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The STOCK Act to ban insider trading by members of Congress has sailed through the Senate, 96-3, and many members of the U.S. Senate were no doubt kicking and screaming as they voted for it. Heck, some of the most prominent cosponsors were people that I identified in my book, Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison, as having stock-trading activities that correlated nicely with their legislative work.

In a State of the Union speech devoid of clarity or specifics, President Barack Obama offered but one shining exception: a direct call for members of Congress to send him a bill to ban congressional insider trading.

GOP Insider: “Guarantee You The Establishment” Will Ambush, Try To Replace Newt Cos “They Can’t Control Him” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-U7DhuWhJAw

NEW YORK (AP) -- The nearly $62 million earned illegally through inside trading by two hedge fund executives, four financial analysts and a Dell Inc. employee represents "a stunning portrait of organized corruption on a broad scale" and was notable for exploiting the secrets of a single technology giant, a prosecutor said Wednesday in announcing charges in the case.

The media is about to begin the vetting of Rick Santorum and I suspect we’re going to hear a lot about Universal Health Services (“UHS”). Santorum’s involvement in UHS is one of the significant bits of his private sector experience. After his 18 point loss in 2006, UHS appointed Rick Santorum to its Board of Directors. On May 16, 2007, Santorum acquired 10,000 options to purchase Class B common stock. On November 21, 2009, he received another option for 5,000. In 2010, it was options for 15,000 shares and another 15,000 as recently as January 21, 2011, as Santorum begin...

Members of Congress already get better health insurance and retirement benefits than other Americans. They are about to get better insider trading laws as well. Several academic studies show that the investment portfolios of congressmen and senators consistently outperform stock indices like the Dow and the S&P 500, as well as the portfolios of virtually all professional investors. Congressmen do better to an extent that is statistically significant, according to studies including a 2004 article about "abnormal" Senate returns by Alan J. Ziobrowski, Ping Cheng, James W. Boyd and Brigitte J. Ziobrowski in the Journal of Financial and Qualitative Analysis....

when you're talking about Glenn Beck now he actually, the other day, called you a progressive on FOX Business channel. What do you say to that sort of claim?" Gingrich: "I don't know. It depends on what standard you're using, you know? The fact is I balanced the budget for four consecutive years. And we did so by cutting taxes and increasing employment so people went back to work, they left welfare, they left food stamps, they left unemployment, they left Medicaid. Who else has that record of achievement? I worked with Reagan in '79, '80. I worked with Reagan...

... Pelosi and her husband doubled their stock investment on a highly sought after Visa IPO in a matter of only weeks, according to Schweizer. “She and her husband were given access to low price, pre-IPO shares of stock — 5,000 shares that they were able to buy for $44 apiece and then they were able to see that value go up by 50 percent in one day, and then more than double in value within a couple of weeks,” he says, adding that the deal took place during Pelosi’s reign as Speaker. “They were given access to this stock...

What his critics don't — or refuse to — understand about him is that he's not driven by a lack of empathy but by a surplus of it. ________________________________________________________ .....Gingrich probably agrees with the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan more than any other leading conservative. "The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society," Moynihan observed. "The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself." A constant theme of Gingrich's career is a desire to use government to fix the culture. That's the irony of...

.."I think he's got a pretty good argument to make about his time as speaker, in terms of results," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who served with Gingrich in the House and has not endorsed a presidential candidate. "The real purpose of a president, I think, is to find common ground with Congress to solve our problems. Newt has been in that mix."

The coverage was hard-hitting and shocking to some: Members of Congress received special opportunities to get in on the ground floor of stock offerings, and were actively trading in shares of companies “whose prosperity they influence and whose conduct they help to regulate.” --snip-- Given the political environment, members of Congress appear eager to insulate themselves not only from the suggestion that they have some market advantage over average Americans but also from what they expect could become a potent campaign charge in a year when many usually safe incumbents could face a challenge. Sarah Palin provided the contours of...

Ramifications of an insider trading crime. There are legal experts here on FR. Please tell me the constitutional basis for a class of citizens for which these crimes are legal (Congress) and the consititutional basis for the ordinary citizens for which these crimes can be prosecuted (Martha Stewart, you, me etc.). Is there any way to roll back the law to prosecute retroactively?

(CBS News) Washington, D.C. is a town that runs on inside information - but should our elected officials be able to use that information to pad their own pockets? As Steve Kroft reports, members of Congress and their aides have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they regulate. For now, the practice is perfectly legal, but some say it's time for the law to change.

Byron Trott has a household name, provided that the household is worth a few billion dollars. Trott is a Chicago investment banker who has advised the likes of the Pritzkers and the Wrigleys. He earns their trust, friends and competitors said, because he is the soul of discretion, never leaking details of pending deals or hogging credit. Accordingly, he seldom gives interviews or takes leading roles in civic functions. Insiders said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had to twist his arm to get him to join the board of World Business Chicago, the city’s economic development promoter. And yet Trott...

