Reply #3: I looked into Amgen more - and there is absolutely nothing there

[karynnj]

Sweitzer says the Kerrys sold a few weeks before the "government" decided not to cover it. The problem here is that the senate did not decide this - the Bush HHS did. It was a function of the executive branch. Not to mention, if the Senate did want to question decisions of that type, it would be the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, not the Finance committee, that would have oversight. Kerry is not on that committee. This sale would look suspicious if Kerry were the Bush Secretary of HHS rather than Senator from Massachusetts.

Out of curiosity, I looked at the chart. This shows how desperate Sweitzer was to make a case. Amgen went from 73.27 the week of January 7 to 63.74 the week of April 30 to 56.30 the week of May 7 to 54.04 the week of May 14. The public at large clearly was aware that there were problems - as it had already lost over a quarter of its value. http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AMGN+Interactive#chart4:symbol=amgn;range=20061122,20111116;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined

Incidentally, the stock was HIGHER at 59.03 the week of June 11, a few weeks after the government decision. This might be why Sweitzer does not bother to estimate how much the Kerrys saved by the "inside information" they very almost certainly did not have from the Bush administration.

Now, try this. On the financial chart, click the box events and select "key developments". The government decision is not even mentioned from what I can see - obviously this drug was not a big money maker for them.

So, in summary:
- there was plenty of information that the stock was troubled
- the Kerrys sold near the bottom for that time interval - and could have sold for more the next month.
- Kerry likely had no information as he was not a BFF of the HHS
- Even had he known of the government action, it was not a major event for the stock.

All in addition to the part of it being Teresa's and he has never communicated with the people overseeing her money.