The Securities and Exchange Commission pretty much fell asleep for the past two years. Now, there's talk that the agency plans to get tough on violators whose greed and recklessness took this country to its knees. The Federal Reserve had to pledge or spend $12.8 trillion to bail them out.

The $12.8 trillion is gone and we have a country with 17 million unemployed and underemployed. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke could have done much better just taking that $12.8 trillion and help those in need. All he had to do was use one good bank for Americans to switch their money into, and let the greedy ones take a hit. With $12.8 trillion Bernanke could have put this country back on its feet again.

Continue reading SEC, Asleep During the Financial Meltdown, Vows to Get Tough

SEC, Asleep During the Financial Meltdown, Vows to Get Tough originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As news broke Thursday that a Walt Disney Co. (DIS) executive assistant was arrested on suspicion of selling inside information, speculative investors rushed to buy bearish bets on the Dow component. During the course of the session, traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 3,807 puts on DIS, compared to just 34 calls that were purchased.

Taking a closer look at the day's put volume, the June 32 strike was most active. This front-month put saw 5,858 contracts change hands on Thursday, with the majority trading at the ask price -- confirming they were purchased. Open interest at this narrowly out-of-the-money strike rose overnight by 4,731 contracts, and now stands at 7,391 open put positions.

Continue reading Put Buying Rises on Walt Disney Due to Insider Trading Scandal

Put Buying Rises on Walt Disney Due to Insider Trading Scandal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 May 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Five Stocks Seeing Insider Buying

Five Stocks Seeing Insider Buying originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to The Times Online, Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) is looking into insider dealing, launching the biggest operation against such shady tactics ever.

Six men were questioned after the FSA carried out early morning raids on 16 homes and businesses in London, Oxfordshire and Kent. The FSA took documents and computers as part of a joint investigation (with the Serious Organised Crime Agency -- seriously) that started in 2007.

Continue reading Britain's Financial Services Authority Looks at Insider Trading

Britain's Financial Services Authority Looks at Insider Trading originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

James Altucher is a financial journalist for The Wall Street Journal and founder of Stockpickr.com. His articles cover every angle of the market; he also stars in feature videos with other financial luminaries. He is the author of Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett, SuperCa$h, and The Forever Portfolio.

He has taken a controversial path lately with numerous articles in the New York Post and Huffington Post. Some articles include: "Global Warming Is a Myth," "Should Insider Trading Be Made Legal?" "School of Hard Cash," "The Internet Is Dead (as an Investment)," and "5 Myths the Recession Taught Us."

Rumors of a new addition to the James Altucher library have entered the blogosphere, so I met with James to discuss a possible new book and the response from his recent aggressive views on finance and the stock market.

Continue reading You can profit from James Altucher's insanity

You can profit from James Altucher's insanity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

All it takes is a little patience. F. Scott Yeager, a former Enron executive, got some good news from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which ruled that it wouldn't revisit his case. So, he no longer has criminal charges related to financial fraud hanging over him. Yeager has been acquitted on all counts. This follows a June ruling by the Supreme Court, which tossed a previous 5th Circuit Court ruling that could have resulted in a new trial.

The ruling said, "Today, ... it is clear under our initial ... analysis the jury made a finding in acquitting Yeager that precludes prosecution on insider trading and money laundering." Samuel Buffone, who was one of Yeager's attorneys, stated that his client shouldn't have been indicted to begin with and didn't do anything wrong. It has taken them seven years to get to this point.

Yeager landed in hot water because he sold stock in Enron for more than $54 million before it began the plunge that would ultimately end with its bankruptcy in 2001. He faced 125 counts, was acquitted of five (four for wire fraud and one for conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud) and wound up with a hung jury for the remaining 120, which included insider trading and money laundering. He was later indicted again on 13 counts of insider trading and money laundering.

Continue reading Former Enron exec set free

Former Enron exec set free originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Wednesday, Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam told employees via letter that the company is going to wind down all of its hedge funds. In a Wall Street Journal article (subscription required), a person familiar with Galleon said that one of the alternatives the company is exploring is selling out to another firm.

These alternatives were approached by Rajaratnam in his letter, as he told employees that it is "in the best interest of our investors and employees to conduct an orderly wind down of Galleon's funds while we explore various alternatives for our business."

Continue reading Galleon to shutter its hedge funds, is anyone surprised?

Galleon to shutter its hedge funds, is anyone surprised? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Who profited from Bear Stearns' collapse? One insider did, and got away with it

Who profited from Bear Stearns' collapse? One insider did, and got away with it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Raj Rajaratnam's life has just changed profoundly. The 52-year-old founder, fund manager, and partner at the Galleon Group has been accused of insider trading, conspiring with others (now named as defendants with him) to trade shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Hilton (OTC: HLNQ), and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA), among others. Rajaratnam generated $25 million in profits on these trades, but that's moot now.

Rajaratnam, who is #559 on the list of the world's richest people, with a net worth of $1.3 billion, now faces fines of up to $250,000 and from 5 to 20 years in prison. I doubt he'll be in the same slot on next year's list of billionaires.

