, with humility, and with a sharp eye for what breaks first.

In 2026, the things that break first are the stories. The narratives. The comfortable assumptions.

Total municipal, state and federal debt service costs soared to nearly $1.5 trillion in the third quarter of 2025. Debt’s easy to accumulate when rates are low. Trouble is, you are obligated to refinance them even after rates go up.

It’s also a key reason why the Trump administration is demanding lower interest rates – even if it means reigniting inflation.

Sunday night, Powell addressed the probe head-on in a video post — a rarity. He accused the White House of using cost overruns in the Fed’s HQ renovation as a pretext for political interference.

The White House denied involvement. But few in Washington believed it.

Estimates now indicate that the average consumer will default on a minimum payment at about a 15% rate – the highest level since a spike during the pandemic lockdown of the economy.

President Trump’s proposal over the weekend to cap credit card interest at 10% for a year won’t arrive in time to help consumers who are already missing minimum payments.

There’s an old Wall Street maxim: “Don’t fight the Fed.”

This year, you could add a Trump corollary.

In 2026, the things that break first are the stories. The narratives. The comfortable assumptions.

It’s also a key reason why the Trump administration is demanding lower interest rates – even if it means reigniting inflation.