Nouriel Roubini has called the economic crisis rather well. He gas gone on to turn success at RGE into an "economic brand". The Institutional Investor has an 8-page article on How Nouriel Roubini Became a Research Brand. The article also notes that Roubini has been in the inner economic circles at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the U.S. Congress. Roubinbi served as a senior economist for international affairs at the Council of Economic Advisers, under the Clinton administration, and he spent a year working as lead adviser to Timothy Geithner, who was then...

George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager, has lost a case at the European Court of Human Rights to have his criminal conviction for insider dealing quashed. The failed appeal in a 4-3 decision by the Strasbourg-based court is the latest twist in a nine-year battle by the 81-year-old Mr Soros to clear his name following his conviction in France in 2002.

Insider:  Can’t respond much at this time.  Too busy with all of the chaos coming at us these days.  May be out of work soon! Crazy stuff.  Simply urge you to lay off the birther angle at this time.  Strongly urge.  To proceed is at your own peril.  Please take warning seriously.  This is not a small town cop shop situation here.  Let someone else try and make name on this one.  .....snip..... Don’t blame you as it was me who brought up subject last time.  Since then heard repeated rumors/confirmations of attempted “purge” coming down the pike.  WH/media going on the offensive bigtime on...

According to Bloomberg, in the week ended January 14 S&P 500 insiders sold $163 million worth of stock in 54 separate transactions. They bought exactly $0. That's right, in the last week, there was no insider purchasing. This is the first time in years (and possibly for ever) in which we have seen a week during which there was not one purchase by an insider. Surely, there is no need to comment on this result.

Despite a busy and complicated schedule, our D.C. Insider manages to give us some emailed responses to a few questions posed to them recently. Read more: http://newsflavor.com/politics/world-politics/white-house-insider-jarrett-is-the-president/#ixzz18QxKWPje

As former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel begins his Chicago mayoral campaign, political insiders note the seeming battle being waged by the Obama White House to prevent Emanuel from doing so. The question now is – WHY? If any dispute remains of a strong rift having formed between former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and the Obama White House, one need look no further than the actions of Illinois election law attorney Burt Odelson’s aggressive campaign to declare Emanuel ineligible due to residency requirements. Just who is Burt Odelson?

As detailed in this previous clip, co-authors Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera say there's plenty of blame to go around, from Alan Greenspan .....

We received a brief email update from our White House Insider, indicating a president returning from abroad "dejected and confused" and "emotionally debilitated" over the cold reception he received from world leaders, and White House staff now scrambling to protect the president from a looming scandal. Hello again. Assume you noted all of the incoming by Democrats against Pres? Of particular note is that of Doug S. Doug has been acting as Hillary’s gadfly for some time now. Very connected. Very insightful. Very good. One to be feared. I like Doug. His and Pat’s open declaration against President is clear...

(I'm not vouching for the veracity of this, form your own judgements) ------------------------------------------------------ posted on 31-10-2010 @ 02:21 AM Rumors abound of a sordid affair sure to rock the political world. "A scandal sure to dwarf the Watergate incident" according to some sources. In what can only be described as a bizzare and twisted tale of intrigue, hushed whispers can be heard brewing in all of Washington's political circles. As insiders begin to lose hope in Obama, many are speaking out about his outrageous behavior; ---------------------------------------------------- White House Insider: "They were in shock at the president’s behavior." So who do...

A White House insider describes the Obama administration: If Barack Obama is the Democratic Party nominee, I will not participate in any way in his election. It will be the first time in some 20 years that I will have removed myself totally from the process of helping elect the Democratic Party candidate for President. (Leans toward me) I do not know if the country can survive another four years of Barack Obama, and frankly, I want nothing to do with helping us find out. The man is an incompetent. The man is a tool of the extreme far left...

So you state that President Obama is depressed?  How did you come by this information?  From a direct source still working within the White House on a daily basis.  As I had stated previously, tensions at the White House have reached a critical stage.  The infighting among staff is off the charts.  More recently, the president has increasingly withdrawn emotionally from the day to day demands of his job – he has become what was described to me as “empty”.  Empty?  That is correct – empty.  ....   But still…(interrupting) I would also add what you well know.  I have...

A longtime Washington D.C. insider, and former advisor to the Obama election campaign and transition team, speaks out on an administration in crisis, and a president increasingly withdrawn from the job of President. 2008 gave America an incredibly charismatic candidate for President of the United States. Speech after speech showed a candidate with increasing momentum as primary race after primary race concluded. And then came the nomination, more speeches, culminating in an election night victory. According to the person sitting across from me, those were incredibly exciting times, even for one who had been a participant with three previous presidential...

Today’s Financial Times discusses the reopening of left-wing billionaire George Soros’ 2002 conviction for insider trading: Mr Soros was found guilty of insider trading in 2002, allegations he has always denied, and received a fine of €2.2m – no more than his profits from the trades – which was reduced on appeal in 2007 to €940,507. He lodged a complaint against his conviction with the European Court of Human Rights in December 2006 and on Wednesday a chamber of seven judges decided that his application to have the case reviewed was at least partly admissible.

Investment banker Matt Simmons, who died suddenly over the weekend, was an energy industry insider and presidential adviser whose profile soared when he wrote that Saudi Arabia is running out of oil and world production is peaking. (Snip) But it was his 2005 best-selling book, Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, that brought him a wider audience. The book argued that Saudi Arabia vastly overstated the size of its oil reserves and that the world was on the verge of a severe oil shortage as the largest oil fields become depleted.

(Actual dumb editorial removed, this is the first comment.) This take on the situation is so incredibly wrong-headed, I scarcely know where to start. Let me start by saying I´m a former American newspaper editor who retired early at age 55 a decade ago and moved to a mountaintop in the middle of Mexico. I have become a Mexican citizen. My wife is Mexican. I speak Spanish all day long. I know Mexicans. I am one. Some of my relatives are current or former illegal aliens who stole into the U.S. I also am personally acquainted with others who´ve done...

Insiders Quietly Sold 82x More Stock Than They Bought Vincent Fernando |Dec. 7, 2009, 11:38 AM | 751 |4 Print Tags: Markets, Investing, Stock Market Insider selling has been massively outpacing insider buying, by 82x, according to FInviz data via Zero Hedge. ZH: 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.

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 sellling 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.

NEW YORK (AP) | Two lawyers and Wall Street professionals were among 14 people charged Thursday in a widening $53 million insider trading case that has snared one of America's richest men and accused white-collar suspects of using the cover-up tactics of drug dealers. The actions raise to 20 the number of people who have been charged in the case first disclosed last month with the arrests of Galleon Group founder and hedge-fund operator Raj Rajaratnam and five others. .. Mr. Bharara said the defendants borrowed a "page from the drug dealer's playbook" by using anonymous hard-to-trace prepaid cell phones...

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) lashed out at Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) after the Republican congressman pushed the powerful Democratic senator to divulge details about low-interest loans he received from Countrywide Financial. In letters provided to POLITICO, Conrad has accused Issa of attempting to impugn his name in a GOP inquiry into the Countrywide mortgage scandal. Conrad said that the Senate Ethics Committee is the “appropriate forum to resolve this matter,” not Issa’s Republican staff on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “It is unfortunate that you chose to damage my good name in your report without giving me the...

<p>The recovery is supposed to be under way, right? But insider sales are at levels not seen in almost 2 years, which suggests there's still a bear out there.</p> <p>A few tidbits of good economic data and generally better-than-expected profit reports have heated up the market once again on speculation the worst is really over.</p>

Irish property prices have plummeted since 2002. But a "cottage" in County Galway owned by Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd has tripled in value during the same period, according to a financial disclosure form filed by the Senator this month. There are two possible explanations for this remarkable turn of fortune. Maybe Mr. Dodd is luckier than a leprechaun. Or could it be that he paid well below the market price...

SEC charges Mark Cuban with insider trading:

Former Gov. Brereton Jones has borrowed heavily from a financially distressed bank that he and several other Democratic Party leaders founded in 2001, according to interviews and bank records. Federal regulators have criticized the directors of Frankfort-based American Founders Bank, including Jones, for inadequate supervision. The bank was badly managed and suffered "hazardous lending and lax collection practices," which left it with far too many unpaid loans, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Among the specific concerns cited was improper reporting and recordkeeping of insider loans to bank directors and executives. The FDIC issued a cease-and-desist order to the...

Poll of 418 highly likely voters conducted 12/16 and 12/17: Romney 28% Huckabee 25.1% Thompson 10.8% McCain 6.9% Paul 5.5% Giuliani 5.1% Tancredo 3.7% Hunter .5% Undecided 14.4%

This is quite interesting. I have been suspicious of Drudg lately. Sorry if anyone has already posted this. http://www.prezcast.com/2007/12/matt-drudge-romney-insider.html

DES MOINES, Iowa - On the verge of joining the presidential race, Republican Fred Thompson on Friday unapologetically defended his career as a Washington lobbyist paid to influence the government on behalf of an abortion-rights group, a leftist Haitian leader and other special interests. "Don't confuse the lawyer with the client," Thompson told The Associated Press. The former Tennessee senator and actor discussed his eclectic career path, the war in Iraq and his ambitious plans to reshape the GOP during a 30-minute interview after introducing himself to Iowa Republicans in classic Midwest fashion: He toured the state fair with popular...