Continue reading Billionaire hedge fund manager arrested on insider trading charges

Billionaire hedge fund manager arrested on insider trading charges originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Insiders dump stock at a furious clip -- what does it mean?

Insiders dump stock at a furious clip -- what does it mean? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mary Schapiro, chairperson of the the SEC, wants to collect critical data on derivatives transactions to pursue market abuses.

Schapiro said that regulators need the data to construct an audit trail to find out who is doing insider trading and market manipulation. The U.S. Senate is investigating the derivatives markets but is up against a brick wall because it cannot pin down who it is that actually pulled the trigger on the trades. So they are relying on the SEC to provide this data. Schapiro said that the SEC is having difficulty identifying derivative investors and the size of their trades.

Continue reading SEC is digging in on derivatives investigations

SEC is digging in on derivatives investigations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you remember Countrywide Mortgage? Just before the subprime debacle, Countrywide was one of the biggest players in the mortgage business. A man named Angelo Mozilo became chief executive. The company was on a roll. Its motto was "let's think outside the box." And it did.

Countrywide was the first to process applications by computer. Then it let the computer assign a credit score. Then, in a bizarre move, if the credit score was too low, Countrywide just tacked on a few more percentage points to the interest on the mortgage.

Continue reading SEC charges former Countrywide CEO Mozilo with fraud and insider trading

SEC charges former Countrywide CEO Mozilo with fraud and insider trading originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pequot Capital Management is coming to an end, closing the book on two decades of hedge fund history. Arthur Samberg, at one point the biggest hedge fund manager in the world, is closing the company as a result of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) insider trading investigation.

At its peak in 2001, Pequot had $15 million in assets under management. By November 2008, it was only $4.3 billion ... and $3.47 billion as of May 15, 2009, according to a regulatory filing.

Continue reading Insider trading probe to shut Pequot Capital Management

Insider trading probe to shut Pequot Capital Management originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 May 2009 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Can you believe this! The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its own employees. It's gotten so bad that the SEC had to establish new rules for employee trading. Right now the SEC has at least two employees under investigation for possible insider trading. The FBI had to be notified and may also be called in to conduct investigations of possible insider trading.

Would you believe that employees can trade the stocks of companies they are investigating? Yes, as of now that's true. So guess what the SEC is doing to correct the problem? They will employ an outside firm to track employee trading in real time. Another new rule will be that employees cannot trade stocks of companies under investigation and will require them to get clearance before making any trade. From this we can infer that employees have been trading stocks of companies under investigation right along.

Continue reading SEC investigating its own employees for insider trading

SEC investigating its own employees for insider trading originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 24 May 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) disclosed yesterday that it had borrowed another $4 billion from the Treasury Department, raising its total indebtedness to us to $19.4 billion.

The New York Times reports that "G.M. originally said that it would need an additional $2.6 billion from the government to operate through June 1, but added $1.4 billion to that amount."

Whoops! GM underestimated its cash needs by an astounding 53.8%!

Continue reading GM lied about how much cash it needed: Should we give them more?

GM lied about how much cash it needed: Should we give them more? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 May 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A report from the Securities and Exchange Commission's inspector general "revealed suspicious activity, appearances of improprieties and evidence of possible trading on nonpublic information and/or potential insider trading," on the part of two enforcement attorneys at the agency.

The report also said that the SEC has "essentially no compliance system in place to ensure" that its employees don't engage in insider trading. The U.S. Attorney's Washington office and the FBI are investigating the unnamed lawyers -- one man and one woman, whose identities are not public -- and the SEC is careful to point out that while it takes the matter seriously, no one has been charged with any crime yet.

Continue reading Insider trading: Fun for SEC lawyers too!

Insider trading: Fun for SEC lawyers too! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 17 May 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading American Apparel CEO buys company stock

American Apparel CEO buys company stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Would you buy something because Ken Lewis did?

Would you buy something because Ken Lewis did? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bank of America scoops up stock on open market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We recently presented a look at some of the most notorious financial felons of contemporary times.

Since then, news has included the indictment of Mark Cuban for insider trading in a case that is somewhat reminiscent of Martha Stewart's case. According to the SEC, the billionaire entrepreneur asked his broker to sell all his shares of Mamma.com after the company's CEO confidentially told him of an impending stock offering that would dilute the value of all existing shares. By selling before the information became public, Cuban is said to have sidestepped losses of more than $750,000. Cuban insists, though, that no agreement existed to keep the information confidential.

And then there was the indictment in Texas of Vice President Dick Cheney, along with former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others. There seems to be a conflict of interest between the vice president's influence on the federal agency that oversees federal immigration detention centers and his substantial holdings in Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies. But does the lame-duck county district attorney, who was a no-show in court, have the authority to bring charges against federal officials with regard to federally run institutions?

Continue reading Financial Felons: Where are they now and is there a next generation coming?

Financial Felons: Where are they now and is there a next generation coming? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.