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Intrade Ceases Trading Activity

intrade.com

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Re: Intrade Ceases Trading Activity

#2

Post by ghayes »

The title here is misleading. They are "ceasing trading activity" ... "as we do all we can to resume operations as promptly as possible." The statement alludes to "financial irregularities" which are being investigated.

Re: Intrade Ceases Trading Activity

#3

Post by PeterisP »

ghayes wrote: post #2

The title here is misleading. They are "ceasing trading activity" ... "as we do all we can to resume operations as promptly as possible." The statement alludes to "financial irregularities" which are being investigated.

Well, "financial irregularities which in accordance with Irish law oblige the directors ..." is legalese that, in essence, means something like "we've caught someone [stealing from the cookie jar / lying about losses] on a so large scale that the board is not sure if the company will be able to pay the money it owes to everyone".

There are just a few cases where the law obliges directors to do something; I'm not an expert in Irish legislation, but most likely they are clearly enumerated in a single law.

Re: Intrade Ceases Trading Activity

#4

Post by niggler »

Slightly OT: what's the current status of online gambling? There were talks of nevada and new jersey loosening restrictions, but most of those were reported by financial analysts and not by the technical community.

Re: Intrade Ceases Trading Activity

#6

Post by rishimoko »

niggler wrote: post #4

Slightly OT: what's the current status of online gambling? There were talks of nevada and new jersey loosening restrictions, but most of those were reported by financial analysts and not by the technical community.

It's booming in some circles, millions a month probably:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Category:Gambling

sealswithclubs.eu should be mentioned here too.

Re: Intrade Ceases Trading Activity

#10

Post by ChuckMcM »

andrewcooke wrote: post #5

is it related to http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6423-12 and the subsequent collapse in volume http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e0c9eea0-7ae4-11e2-915b-00144... ?

Probably. Interesting line the CFTC is taking though, since it is only able to regulate US citizen's use of commodity markets and predictions are a commodity by the definition of the law as far as I can tell [1]. The 'fiction' here is that you're actually going to by pork bellies or soy beans or oranges, when really your just buying and trading the 'right' to buy these commodities at a particular price. So "The 49'ers will win the super bowl" is a "bet" but it isn't really a commodity.

So while I could buy intrade as an unlicensed betting parlor I don't see them as a commodities trader. That said, folks don't like it when you make money that they think they should be making.

[1] http://www.cftc.gov/ConsumerProtection/EducationCenter/Futur... - "A commodity futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity at a future date"

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