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Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

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Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#151
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually it is the state that has to prove mischief. They still enjoy presumption of innocence. I agree the timing is suspicious, but the amounts are pretty small. Even if the stock drops 20% long term due to this (which IMO is highly unlikely), a high ranking executive risking a jail term to avoid losing 50k of stock is (again IMO), absolutely irrational.

>high ranking executive risking a jail term to avoid losing 50k of stock is (again IMO), absolutely irrational. You act as if this is a real senario and would have a non-negligible probability of occurring.

There is a non-negligible possibility of this occurring. Insider trading is ridiculously easy to prosecute (the market is closely monitored) and the government regularly seeks prison time for executives. Rich people go to jail all the time for it.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like the law was written in cooperation with the people that became wealthy through means that used to be legal and protected themselves and their legacy by kicking away the ladders they used.

> the law was written in cooperation with the people that became wealthy through means that used to be legal and protected themselves... Hey, if nothing else, you are super-confident. Also, way to not generalize or be presumptuous in any capacity. Fucking super buttoned up analysis. It all checks out.

Didn't downvote but I figure I should better support it if someone actually cared enough to criticize...

From a trade policy perspective alone we have plenty of supporting evidence among developed countries of self-serving policymaking. Ha-Joon Chang, economist at Cambridge, has written several books criticizing neoclassical economics policies commonly used by both left and right wing policy makers across many developed economies including one literally called "Kicking Away the Ladder" describing how an alarming trend for developing countries to make trade and domestic economic policies that close off tools these countries used themselves to grow their economies. A recent case of not following conventional policies and playing into the hands of the ultra wealthy is Iceland following their real estate collapse and now subsequent rebuilding on their terms as suggested by economist Michael Hudson, another critic of neoclassical economic policies.

Regulatory capture is one of several by-products of cronyism and an oligarchical rather than impartial, equal opportunity system but even in a toy case study in sports there is clear evidence of bias with regulatory experience http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/coep.12240/abstra... If there's policymaking and enforcement bias over time in something with as little consequence as sports but also certainly fiscal motivators (for teams, NHL Commission, etc) it would be strange if our government policies would be exempt from the same human dynamics that is specifically meant by those with hidden information to stay obscure and hidden. But not a whole lot of grant funding out there to investigate corruption exactly, so rigorous academic research on corruption, regulatory capture, and other perversions of capitalist society is sparse, oftentimes difficult to get solid data, and thus difficult to cite in a random Internet comment to the satisfaction of pedantic critics that react to defend any assailment of the much-maligned wealthy.

I'll omit the studies showing those with wealthier backgrounds showing tendencies toward far more loose ideas of lawfulness and fairness compared to the general population.

Also, I wrote it partly tongue-in-cheek in tone responding to a potentially more inflammatory, generalized, presumptuous comment and somehow that was ignored?

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. At least they were smart enough not to buy options. :-) https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-06-17/there-mig...

Somebody opened a huge options position on EFX a couple weeks ago. No way to tell who, of course, but it certainly looks suspicious. I posted the chart here: https://twitter.com/dimfeld/status/905952247682547716

So, I struggle understanding options jargon, maybe you can help -- from your tweet: is 2500 alot? 2500 of what - stock that borrowed? $135 is lower than yesterday's price, but higher than today's open @ 125 - does that mean someone who bought the puts can cash out at $10 profit this morning?

thanks.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#154
post #66
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"But my intuition about a thing and what the law says don't always match" I wish more people on this forum recognized this

Recognized that the law doesn't apply to rich people?

Insider trading laws apply pretty much exclusively to rich people.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#155
post #7

So, does this count as insider trading? My intuition says 'yes'. But my intuition about a thing and what the law says don't always match.

Did they have Material Non-Public Information (MNPI) when they traded? If so, yes. If not, no.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#156
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recognized that the law doesn't apply to rich people?

More like the law was written in cooperation with the people that became wealthy through means that used to be legal and protected themselves and their legacy by kicking away the ladders they used.

Damn...so that's why they banned slavery.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#157
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sometimes see this as IAALBINYL (instead of the more common IANAL), standing for "I Am A Lawyer But I Am Not YOUR Lawyer" Or, "free legal advice is worth what you paid for it."

It's worth noting, though, that many forms of actual "free" legal advice still come with serious professional obligations on the part of the lawyer. Pro-bono work, public defenders, contingency basis, etc are free to some extent, but nonetheless create a client relationship that is at least nominally as serious as one that is paid for. There is a reason that lawyers online are very quick to point out that they are no…

Public defenders are most definitely not free (in the US anyway), you just don't have to pay up front and are guaranteed to you even if it's obvious you have no ability to repay.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody opened a huge options position on EFX a couple weeks ago. No way to tell who, of course, but it certainly looks suspicious. I posted the chart here: https://twitter.com/dimfeld/status/905952247682547716

So, I struggle understanding options jargon, maybe you can help -- from your tweet: is 2500 alot? 2500 of what - stock that borrowed? $135 is lower than yesterday's price, but higher than today's open @ 125 - does that mean someone who bought the puts can cash out at $10 profit this morning? thanks.

Someone bought 2500 put options. Each option gives the owner the ability to sell 100 shares at the strike price of the option.

If whoever owns those options exercises them today (And covers their short position at a price of $125) they will make ~$2.5m on a ~$200k bet.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#159
post #141
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the benefit of those reading: given that this may very well be the worst breach ever by far, and is likely to attract significant attention from government regulators and prosecutors, this is likely a particularly unwise time to begin attempting this strategy.

The direct financial impact to Equifax is likely to be tiny, and their customers aren't the people who's personal information they just left on the side of the road. Once the news cycle is past, it will be business as usual at Equifax.

If you are willing to gamble real money on that assertion, its there for the taking.

Re: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Was Revealed

#160
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not financial advise: I remember a few commentors on HN recently saying they have made large gains by buying stock of companies after the news of cyber security breaches significantly reduced the share value, then waiting for the dust to settle(reaction-news-cycle to complete) and the price to rise again.

The sad thing is these breaches are so common place nowadays most of us regular folk just assume all our personal information is compromised to some degree. I'll be curious to see if this breach has any real material business impact.

This was the reaction I got from most non techies. Makes my heart sad.
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