Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Recent Entries
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - December 4, 2024 [TRex]
Horse Sense Cafe Quick Hits Leftwing Media "Experts" Spin Hunter Biden's Pardon By Inventing Previous Pardons That Never Happened Assassin Guns Down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in the Middle of the Street in Alvin Bragg's Sanctuary City for Killers, NYC Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Tennessee's Anti-Transgender-Surgery-for-Children Law; Unqualified DEI Incompetents Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor Shine In Their Stupidity Dank Brandon's Bewildered African Adventure White House Once Again Turned Into Eyebleeding Gay Meth-Hallucination Nightmare by White Trash Delaware Hillbilly Biden Clan Judge Orders Fani Willis to Disclose All Correspondence with the January 6th Committee Wednesday Morning Rant Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« The Dog, in Bible Speak |
Main
| Adolf Eichmann's Right-Hand Man Living In Syria »
September 25, 2005
Senator Frist and "Insider Trading." A Primer on This Week's ScandalSenate Majority Leader Bill Frist is a rich guy. Besides making crazy cardiologist loot, he came from a rich family, valued at over a billion. His father, Thomas, helped found Hospital Corporation of America, a company that grew into what is now the nationâs largest chain of private hospitals. And as you might expect, Bill owned some HCA stock. How much? Well that isnât quite clear. In 1994 his HCA holdings were valued at $13 million. The next year he entered the Senate, and because he would be working on legislation that could impact the med. industry and therefore HCA, he did what Senators are supposed to do - he placed his HCA and other assets in a blind trust. Now, I donât know much about blind trusts. I sorta thought the whole point was that you would be, you know, blind to the assets once they went in. That your trust manager would give you some overall accounting as to the entiretyâs worth, but youâd have no input into the purchase or sale of its constituent assets. I hope Iâd be excused as to this notion. The AP notes that Frist himself seemed to believe much the same when he explained in a television interview: "Well, I think really for our viewers it should be understood that I put this into a blind trust. So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock" (h/t Captain's Quarters) Now it appears quite certain that Frist knew he still had HCA in his trust. Itâs certain because, in June, he specifically directed his imposingly named trust fund manager, M. Kirk Scobey Jr., to sell it. All of it. And the BIG QUESTION is whether Frist was the beneficiary of âinside informationâ when he ordered the sale. The background: For a long time HCA had been sort of floundering, been indicted for bad stuff in the past and the stock suffered as a result. Around October 2004, though, things started to change. HCA began a long upward climb. By late June of 2005, it reached a peak of 56% more than its October value. During the rise, HCA executives started selling off their personal holdings: The sales, which included moves by [HCA's] chief executive, treasurer, senior vice president for government programs and several directors, were among the largest insider selloffs analysts had seen, LoPresti said. Many officers made their largest trades ever in April, only to top them again in May and June, LoPresti said On July 13, 2005, HCA announced a sucky second quarter, with earning beneath the all important âanalystsâ expectations.â Not surprisingly, the stock began a prompt tumble, quickly sliding 16% from its June 22, high. And itâs still down round there. Were the executives making their previous decisions to sell based on insider knowledge that the second quarter was going to be off, knowledge that wasnât publicly available until July 13? Maybe the executives were âinsider trading.â Maybe they werenât. I donât know. Thatâs still not Fristâs real concern though. This is: On June 13th, near the stockâs June 22nd high, and the tail end of the execâs mass sell off, Frist contacts Scobey, and says âScobey, sell all my HCA. Mine and my wifeâsâ Now Frist, because itâs a blind trust, canât control the exact timing of the sale, but his trust manager gets around to it, dumping Fristâs personal shares on July 1, and Fristâs wifeâs on July 8 - the last sale, coming just one week before the bad earnings announcement and the stockâs fall. So you see the big question, donât you? What prompted Frist to sell all his HCA? Did he get a tip from an HCA exec with inside info? Or, put more legalistically, did Frist have material nonpublic information regarding HCA at the time he ordered the sale. "Frist has been in the Senate for many years now, and the conflict is not new," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Why did he decide to sell it then? Why not years ago? What's changed? Did he know that the stock was about to take a fall?" The usual crowd, not surprisingly, think the facts, facially, convict the majority leader and the Republican party: Democrats were quick to pounce on Frist's problem. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean urged the agencies involved to "fully and vigorously investigate Frist's suspicious stock trade." He added: "Republicans in Washington have made their culture of corruption the norm." Federal agencies are looking into the matter: A spokesman said Frist's office has been contacted by both the SEC and the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan about his divestiture of the stock. HCA disclosed separately that it was subpoenaed by the same U.S. attorney's office for documents that were related to Frist's sale. Frist and HCA said they are cooperating.
Well why not just say that? Why the lame âavoid the appearance of improprietyâ excuse? Anyway, weâre gonna be hearing a lot about it, as intrinsically technical and boring as it is. Frist wants the republican nomination in â08 and this, depending on how it breaks, could take him out. Even if heâs clean, he doesnât need âMr. and Mrs. Swing-Voteâ learning his name in the context of scandal allegations. Somewhere, a former Senate Majority leader is chuckling himself silly. | Recent Comments
Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ Next year in Corsicana - again! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]:
"Twasn't me that now has an appointment with the ba ..."
Braenyard - some absent friends are more equal than others: "His daddy was a pistol and he was a son of a gun. ..." Tonypete: "[/i] Good evening Italicans! ..." Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ Next year in Corsicana - again! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]: "Argggh! [/i] ..." Pug Mahon, Pledge in a Beanie: "The chill I just felt was knowing that I am LAST! ..." Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ Next year in Corsicana - again! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]: "Nice one TRex! ..." AlaBAMA DeButts: "Italican noods ..." JohnFNotKerry: "italics ..." mindful webworker - so they say: "Overnight thread, overnight thread Pops up when I ..." AlaBAMA DeButts: "Egads! Italicans! ..." JohnFNotKerry: "wow 5th ..." Pug Mahon, Pledge in a Beanie: " Doof! Howdy, amigo. Posted by: Notorious BFD at ..." Recent Entries
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - December 4, 2024 [TRex]
Horse Sense Cafe Quick Hits Leftwing Media "Experts" Spin Hunter Biden's Pardon By Inventing Previous Pardons That Never Happened Assassin Guns Down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in the Middle of the Street in Alvin Bragg's Sanctuary City for Killers, NYC Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Tennessee's Anti-Transgender-Surgery-for-Children Law; Unqualified DEI Incompetents Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor Shine In Their Stupidity Dank Brandon's Bewildered African Adventure White House Once Again Turned Into Eyebleeding Gay Meth-Hallucination Nightmare by White Trash Delaware Hillbilly Biden Clan Judge Orders Fani Willis to Disclose All Correspondence with the January 6th Committee Wednesday Morning Rant Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |