Abercrombie & Fitch is a global mall-based clothing retailer. The company has two brands: Abercrombie, which also includes Abercrombie Kids, and Hollister, which includes the Gilly Hicks brand. The company is based in Ohio and has approximately 6,600 full-time employees worldwide.

Stocks are lower at midday on Friday, unable to overcome the massive downward pressure on equities from the conflict in the Middle East and its associated impact on energy markets and the global economy. Gone are the days when the list of big worries was 'only' the future direction of interest rates, a possible bubble in AI stocks, and a possible gloomy outlook for companies and industries that might falter if AI starts to 'do' what those companies currently do. Turning back to today, as of this writing, the major indices are down between 1% and 1.5% for the session. Gold is higher by 3% and crude oil is up 3.6%. Year to date, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off 5% (6.9% in the past month), the S&P 500 is off 6.2% YTD (6.7% in the past month), and the Nasdaq is off 8.7% YTD (6.1% in the past 30 days). Not a great trend, to be sure -- but also one that many feel is going to be in place only as long as the war continues. Should the conflict be resolved (today, next week, over months), there seem to be many paths for a quick recovery.

Abercrombie & Fitch is a global mall-based clothing retailer. The company has two brands: Abercrombie, which also includes Abercrombie Kids, and Hollister, which includes the Gilly Hicks brand. The company is based in Ohio and has approximately 6,600 full-time employees worldwide.

With earnings season in full swing, the volume of weekly insider transactions is low and likely to remain that way for several weeks. Still, there are trends, and those trends continue to suggest that corporate insiders remain unimpressed by current opportunities in the stock market. On a scale where any reading below 2.00 is bullish, readings from 2.01 up to 6.00 are neutral, and readings above 6.00 are bearish, the current major sell/buy ratios from Vickers are as follows. The NYSE One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio is 8.03 and slightly better than last week, while the eight-week ratio is 4.91 and is worse week over week. The Nasdaq One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio is 6.59 and slightly better than last week, while the eight-week ratio is 5.71 and worse week over week. Finally, the Total (all exchanges) One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio is 7.11, slightly better than last week, while the eight-week ratio is 5.28 and worse week over week. Turning to sectors, Consumer Staples and Healthcare posted bullish one-week sell/buy ratios over the past week. Of note, this marks a return to bullish sentiment for Healthcare, which had a neutral one-week stance for the past two weeks and still logs a neutral eight-week sell/buy ratio. Meanwhile, Consumer Discretionary, Financial, Information Technology, Materials, and Real Estate have neutral one-week ratios, while Communication Services, Energy, and Utilities did not generate sufficient trading activity for a ratio to be calculated. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO).