For at least two decades, it was believed that making managers into owners could ameliorate many agency conflicts existing in capital markets settings. In fact, it now appears that managerial ownership of stock itself may encourage earnings manipulations. In this study, we show that CEO insider trading, earnings manipulations, and the ability to meet and exceed market benchmarks are all interrelated. Managers manipulate earnings to exceed analyst earnings forecasts. Additionally, managerial insider selling increases with performance relative to analyst forecasts, and is magnified by stock...