Can I get fired for shorting the company that I work for?

[FATMIKE]

Dude,

This man is a creator, He has since created an additional company and sold it. He has mastered fear and greed. He does not beg on the doormat of companies to get hired. He creates his own reality and in the process teaches others by example ( for those willing to listen).

The drones of the world who are still with that old company remember the legacy- The day when stock hit $110, The day they exersized their options at that price perhaps -
Held on to that stock- because greed told them it would double/ split. Paid the AMT tax on buying and holding that stock. They have since witnessed mass layoff's - Jobs shipped to India
and wonder each week if there will be another layoff - How will they pay the mortgage- how will they eat. Wishing now they had done what the original poster of this thread is contemplating, because now it's all just a memory for them and all they feel is pain.

You master fear and greed- Follow your method. When you play it safe and follow someone else
you are doomed.

 

[volpunter]

he mastered to fleece and fuck his shareholders and stakeholders. Goodness, are you deluded?

Dude,

This man is a creator, He has since created an additional company and sold it. He has mastered fear and greed. He does not beg on the doormat of companies to get hired. He creates his own reality and in the process teaches others by example ( for those willing to listen).

The drones of the world who are still with that old company remember the legacy- The day when stock hit $110, The day they exersized their options at that price perhaps -
Held on to that stock- because greed told them it would double/ split. Paid the AMT tax on buying and holding that stock. They have since witnessed mass layoff's - Jobs shipped to India
and wonder each week if there will be another layoff - How will they pay the mortgage- how will they eat. Wishing now they had done what the original poster of this thread is contemplating, because now it's all just a memory for them and all they feel is pain.

You master fear and greed- Follow your method. When you play it safe and follow someone else
you are doomed.

 

[Nine_Ender]

he mastered to fleece and fuck his shareholders and stakeholders. Goodness, are you deluded?

In reality, some of these guys just didn't get detected, and could have faced serious legal issues if they did. Martha Stewart had big time problems once the spotlight was on her trading habits. The Bre-X fraudsters got away with their fraud. No one said the world was fair, but you can tell there are sociopathic tendencies from some posters here because they have absolutely no empathy for screwing others out of their money if they make a profit. Openly condoning this behavior isn't right, it's not something to be proud of ( like successfully robbing a bank, who cares if it was masterfully done it's still unethical ).

 

[Nine_Ender]

A very practical and good recommendation that also approves my recommendations. Basically the law is general and almost all the time, the company does not approve short selling based on security regulations but almost everyone does it and based on the trade volumes of regular employees, no one cares. It is like speeding. 95% of drivers go over speed limit and even pass the marked cars and the cops do not care. Driving 70 miles in a 55 miles limit but if you have a red car and not too many cars are on the road and you drive 90 miles on the speed line, you are asking for trouble.

Insider trading is not like speeding 10-20 above the limit. You can delude yourself into thinking that, but society doesn't agree with you. I think most people know you aren't likely to hurt others with the minimal speeding, but the trading you hurt others every single time.

Sociopaths don't care, that part is true.

 

[ET180]

I don't work in the financial services industry. I don't have any clients or know of any inside information about my company or any others.

Lots of mis-information here based on a lack of information provided by the OP.

A lot of companies restrict personal trading. This is for several reasons:
1. they don't want you to trade on client/customer information (typically law firms, consulting firms, audit firm, financial service firms, journalists, government employees)
2. they don't want you to compete with their business (typically financial service firms, mutual funds, hedge funds, etc.)
3. they don't want you to be distracted from your core job which could be related to investments (typically financial service firms, journalists, government employees)

A lot of companies will restrict trading in their own stock around earnings periods because they want to limit the risk of insider trading. You may not have inside information but someone at your level in another department might so they ban it for everyone during a blackout period.

These rules will be highlighted clearly in your employee handbook. If it's not there then it's fine. Employee personal trading is a needless risk for a public company and their lawyers will ensure it's handled properly. If it is a gray area, someone in HR will be happy to find the answer for you. If you violate these policies you run the risk of termination.

For what it's worth a lot of employees hedge their restricted stock. The most famous was Mark Cuban who collared his Yahoo stock after selling Broadcast.com. In my old job we had clients who sold businesses to public companies, and who owned sizeable (billion dollar positions) in those public companies who would hedge out those stock holdings with collars and other structures.

If you are going to hedge restricted stock, remember that it's not your stock yet and you may only receive it under certain conditions. So you might end up having a speculative position instead of a hedge.

 

[volpunter]

Exactly. It's shocking how many on this thread alone would act outright illegally if they believe they could get away with it as long as money is dangling in front of them. Not surprising but shocking.

In reality, some of these guys just didn't get detected, and could have faced serious legal issues if they did. Martha Stewart had big time problems once the spotlight was on her trading habits. The Bre-X fraudsters got away with their fraud. No one said the world was fair, but you can tell there are sociopathic tendencies from some posters here because they have absolutely no empathy for screwing others out of their money if they make a profit. Openly condoning this behavior isn't right, it's not something to be proud of ( like successfully robbing a bank, who cares if it was masterfully done it's still unethical ).

 

[volpunter]

That does not make a difference. You signed an employment contract and agreed to the bylaws. If your company regulations state that you need to report company own stock trades then you should. If it states that you are not allowed to short then you should not. If it does not state anything after you have put in a reasonable effort to figure out then go ahead and short the stock. But everything else is basically asking us whether you can get away being a meth dealer.

I don't work in the financial services industry. I don't have any clients or know of any inside information about my company or any others.