Let Everyone Use What Wall Street Knows

[acmavm]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/opinion/13winans.html?th&emc=th

<snip>

By R. FOSTER WINANS
Published: March 13, 2007
Doylestown, Pa.

A quarter-century after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chairman, John Shad, declared that he was going to come down on insider trading with hobnailed boots, the practice continues to flourish. Earlier this month, we heard that a band of Wall Streeters pocketed $14 million in allegedly illegal profits based on inside information, and that unnamed traders may have made more than $5 million knowing ahead of time about a buyout offer for Texas Utilities.

<snip>

Insider trading encompasses the buying or selling of stocks based on non-public information about the securities in question. It is illegal to tip such information to others or to act on tips oneself. Under this definition, insider trading is so common that the only way the Securities and Exchange Commission can enforce laws against it is selectively, much as a patrolman tickets only the red sports car when everyone on the road is speeding. It may make for sexy headlines when a brazen conspiracy is uncovered, or a Martha Stewart is accused. But stopping the sports car slows traffic only for a mile or two. It gives the false impression that the policeman is on the beat, making the financial markets safe for the rest of us.

<snip>

Insiders who cheat commit a crime against their employers or other entities to whom they are obligated, not against some vague moral notion of fairness. A lawyer, accountant or banker who knows about a client company’s unannounced merger and uses that knowledge for personal gain is stealing. He or she is taking what belongs to someone else — information, trade secrets and the like. A Martha Stewart who trades on the basis of a tip from her broker would be free to do so, as would a corporate officer who learns that his company is going to be the subject of a glowing profile in a major business publication.

I’m an expert on this issue. I was convicted of using advance knowledge of the content of my columns for The Wall Street Journal to make money in the stock market. I stole from my employer. In its 1987 decision in my case, the United States Supreme Court couldn’t decide if what I’d done was insider trading. The vote on those counts of my conviction was 4-4. But by 8-0, the justices ruled that it was fraud: stealing.


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[fasttense]

1. Sounds to me like Winans is trying to justify his crime.

But insider trading is a dark and murky world where some get caught and others get away. Technically, anytime you think you have information on a stock that no one else has and you buy based on it, you are insider trading. Maybe what they really need to do is define it better.

[Double T]

2. corporate america and wall street are the epitome of the culture.......

of overindulgence, abuse, obscene wealth and corruption. As the traitors continue the dismantling and sellout/sell off of America and its people, we are continually reminded that these most traitorous acts were done with the full knowledge and support of our own legislators and justices.

[luckyleftyme2]

3. sad isn't it

seems the more corrupt you are the better you fit

[Double T]

4. Of the corruption, By the corruption and For the corruption.