The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
– State Department ‘Loses’ Smoking Gun Email of Possible Clinton Insider Trading:
A notorious email between State Department aide Jake Sullivan and a Clinton Foundation employee exposing financial conflicts of interest by the former Secretary of State has “mysteriously” disappeared.…
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Ok, this is China: crazy things happen all the time. But where things got outright ridiculous, was when moments ago when as China National Radio reports, Wu Shuang, a partner of Xu Xiang’s at Zexi, and also an insider trading suspect, was shot and killed by Chinese police when he “resisted and tried to escape.”
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– Most Transparent Insider Trading Congress Ever Tells SEC To Shove it (ZeroHedge, July 28, 2014):
“Do as we say, not as we do,” appears the modus operandi of the current administration’s increasingly totalitarian regime. Today’s edition of ‘wait, what?’ comes from The WSJ who report that The U.S. House of Representatives told a federal court Friday it should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the SEC (regarding the long-running insider-trading investigation) because Congress is lawfully allowed to ignore requests to turn over records and testimony to the executive branch agency. Arguing “sovereign immunity” and responding in a rather snarky (almost “do you know who we are?” manner), House attorneys blasted the SEC’s “fool’s errand.”
The U.S. House of Representatives told a federal court Friday it should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission because Congress is lawfully allowed to ignore requests to turn over records and testimony to the executive branch agency.
“Rather than acknowledge the fool’s errand on which it has embarked, the SEC instead invites this court to join it by disregarding fundamental limitations on judicial authority,” wrote House attorneys in a new court filing.
Read moreMost Transparent Insider Trading Congress Ever Tells SEC To Shove it
– Crony Capitalism Comes To China – Ex Central Bank Chief’s Son-In-Law In Insider-Trading Scandal (ZeroHedge, July 7, 2014):
As China’s anti-corruption crackdown continues, the crony-capitalists are slowly exposed. As EJ Insight reports, the son-in-law of former PBOC governor and former Tianjin mayor Dai Xianglong bought millions of dollars of shares (via offshore entities) ahead of Beijing’s decision to allow mainland residents buy Hong Kong stocks directly. It appears the Chinese have learned a lot from the West.
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– Icahn, Mickelson are investigated in U.S. insider trading probe: source (Reuters, May 31, 2014):
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating possible insider trading involving billionaire investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas gambler William Walters, a source familiar with the matter said.
Federal investigators are looking into whether Mickelson and Walters may have traded illegally on private information provided by Icahn about his investments in public corporations, the source told Reuters, confirming reports on Friday.
Read moreBillionaire Investor Carl Icahn Investigated In U.S. Insider Trading Probe
– 53% Of Bankers Say Ethics Inhibit Career Progression – Here’s Why (ZeroHedge, Nov 26, 2013):
The Economist found, rather sadly, despite all the glad-handing and happy-talk, that 53% of financial services executives believed that strict adherence to ethical conduct would make career progression difficult. As this former Wall Street trader told The Guardian, “a precedent needs to be set, to slow down Wall Street’s wild behavior. A reminder that rules are there to be followed, not exploited.” The reason, among others, is summed up by the following, “if a customer wants a red suit, you sell them a red suit. If that customer is Japanese, you charge him twice what it costs.”
My first year on Wall Street, 1993, I was paid 14 times more than I earned the prior year and three times more than my father’s best year. For that money, I helped my company create financial products that were disguised to look simple, but which required complex math to properly understand. That first year I was roundly applauded by my bosses, who told me I was clever, and to my surprise they gave me $20,000 bonus beyond my salary.
The products were sold to many investors, many who didn’t fully understand what they were buying, most of them what we called “clueless Japanese.” The profits to my company were huge – hundreds of millions of dollars huge. The main product that made my firm great money for close to five years was was called, in typically dense finance jargon, a YIF, or a Yield Indexed Forward.
Read more53% Of Bankers Say Ethics Inhibit Career Progression – Here’s Why
– Blast from the Past: Harry Reid Claimed Income Taxes are “Voluntary” (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Oct 14, 2013):
With Harry Reid in deep negotiations with crony Republican fraud Mitch McConnell, the American public is surely in the process of getting royally screwed once again. Thus, it seems like an appropriate time to revisit an interview in which Mr. Reid claimed on camera that income taxes are “voluntary.” He must have accidentally described the way members of Congress view taxes, you know kind of like how they view insider trading.