A [St. Louis] businessman masterminded a scheme in the late 1990s to bring illegal immigrants to clean floors at Wal-Mart stores across the country. Wal-Mart paid at least $82.2 million over three years to shell companies set up by businessman Christopher Walters, federal agents discovered. Walters' companies in turn paid subcontractors who hired illegal immigrants from countries stretching from Poland to Mongolia. When investigators dug into the scheme, Walters cut a deal and became a star cooperating witness in a criminal probe targeting Wal-Mart. He told investigators that a Wal-Mart executive told him to set up the shell companies, and...

Youthful US bankers charged over huge insider trading scandal Tue Apr 11, 3:40 PM ET US authorities charged a clutch of hotshot young traders connected to Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch over what they described as one of the biggest insider trading cases ever uncovered. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the "brazen" trading scheme -- which ran the gamut of topless dancers, covert information and stolen magazines -- netted the individuals at least 6.7 million dollars. The top US market regulator said the masterminds were Eugene Plotkin, 26, a research analyst in the fixed income division of Goldman...

Frist accumulated stock in family company Questions of conflict of interest raised Wednesday, October 12, 2005; Posted: 10:56 a.m. EDT (14:56 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Over a period of four years, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist accumulated stock in a family founded hospital chain that produced tens of thousands of dollars in income -- all outside the blind trusts he created to avoid a conflict of interest, documents show. The stock was held in a family partnership largely controlled by Frist's brother, Thomas, who founded HCA Inc. along with the senator's late father. Frist, R-Tennessee, has long maintained that he...

FOR congressional Republicans, this season's politics bears a strong resemblance to its weather, with storms of investigations blowing up and sweeping in from all directions. Aside from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's legal woes, the tempests include the arrest of White House budget staffer David Safavian for allegedly lying to investigators about dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. A probe of the role of Bush administration figures, including Karl Rove, in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame continues. On top of that add the investigations by the Security and Exchange Commission and a U.S. attorney of stock sales by...

While insiders at HCA Inc. were selling millions of dollars of their own stock this year, they were also painting a sunny picture of the company's outlook for investors. Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the sale of HCA stock by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., whose family founded the company that grew into the nation's largest for-profit health care chain. The SEC turned its initial inquiry into a formal investigation of the company, HCA announced Thursday. The company said it is cooperating with investigators.

ABC insiders deny there's any connection between real-life presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and their new TV show "Commander in Chief" - where Geena Davis makes her debut tonight as America's first woman president. But it turns out the show's lead writer is a longtime Clinton campaign insider who held a top job in Hillary's press office. "Writer Steve Cohen used to work for her in the 1990s, serving as the then-first lady's deputy communications director," reports the Village Voice. "I have no doubt she is capable, qualified, and ready to be the president of the United States should she choose...

Webster's Dictionary defines famous as "widely known," but also "honored for achievement," while infamous is defined as "having a reputation of the worst kind," a synonym for "disgraceful." In the big business of celebrity journalism today, there is no discernible difference between fame and infamy. Today's celebrity journalism is only interested in that which is interesting, no matter how vile the atrocity. It will make all kinds of excuses for the infamous if they can be milked for Nielsen ratings points. Worse yet, it will pay the infamous for the privilege of wallowing in their vomit-inducing lives. Some of today's...

Shareholders are suing ChoicePoint Inc. and its top executives after the company's share price fell sharply following news that identity thieves had gained access to personal information about some U.S. residents that was held by the personal data vendor. A class-action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of those who bought ChoicePoint shares between April 22, 2004, and March 3, 2005, Radnor, Pa.-based law firm Schiffrin & Barroway LLP said in a statement Friday. The suit charges Alpharetta, Ga.-based ChoicePoint and three top executives with keeping key information from the...

Monday, January 03, 2005 almost fUNnny . . . Day 9 of the tsunami crisis. I know I had promised to lay off the UN for a bit . . . but I can't. As one reader commented on a previous Diplomad posting on the UN, "it's like watching a train wreck" -- you know it's horrible, but you've just got to look at it. In this part of the tsunami-wrecked Far Abroad, the UN is still nowhere to be seen where it counts, i.e., feeding and helping victims. The relief effort continues to be a US-Australia effort, with Singapore...

The Clinton-Kerry-Clinton “Connection” by Col. Bob Pappas, USMC, Ret. The Clintons are on the Kerry bandwagon, or so it seems, after all, they and their former team are full swing on the Kerry campaign team or in support of it; there are Paul Begala, Joe Lockhart, and James Carville to name a few. Additionally, Ms. Clinton makes periodic statements supporting the erstwhile Senator; and, it is widely known that Mr. Clinton has had a number of lengthy conversations with Kerry in regards to his “campaign.” But, why? It is widely assumed, if not known, that Ms. Clinton has Presidential aspirations...