insider trading

American  

noun

1. the illegal buying and selling of securities by persons acting on privileged information.

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insider trading Cultural  

1. The unlawful practice of using information that comes from a source “inside” the business but is not available to the general public to trade on the stock market. This activity is prohibited by law and is policed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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In the mid-1980s, several revelations of insider trading rocked Wall Street.

Other Word Forms

• insider trader
  noun

Etymology

Origin of insider trading

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

insider trading

The potential for insider trading to occur has also been raised.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Prediction markets have faced increasing scrutiny in the United States over insider trading allegations, and are banned in some other countries.

From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026

The profit makes the alleged scheme “one of the largest documented cases of insider trading in recent memory,” Susquehanna said in the lawsuit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Firefighters or land managers with exclusive information about a fire’s behavior or an agency’s firefighting plans could even be tempted to bet on a fire, which would be considered insider trading.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026

Paolo’s father was a real estate mogul who had been indicted for insider trading some months ago.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart