| Shotsie |
11-16-2011 12:10 PM |
Republican Congressman insider trading reaps profits from financial collapse
Apparently Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which is the committee that oversees the entire financial services industry, used insider information gained from top Treasury and Fed officials to short the market during the 2008 financial collpase; basically betting against the US economy he took an oath to protect.
Quote:
In July and August 2008, as the Financial Services Committee considered how to rescue Fannie and Freddie and avoid the collapse of the housing market (and by extension the entire financial system), Bachus was aggressively betting that that the S&P financial sector fund would fall.
On Sept. 8, 2008, GE CEO Jeff Immelt called Paulson and told him GE was having trouble selling bonds. Two days later Bachus shorted GE options four times in one day, more than doubling his money. He shorted GE 12 times between Sept. 10 and 15, and nine of the trades were profitable.
On Sept. 18, Bachus and other congressional leaders had a private meeting with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke. The meeting were so secretive, cell phones and Blackberrys weren't allowed in the room.
The very next day Bachus bought contract options on Proshares Ultra-Short QQQ, an index fund that seeks results 200% the inverse of the Nasdaq 100 index ? in other words shorting the market. On Sept. 23, he sold the options and nearly doubled his money.
At the same time, the Treasury and Bachus's committee were working on the TARP rescue plan. On Sept. 22, the day TARP was announced, Bachus made another options buy on Proshares Ultra, nearly doubling his money again.
As the TARP bill was reworked in Congress in October 2008, Bachus was involved in more private meetings. Apparently Bachus thought the bailout would work ? that month, he switched to buying shares in Powershares QQQ, betting that the market would rise.
On Oct. 14, the federal government tapped into the $700 billion bailout fund. The next day, Bachus made a quick $3,400 betting the financial sector would fall.
On Oct. 21, the Federal Reserve announced it would spent $540 billion to purchase short-term debt from money market mutual funds. The next day, Bachus bought more than $5,000 of options in Market Vectors TRN, and doubled his money.
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http://articles.businessinsider.com/...eo-jeff-immelt
Any civilian that engages in insider trading is subject to Federal prosecution(i.e. Martha Stewart), yet this scumbag is claiming he did nothing wrong, and as of today there is no action being taken against him. He should probably resign immediately, and be shipped to Gitmo for engaging in treasonous acts of financial terrorism; whereby he should be held indefinitely, and subject to enhanced interrogation tactics such as waterboarding until he reveals his co-conspirators, and is prosecuted for his crimes.
If it were up to me i'd have him sentenced to death by execution without a trial, but not anything "humane" like lethal injection, no, i'd stage a public execution somewhere symbolic of his crimes; like in front of the Washington monument. As for the type of capital punshment to be used: i'd have all the major news organizations hold a poll(cbs, fox, nbc, etc.), with a choice between crucifixion, guillotine, disembowelment or impalement. Once the votes were tallied, and the method of execution chosen, it would be broadcast live on said news organization's channels across the country. Probably be more popular than the Super Bowl.:2 cents: |
