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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:41 pm Post subject: Cuban, insider trading and Loose Change |
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http://norris.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/insider-trading-or-political-persecution/
Mark Cuban has been sued by the SEC for insider trading and speculation is strong that this may be at least in part a political charge. From the NYT piece above, a letter from an SEC investigator to Cuban:
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From: Norris, Jeffrey B. [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 2:27 PM
To: Mark Cuban
Cc: Cox, Christopher
Subject: RE: �Lose Change�
I AM SHARING THIS WITH CHAIRMAN COX. NEITHER HE NOR THE COMMISSION ENDORSE MY OPINIONS, BUT IN LIGHT OF YOUR THREAT, I THOUGHT SHOULD SEND THIS TO HIM.
Mark:
If this upsets you, I wonder how George Bush feels. I assume that Mr. Cox would view your involvement with �Loose Change� much as I do. After all, he served his country as a Republican Congressman from Orange County for nearly 20 years and was appointed by President Bush. If you feel like sharing my thoughts with Chairman Cox, be my guest.
Previously, I thought you were merely foolish and na�ve. Now, however, I see that you are also a hypocrite. I guess your belief in free speech has severe limitations. If someone else is the victim of an absurd conspiracy theory, you defend your right to participate in smearing the good name of a patriot like President Bush. But, when you are the subject of a parody of the attack you have endorsed, you suddenly issue threats.
I think I will e-mail this to Chairman Cox myself. I think he will enjoy it. I�m sure he is also a Laker fan.
Since Chairman Cox may not know the background, I will explain. Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and has participated in distributing the vicious and absurd documentary, �Loose Change,� which posits that President Bush planned the demolition of the World Trade Center as a pretext for going to war against Iraq. We have had some past exchanges about my opinion the Mr. Cuban�s support for this project is irresponsible and immoral. Below, I parodied his position that every opinion, no matter how absurd and vicious, deserves to be broadly disseminated. |
I didn't know this, but apparently Cuban was a major financier of the 9/11 truther flick Loose Change.
Though he probably did act insider'ish, this should be a fantastic story in the weeks and months ahead.
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The controversial documentary "Loose Change" contends President Bush was behind the events of 9-11. Stories that Mark Cuban planned to help distribute the film angered many.
According to e-mails leaked to the New York Times, one of those people worked in the Securities & Exchange Commission's Fort Worth office.
According to the Times, email sent from the account of Jeffrey B. Norris, an S-E-C lawyer, taunted Cuban saying: "If this upsets you, I wonder how George Bush feels." The e-mail was copied to Christopher Cox, the chairman of the S-E-C.
Norris wrote: "I assume that Mr. Cox would view your involvement with 'Loose Change' much as I do. After all, he served his country as a Republican Congressman from Orange County for nearly 20 years and was appointed by President Bush."
"I've never seen a communication like that before, I've never seen an exchange like that before from somebody at the S-E-C," said Neal Newman, Texas Wesleyan University Law Professor.
Newman specializes in securities law. He interned at the S-E-C during law school. He agreed the e-mails are highly irregular. "It does make you say, hmmmm - what exactly prompted, how did Mark Cuban get on the radar? Hard to say."
Part of Cuban's brief web statement may have been referencing the e-mail exchange when he said - "the staff's process was result-oriented, facts be damned."
In the end, how much will the e-mail matter? "In terms of the merits, I would expect that to stand alone - whether it rises to the level of insider trading would be the ultimate question," said Newman. |
http://www.the33tv.com/pages/content_landing_page/?Times-Official-targeted-Mark-Cuban-while=1&blockID=138663&feedID=460 |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| My Business Organizations professor tells me the SEC has an impeccable record of uprightness and credibility. I, too, wonder what's going on. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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| This looks too opaque and seems too complex to skim. Worse than Whitewater. Please summarize: who is doing what to whom and why now? I thought Loose Change was old news. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:36 am Post subject: |
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| Kuros wrote: |
| My Business Organizations professor tells me the SEC has an impeccable record of uprightness and credibility. I, too, wonder what's going on. |
Yes, I understand that to be true. But one agent can be an anomaly.
| Gopher wrote: |
| This looks too opaque and seems too complex to skim. Worse than Whitewater. Please summarize: who is doing what to whom and why now? I thought Loose Change was old news. |
Cuban dumped a bunch of shares (650k) in a company after a discussion with the CEO. He says he didn't agree to confidentiality and ergo isn't an "insider". But he is also releasing emails to him from the SEC. These emails are odd, indirect threats that reference his lack of patriotism for bankrolling the primary truther film Loose Change.
I'm sure it will get very complicated still. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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| So he is alleging that SEC is investigating/prosecuting him for political motives, and he has disclosed these emails hoping to discredit SEC and save his ass, no? Sounds easy enough and not complicated at all, then: red herring. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Kinda. It seems he is claiming to not be technically an insider as his primary defense but is running a parallel defense involving threatening emails from the SEC about his bankrolling of Loose Change. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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I heard today that he also used a defense that he sold the stock because he didn't like the company's ethics. They offered to sell him stock for a cheaper rate than the current share price at the time. He thought that wasn't cool (albeit legal), so he sold the stock he already had.
Alas, I only heard it from my finance professor, and not have come across any news article saying that.
The SEC angle seems a bit too surreal. I am quite skeptical, but if it were true, I'd have to say it would be the icing on the cake of the Bush administration. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| whoops, it is mentioned in the blog mises posted above. guess my finance prof got his info right. |
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