As you watch, try not to get too distracted by Jan Helfeld’s tie. Where can you even buy something like that?!
YouTube Added: 23.08.2008
Description:
Jan Helfeld interviews Senator Harry Reid about redistributive taxes.
Read moreHarry Reid Claimed Income Taxes Are ‘VOLUNTARY’ (Video)
– Congress Exempts Most Federal Workers From Key Insider Trading Reporting Requirement (ZeroHedge, April 13, 2013):
Back in 2012, amid “intense pressure from Obama” including an appeal for its passage in his 2012 State of the Union address, Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act (with 96-3 theatrical votes in the Senate, and 417-2 even more theatrical votes in the House) – a bill prohibiting the use of non-public information for private profit, including insider trading by members of Congress and other government employees. It is unclear why until 2012 it was perfectly legal for congress to trade on inside information, something we pointed out in May 2011 when we wrote that a “A Hedge Fund Comprised Of Junior Congressional Democrats Should Outperform The Market By 9%” as it turned out flagrant insider trading abuse occurred mostly within the democrat ranks of the House (compared to a mere 2%+ outperformance by Congressional stock trading republicans).
It turns out that any cynical skepticism regarding Congress’ ability and willingness to police itself was well founded, as last night the House eliminated a “key requirement of the insider trading law for most federal employees, passing legislation exempting these workers, including congressional staff, from a rule scheduled to take effect next week that mandated online posting of financial transactions.”
The reason why one will have to take Congress at its word that it is not breaking the law? Because apparently posting Congress’ financial dealings online would be pose a “national risk” according to the National Academy of Public Administration.
Surely this explains why the bill was rushed and voted in the matter of hours: one can’t have a debate over matters of “national security” especially if the financial well-being of Congress is at risk. As Washington Times recaps, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, introduced the bill on Thursday and had the chamber vote on it late that evening. The House took the bill up on Friday afternoon and passed it by unanimous consent, with no members objecting. Republican leaders did not give lawmakers the traditional three days to read the bill before holding a vote. One GOP aide told The Washington Times the three-day rule did not apply to Friday’s action because the bill came from the Senate, while another said the House moved quickly because of a Monday deadline for the new disclosure mandates to take effect.”
In other words, while the STOCK Act passed nearly unanimously in 2012 just to show how “honest” congress is, the follow up legislation that effectively undoes the key reporting requirement of said anti-inside trading law passed just as unanimously, allowing congress to have its shady dealings cake, and eat its non-inside trading reputation too.
Read moreU.S. Congress Exempts Most Federal Workers From Key Insider Trading Reporting Requirement
– Goldman Implicated In Heinz Insider Trading Probe (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2013):
When the news broke of the SEC’s action against the HNZ call option insider traders, and we posted the full SEC charge against the perpetrators whose actions Zero Hedge reported on first, we asked this regarding one of the entities named: “the trade occurred through an “omnibus account located in Zurich, Switzerland in the name of GS Bank IC Buy Open List Options GS & Co c/o Zurich Office (the “GS Account”).” Does GS stand for Goldman Sachs one wonders?” This followed our prior post, rhetorically titled “Guess Who Was Buying HNZ Stock From Its Clients“, with the answer of course being Goldman Sachs, which had had HNZ stock at a Sell rating for months, and which just days before reiterated its negative sentiment. But for the most part the post was written in jest. Turns out the joke was on everyone else, because just as we feared, or rather knew, Goldman was indeed implicated all along.
From Reuters:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is cooperating with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into insider options trading in H.J. Heinz Co before the food company announced it was being acquired, Goldman said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the SEC filed suit against unknown traders using an account in Switzerland to buy options in Heinz before the company was purchased. The SEC suit does not explicitly name Goldman Sachs but refers to the account in Switzerland as the “GS Account.”
While none of this is surprising, we do find it curious that from “Vampire Squid”, Goldman Sachs has now metastasized into “he who must not be named.”
– Ex-Goldman director Gupta gets two-year prison sentence (Reuters Oct 24, 2012):
NEW YORK – Disgraced Wall Street titan and philanthropist Rajat Gupta was sentenced to only two years in prison, a much lighter sentence than U.S. prosecutors had demanded, even though the federal judge who imposed it on Wednesday called his insider trading crimes “disgusting” and “a terrible breach of trust.”
