Insiders know when substantive news is due They are the ones planning and hopefully executing their plan They can do nothing with the shares they buy until 6 months has transpired... This is SEC regulation and is aimed at companies that know material events will occur and buy stock immediately before so they can benefit So let's just say in a hypothetical situation $QLTS goes to .10 and sustains this price a few weeks The family has their eye on a mansion that costs $1,000,000. All they have to do is sell 10 Mil shares and they can purchase with cash If they were at month 3 after and sold 10 million shares they could go to jail