So all that $616 mill fine didn't buy immunity from prosecution? That is money badly spent and too early celebration: " A week after the settlement, news broke that he had paid the casino owner Steve Wynn an astounding $155 millionâa record sum for a U.S. collectorâto buy Picassoâs Le Rêve (which Wynn had accidentally put his elbow through in 2006). " ----------------------------------- The 4 most dangerous words in the HF industry: "politically ambitious U.S. attorney"
another proof that WS can't make a money off the market without some sort of 'advantage'. either technical + regulatory as in case of HFT or just plain insider trading.
______________________________ Quote from Vanity Fair "...Thereâs also an argument that it simply doesnât make sense that a guy as smart as Steve Cohen, a guy who knows that the government has been watching him for years, a guy who already has more money than God, would ever take the risk of using inside information on such a huge trade. No, it doesnât make senseâunless you believe that Cohen, when faced with the choice of winning or losing on a big bet, simply couldnât stop himself from choosing to win. Just as in the old fable of the scorpion and the frog, thatâs his nature." _____________________________ Or as a friend of mine reminds me "The hardest thing in the world is to keep pigs away from a trough."
Martoma will be the shot that sinks SAC. Great article and VF does a great job. The rumor is that SAC will return 100% of outside capital some time in 2013.
It's also well known that Preet Bharara has ambitions to be the first Indian governor of New York. It's all a big game.
The same thing happened with Raj Rajaratnam and Galleon Group. A totally legit fund, and then Raj got into this competitive "game" with others about who could obtain the BEST information. Ego, Ego, and more Ego. Sinks ships.
http://www.businessinsider.com/sac-capital-indicted-2013-7 interesting use of the word "edge" http://blogs.reuters.com/alison-frankel/files/2013/07/SAC-Indictment-Stamped.pdf