Gupta was also ordered to pay a $5 million fine. He was convicted in Manhattan federal court last June for leaking Goldman Sachs boardroom secrets to Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager at the center of a U.S. government crackdown on insider trading over the past four years.
Read moreEx-Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta Gets Only Two-Year Prison Sentence
September 17, 2012 CNN
Must-see!
– Taibbi on Democracy Now! LIBOR and More (Rolling Stone, July 19, 2012):
Visited with old friends Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez on Democracy Now! this morning. The topic was LiBOR, although there is a second segment that will be appearing online that covers the muni bid-rigging case as well.
One editorial note: I said “tens of trillions” of losses at one point when I meant “tens of billions.” Later in the interview, which thankfully didn’t air this morning, I forgot Bill Richardson’s name. I think the heat is melting some data in my brain this week. Apologies all around, and thanks once again to Amy and Juan.
– You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Part Two (ZeroHedge, April 3, 2012)
See also:
– You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Part One (ZeroHedge, April 2, 2012)
– How to Beat the Market: Follow the Trades of 19 Senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee Who Own Stocks on Prohibited List (May 27, 2011):
Want to beat the market? Here’s how: Take the investment picks of Congress.
A reader sent me an email from Stansberry & Associates, that purports just that:
In a new academic study, four university professors examined investment results on more than 16,000 stock transactions made by 300 House delegates from 1985 to 2001. The result was clear: They beat the market by an average of 0.55% per month, around 6.6% a year. The professors note a previous study showed members of the U.S. Senate did so well they outperformed hedge funds.
In fact, if members of Congress didn’t beat the market, they’d be bigger morons than you already think they are. Why? Because insider trading laws don’t apply to members of Congress…
You heard that correctly. The Securities and Exchange Act does not apply to members of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Congressional ethics rules say Congressional members aren’t allowed to use privileged information for personal gain. But it’s just a rule, not a law. It’s not legally enforceable. And it’s obvious they’re taking excess profits out of the stock market…
This must be one of the most underreported financial stories of the century. Take one example: The Senate Armed Services Committee forbids staff and presidential appointees requiring Senate confirmation from owning securities in more than 48,000 companies that contract with the Defense Department.
Read more‘Insider Trading Laws Don’t Apply To Members Of Congress’
Rajat Gupta
Moments after hanging up, U.S. authorities claim, one Goldman director called a friend who headed a hedge fund. Within minutes, the hedge fund manager had snapped up thousands of Goldman shares, which soared after the news became public.
The episode is at the centre of explosive allegations revealed on Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accusing Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman director who previously led consulting firm McKinsey & Co., of participating in a vast illegal insider trading scheme.
Mr. Gupta allegedly passed confidential information gleaned from two board memberships – at Goldman and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG-N62.550.140.22%) – to Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of hedge fund Galleon Group, whose trial on criminal insider-trading charges is scheduled to begin next week in New York.
Read moreFormer Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta Charged With Insider Trading
Max Keiser – journalist, former Wall Street broker and options trader, and inventor of the software which is now being used for high frequency trading – claims that the big banks retroactively allocate losing trades to their clients, and keep the winning trades for their own proprietary trading desks:
Keiser Report: Goldman Sachs, Undeclared Enemy of the State
Added: 25. May 2010
This is the second time in the couple of weeks that Keiser has made this allegation. When he first brought this up, Keiser said that he has first-hand knowledge of this unlawful activity because – when he was a trader – he and everyone else did the same thing.
Submitted by George Washington on 05/27/2010 17:08 -0500
Source: ZeroHedge
More on Goldman Sachs ‘doing God’s work’:
– Stock Market Collapse: More Goldman Sachs Market Rigging?!
– Goldman Sachs Bankster Blankfein Supports Financial Reform Bill
– Goldman Sachs Banksters ‘Made Fortune Betting Against Clients’
– Goldman Sachs taps President Obama’s former White House counsel, Gregory Craig
– President Obama Repaying His Masters At Goldman Sachs
– Goldman Sachs Banksters Implicated in Shorting Lehman Shares
– Perfect Timing: Goldman Sachs Set to Pay £3.5 Billion in Bonuses For Just 3 Months’ Work!
– SEC Accuses Goldman Sachs of Civil Fraud
– Goldman Sachs Squeezes Hedge Funds in $110 Billion ‘Collateral Arbitrage’
Christmas (or New Year’s) surprise coming?
