Jeff,
I agree that the amount of money gained or lost by Martha Stewart is trivial when compared to her fortune, but I do believe that the case against her will have a great deal of traction in the media.
Let's face it, she was caught in the act of realizing a benefit reserved for the upper echelon of our society. It may have been a dirty little secret, but when you travel in those circles, there is no doubt that you are privy to what technically qualifies as "insider information".
The principle that I will stand with is that wrong is wrong, regardless of magnitude. Whether you steal $50, or $50,000 (or "mis-classify" $3.8 billion) you are GUILTY. It matters not where your summer home is, or what your net worth may be, wrong is wrong.
Prepared to be deluged by stories about the privileged amongst us who heard it from a friend of a friend's broker that it might be a good time to sell your shares, "BUT YOU DIDN'T HEAR IT FROM ME". At least that's what the brokers will say.
It will make for great television. It also makes for great class envy, and will not help our market situation at all. |
