E-MAILS ZAP BIG HOLE IN "MARTHA TALE"

New York Post ^ | 8/10/02 | LISA MARSH

[kattracks]

August 10, 2002 -- Martha Stewart's stockbrokers were frantic to reach her Dec. 27 - the day before ImClone's cancer drug Erbitux was rejected by the FDA, according to e-mails released yesterday by a congressional committee.

One member of the committee says the e-mails show brokers Peter Bacanovic and Douglas Faneuil, had inside dope that the Food and Drug Administration would reject Erbitux - and wanted to tell the Queen of Clean before ImClone's stock price tanked.

[Joe Boucher]

Martha in pinstripes, so tackey. Put her in a cell with a female named buba.

[JoeGar]

Assuming she sold because she knew insider information, is that a crime since she is not a company officer? I know that if a company officer acted on insider information, he committed a crime. But what about someone who is not an insider? What is the law with regard to a non-employee acting on insider information?

[Jimmy Valentine]

If you are privy to any information that is not available to the general public and you effect a trade that benefits you, you have violated the law.

Martha is in some big trouble here. 1. She traded on inside information 2. She lied about it. 3. She is stonewalling Congress.

Regards,

[Truth29]

But which is it? Did she have inside info from Waksal or did her broker call her with a tip?

[chuknospam]

Martha is in some big trouble here

She is a high profile celebrity, she won't be prosecuted, it will all be covered up nice & neat (with a number of political donations).

[The Duke]

I have to disagree with you on this...if Martha was a member of the "protected class" then the media would not be dogging her so obviously and so relentlessly.

I've never seen the Martha Stewart show, though I've heard she's not a particularly nice person. However, I've heard about these phone calls and emails, and they don't sound particularly persuasive to me - execept that perhaps her broker is guilty.

I suspect that Martha is being used as a distraction so that the *REAL* corporate crooks, who pal around with our politicos, have a chance to sneak off the radar screen.

[Zviadist]

These scumbags in Congress have a lot of nerve going after Martha for something they all likely do on a regular basis.

[lavaroise]

But which is it? Did she have inside info from Waksal or did her broker call her with a tip?

THey had common jurisdiction and conspiracy on the deal.

[Utopia]

execept that perhaps her broker is guilty.

You are forgetting 3 things:

• 1. She just got a seat on the SEC. She should know the rules.
• 2. She is CEO of her own publicly traded company. She should know the rules.
• 3. She used knowledge that she had (or was given to her) which the general public did not have to make a profit. She should know better.

[savedbygrace]

These scumbags in Congress have a lot of nerve going after Martha for something they all likely do on a regular basis.

They ALWAYS squash competition. It's a dead giveaway whenever Congress squashes something real hard.

[Skip Ripley]

Have you been watching the news? The Feds are doing everything they can to embarrass the folks accused of corporate crimes.

Martha will soon be joining the Rigas family and the boys at Worldcom for an early morning "perp walk" in front of the cameras

[grania]

One member of the committee says the e-mails show brokers Peter Bacanovic and Douglas Faneuil, had inside dope that the Food and Drug Administration would reject Erbitux - and wanted to tell the Queen of Clean before ImClone's stock price tanked.

You wrote "she traded on insider information". Would this be insider information, if she got the advice to sell from her brokers? This sounds like it was the brokers that initiated her sale with this call.

[gcruse]

I suspect that Martha is being used as a distraction so
that the *REAL* corporate crooks, who pal around with our politicos,
have a chance to sneak off the radar screen.

Yeah, right.  I have a show for you.  It's called
the Conspiracy Show or something like that.
I saw it last night for the first time.  Anne Coulter
was on it.  She basically told the others they
were looney tunes.

[Always Right]

execept that perhaps her broker is guilty.

If Martha was involved in other illegal activities, I could see letting the brokers plea-bargin and get off easy. The brokers were the ones really at fault, although Martha is smart enough to know what they suggested was illegal. Martha was not seeking insider information, but the brokers went out of their way to give it to her. The real sleezeballs were the brokers, but Martha will be the one who that takes the fall.

[Jimmy Valentine]

There is a so-called "window" that "insiders" primarily corporate executives have to stay out of. The "inside" (not publically available) information that Imclone's drug was going to be rejected and its stock as a result dropping in price would allow a person with that information to not only save their investment but also "short" sell the stock at the expense of everyone ( the general public) not privy to that information.

Waksal took advantage of it and also passed the tip to Martha who bailed out.

She has a real problem. 1. She may have had inside information which made her sell. 2. She may have lied about it.

This is double trouble for her.

Side bar note: the New York Post tracks the price of her Martha Stuart stock daily and reports how much she has lost in value on her holdings. Last I checked it was $229 million and rising. All because she wanted to save $250,000 on her Imclone stock. What a silly waste of reputation.

"How art thou fallen from Heaven, oh, Lucifer son of the morning?"

Regards,

[Jimmy Valentine]

She had the tip from Waksal. She used her broker to lie and say that she had a prior WRITTEN "stop loss" order on file with her broker.

They cannot find the WRITTEN stop loss order so............!

Regards,

[JoeGar]

Martha is in some big trouble here. 1. She traded on inside information 2. She lied about it.

Thanks for the info. It appears that proving 1 will be more difficult than proving 2. See ...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2002-08-12-martha_x.htm