You would think that insiders would finally change their tune after almost a year of straight line gains in the market. Think again. The most recent insider trading data from finviz indicates that insider selling outpaces buying by a ratio of 82!
In the most recent data set, $11.6 million in stock was purchased by insiders, while a whopping $957 million was sold. And somehow pundits are still spinning this mass orchestrated sell into the bid by those in the know as a bull market.
Read moreStock Market: Recent Insider Selling to Buying Ratio: 82:1
Guest Tyler Durden of ZeroHedge
Related article: Goldman Sachs $100 Million Trading Days Reach Record (Bloomberg):
Trading losses occurred on – only!!! – two days during April, May and June, down from eight in the first quarter, the New York-based bank said today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company made at least $50 million on 58 of the 65 trading days in the period, or 89 percent of the time.
This is impossible to do! Wake up people!
(Watch especially part 3.)
1 of 3:
Read moreOn the Edge with Max Keiser (08/14/09): The system has become dominated by insider trading
1 of 3:
2 of 3: Brown’s Bottom: Gordon Brown sold half of Britain’s gold reserves at the bottom of the gold market.
3 of 3:
Related information:
– Congressman Dennis Kucinich: The Federal Reserve is paying banks NOT to make loans to struggling Americans!
– Eliot Spitzer: Federal Reserve is a Ponzi scheme, an inside job
– Ben Bernanke does not know which foreign banks were given $500 billion!
“When the President signs this act [Federal Reserve Act of 1913], the invisible government by the money power — proven to exist by the Monetary Trust Investigation — will be legalized. The new law will create inflation whenever the trusts want inflation. From now on, depressions will be scientifically created.”
– Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country [by signing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913]. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”
– Woodrow Wilson
More quotes here: Ron Paul on Glenn Beck: Destruction of the dollar
75% of Americans and at least 276 Congress members and 19 Senators want to audit the Fed, but the Fed is fighting tooth and nail to keep everything hidden.
Most people assume that the Fed wants to keep secret the list of banks which received bailout money. You know, something along the lines of “we gave Goldman Sachs $100 billion”.
But what the Fed is really struggling to keep hidden is the fact that the entire financial system is based on massive manipulation and fraud by the Fed and its primary dealers.
Specifically, the Fed is desperately trying to hide that many trillions of the government’s bailouts have gone to inflating the stock market, buying up the U.S. government’s own treasuries, and gaming the currency and gold markets.
Of course, when the New York Federal Reserve’s “primary dealers” (the dealers through which the Fed carries out its open market operations in general, and its PPT, ESF, and other schemes through) get the huge sums of cash from the Fed, they place bets based on inside knowledge of where the money flows are going (they also, supposedly, skim off part of the cash, but that’s for another essay).
In other words, the Fed’s primary dealers engage in insider trading and frontrunning on a scale which would make your normal white collar felons look like a silver nanoparticle.
By Bob Chapman
(Mr. Chapman is 72 years old. He was born in Boston, MA and attended Northeastern University majoring in business management. He spent three years in the U. S. Army Counterintelligence, mostly in Europe. He speaks German and French and is conversant in Spanish. He lived in Europe for six years, off and on, three years in Africa, a year in Canada and a year in the Bahamas.
Mr. Chapman became a stockbroker in 1960 and retired in 1988. For 18 of those years he owned his own brokerage firm. He was probably the largest gold and silver stockbroker in the world during that period. When he retired he had over 6,000 clients.)
Suckers rally in the markets, Dow will be driven down again, market gyrations motivated by insider greed, bank acquisitions point to a greater agenda, despite what economists and institutions are attempting, the economy will remain in a spiral
In the first three weeks of April this year, insiders for NYSE listed companies sold 8.32 times more stock, by dollar value, than they purchased. What does that tell you? We won’t insult your intelligence by answering. If ever there was an indicator to identify a sucker’s rally, this would be it. This is the ongoing Big Sting Two as strength is created by the PPT for insiders to sell into as our economy collapses under a dollar-busting juggernaut of fiat paper, aka Federal Reserve notes, being monetized at light speed as our President and Congress go on a spending spree that makes the spending habits of a Saudi sheik’s entourage look like those of a group of Welsh penny-pinchers. So much for “beloved” Emperor Obama’s promise to put an end to legislative pork and fiscal profligacy.
Read moreThe Direction Of The Economy Is Not Going To Change
