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Former Dell Execs Involved In Massive Insider Trading Probe
DMandPenfold writes "Two former Dell employees, including a former investor relations manager, were part of a $62 million record-breaking insider trading scam, involving the company's shares as well as Nvidia stock, according to the FBI. The news comes as the U.S. authorities step up their pursuit of inside traders. Two months ago, Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in jail for his role in a scam involving AMD, IBM and 3Com stock. Yesterday, Sandeep Goyal, an employee at Dell's U.S. headquarters between 2006 and 2007 before becoming a financial analyst, was arrested. An unnamed co-conspirator in Dell's investor relations department from 2007 to 2009 is also alleged to have been part of the scam. ... Goyal allegedly made $175,000 by providing inside information about Dell to a hedge fund. He has pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud."
and yet... John Corzine is still walking the streets.
They might be able to start softball team of convicted inside traders at Fed Med by the end of the decade. its something everyone knows is happening, but almost no one gets caught.
I would be curious to hear the libertarian viewpoint on whether insider trading should be a crime?
A truly free market would solve it!
How?
I SAID A TRULY FREE MARKET WOULD SOLVE IT!
Insider trading is hugely common in the corporate world to the point that there is an entire industry surrounding it (Wall Street). Any prosecutions for "insider trading" are totally political. They either upset someone in power, upset a competitor with powerful friends, or didn't do something they were asked to do.
See Quest's CEO as an example. He refused to allow the NSA to spy on Quest's customers and suddenly he is in jail for "insider trading." Opps.
Folks...
You can't refer to the regular posters as "folks", post AC, whip out a scare tactic, and support censorship all in the same breath.
(Actually you CAN, but expect it to be pointed out.)
It's nice to see some action on insider trading scams and valuation fraud, but how about nailing the big fish instead of tossing us minnows and thinking we'll be satisfied. I want to see the sharks hanging on a hook: the Wall Street traders and bankers who've cost the US and global economy literal BILLIONS.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Yesterday Google announced earnings. At 4:01pm EST, exactly. I was able to get the page at 4:01:05pm EST, and just as a joke at the exact same time I checked out after hours trading on GOOG. It was already down 8%, though 5 minutes earlier it was holding around even on close. Tell me, how anyone was able to parse that document in 4 seconds, place the trade, and have it go through after hours.
The system is already so corrupt and broken that anybody who isn't on the "in" shouldn't ever try to invest except for extreme long term. I don't know why a case like this would surprise anyone.
Dude, you're getting a cell?
Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
I've grown absolutely disgusted with big business AND the government. These executives are already rich from their salaries/company perks, so why even do something like this in the first place? They don't need the money... what can they buy with it that they already can't afford? I don't understand...is it just a penis-measuring game where executives are looking to make more money than the rest? Libertarianism once appealed to me, but I've seen more and more that people can't be trusted to do the right thing. The existence of a true free market depends on the major players not being a bunch of sociopaths. Giving more power to the government isn't the answer either because their agenda doesn't usually match up with mine. It's a problem with no solution.
Meanwhile, lots of ordinary people can barely afford to get by these days. If I were in charge of a company and earning several million a year, I would sacrifice my personal income for the year and give it to the people working for me instead. They need it more. If you need millions rolling in each year to maintain your lifestyle, you're doing something wrong.
"It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
This affects things such as rational pricing of goods, as well as supply and demand. Insider trading is also a momentary arbitrage. While there is nothing inherently wrong with arbitrage, those privy to the information are those that get to take advantage of it while the non-informed parties will suffer. This is not conducive to a true free market.
I think you go too far when you go into China territory.
I think it would be more fair to compare it to the Gilded Age of Robber Barons. Insiders who tilted the rules of the market in their own favor. Jay Gould and Daniel Drew would be good examples. These people gained control of corporations and tilted it towards their own gain vs. the shareholders. Took control of banks and choked off competition. Etc.
Real insider trading is done in government, before it releases a law or decision upon a company's future (like knowing whether FDA will deny or allow a new drug to the market), and Senators / Congressmen being bribed in stock options where straight up cash would be considered an illegal bribe, because they voted themselves this little neat trick.
Insider trading idea is a bunch of crap. The only problem is FRAUD, all other trading that is done privately is done based on some form of information.
For a top manager to bet against his company and then tank the stock by doing something that would undermine the company's value is FRAUD.
For a top manager to bet against his company because he THINKS that the company is going in the wrong direction - that's not fraud, that's common sense.
For a government official to accept a bribe in form of a stock option or to short stock of a company before passing a LAW that would hurt that company financially - that is REAL insider trading fraud.
You can't handle the truth.