"........apparently, one of Goldmanâs services is to give SAC Capital advance notice of the contents of its research reports" http://www.deepcapture.com/sac-capital-gets-tips-from-goldman-if-only-there-were-a-pattern/
Wall Street is so crooked it could give itself a reacharound. This is why 'efficient market theory' is a bad joke, and why even skilled traders regularly get pounded into sand - you can't have an edge if data is being circulated among the inner elite hours or days before you even have the ability to know about it, if ever. What a criminal racket enterprise if there ever was one...
This is such a crock. The best tables in restaurants are saved for the best customers. If GS has 'trading' calls for their best customers and you want them then go to their 'restaurant' often. I was an institutional customer and their trading calls stood out no more than anyone elses. I can tell you for a fact they do not offer to anyone the fact that an analyst is about to upgrade a stock. If a SAC trader were to act on this information, he would be fired. They are anal about compliance. This is a clear violation of Reg FD. All conversations are taped and all e-mails and IM's are kept. I am not affiliated and never have been with SAC. Steve Cohen takes his lumps like everybody else. He is a brilliant hands on mananger and a great trader. To say or even imply that he is a cheater is libel and slanderous IMHO. SAC does all its own work and gives GS plenty of business to get the first call on order flow and a better allocation on trades, IPO's and secondaries. They thank GS for their input on market direction, but do all their own research.
GS doesn't violate ethics rules? Whose rules are we talking about? Did you see all the self dealing that went on when they were advising and buying the NYSE? Did you follow the self dealing that went on when Paulson was saving AIG so he could take billions of tax payers dollars and give them to Goldman. That was not unethical? It screwed the entire country. Perhaps they might not let a phone salesman front run but they will use the regulatory body to let them front run with high frequency trading. Do you wonder how much GS money is invested with SAC? I do.
I said long time ago that trading on insider information is routine. I said it because of the clear chart pattern of a stock or other instrument before some information is made public. Yes, the playing field is NOT even for retail traders. You want SEC to take action? That's day dreaming because SEC is full of crooks in the pockets of the institutional traders. The powerful usually occupy both the government and private sectors and the powerful on both sides protect each other. So forget about SEC coming to save small retail traders, it just doesn't make sense that the powerful will hurt their own kind. When you become a member of the powerful, you will do the same. So stop complaining and continue your trading. PS: Things will change in one condition: another powerful individual or group becomes angry and wants to do something to these crooks. Guess who? But there is a chance that he may be bought. This happened in history. Remember the guy who had a poor background and swore to do something for the poor but ended up selling his daughter to a hedge fund?
Many things I can't tell you. Just the way the game is played. But you haven't even sniffed it yet. Not even close. I think after Labor Day it all comes down. Just think about the things you've seen so far that, three years ago you'd have thought impossible. Pick one. Art Samberg. Art couldn't pick his ass with both hands. And now, Mack is considering stepping down. And Fuld. If I showed you that three years ago, what would you have thought? Example: http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1065938&highlight=ostk+ceo#post1065938 Done over and over again. Elgindy and his crew. TASR a prime example. And they knew ahead of time. Skip, skip, SEC Enf Attorneys trading on insider info. By the way, the SEC found nothing on Overstock out of the ordinary. And, we believe they didn't even look at the stuff for a long period of time. They just wanted the announcement to cover some shorts.
Can't beat 'em join 'em. Buy some GE and GS if you think the government will run rampant for years to come.