Gordon Gekko

[Mike805]

Quote from fullblotter:

I read "den of thieves". it was entertaining but I found it heavily, heavily biased in favour of the government.

Agreed. The book makes the government out to be heroes.

 

[Eliot Hosewater]

Quote from DannoXYZ:



Quote from Eliot Hosewater:
But lying about trading on insider info is a crime - just ask Martha Stewart.

She actually got busted on 4 charges of "obstruction of justice", "making false statements" and "conspiracy to make false statements" by shredding documents and telling her broker and assistants to lie to investigators. That's what she was convicted of and went to jail for. There was no "insider trading" violation of any sort. If she had been up-front and not done that, nothing would've happened, except that her broker would've been busted if it turned out he used inside-info to help her out.

"making false statements" == lying.

 

[DannoXYZ]

Agreed... it's just a common misconception what insider-trading really encompasses and that you can actually go to jail for it.

 

[Hydroblunt]

Quote from fullblotter:

In Fischel's provocative analysis, such old-line Wall Street firms as Lazard Freres, Salomon Brothers and Dillon, Read, thirsting for revenge and eager to restore their diminished positions, joined forces with big labor, which feared a massive loss of jobs, to instigate a government-backed witch hunt that scapegoated Milken and other high-rolling investors such as John Mulheren Jr., Boyd Jefferies and Robert Freeman.

Of course, but that does not mean that Milken was an angel that never did anything wrong. He was simply not part of the clique, more of a rogue who got at the level and even above the big boys but never really a part of the group. It's the same when SEC goes after small timers who try to do what the big boys do and get busted for insider trading. Plus. Milken was getting too big and going too far, had he kept it at a certain level, they would have let him slide. His involvement with Boesky was enough to incriminate himself.

BTW, Mike085 thanks for the correction, I thought I had that wrong, just wasnt sure.

P.S. There is no reason to glorify Milken or any of his "b*tches". Just another round of greedy pigs, some much smarter than others, but in the end, just greedy scum that caused little good but a lot of bad.

 

[Cheese]

Michael Milken was an innovator who when general circumstances soured was used as a scapegoat.

The low character in the melodrama of that time was Boesky who dumped on everything and everyone. Boesky also set off the big Guinness scandal in Ldn which ended up with scapegoats there going to prison for conduct that had been scrutinized and sanctioned by lawyers and accountants beforehand.

The lesson is that in high places in business you need to be ever careful not to leave behind any trail or circumstance which can be used to scapegoat you subsequently.