Government Insider Trading Rules Are Difficult to Follow

Despite media reports of Wall Street types who have been caught for insider trading, the rules are not as simple as headlines would make them appear.

                       

Many of the rules are vague. It’s easy to get caught for what was done in good faith. Often, those who are arrested and go to jail, are guilty merely of lying in one way or another in their testimony, but not for insider dealings.

                       

What has been firmly established about insider trading is this:

                       

An employee has an obligation to an employer not to divulge information received while on the job. You cannot trade on company secrets.

                       

There is nothing illegal about trying to get information about a company in which you wish to invest, provided you don’t have someone break a law or a duty, to get at that information.

                       

You can act on gossip and what you over-hear from general discussions of others, who are not restricted in the dissemination of such information.(See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinesNewshole at Twitter.)