A departure from my film beat. Counterpunch Weekend Edition August 2-4, 2013 Steven A. Cohen and the Perks of Being Rich and Connected The Fall of a Predator by LOUIS PROYECT
On July 25th SAC Capital, a hedge fund founded and run by Steven A. Cohen, was indicted for insider trading. Up until now, Cohen has managed to avoid being hauled off perp-style with his jacket over his head. Even after a number of his underlings began serving time, Cohen continued to enjoy the benefits of what is obviously a criminal enterprise. With all proportions guarded, his status reminds me of how holocaust deniers can make the case for Hitler even to this day. Where is there a document with Der Fuhrer ordering the gassing of Jews? By the same token, where is there an email indicating Cohen’s part in what by all admissions is standard operating practice in the financial industry? What do you think all those country clubs are for? To improve Joe Moneybags’s golf game? Don’t be silly. It is to pick up inside information through small talk that is never transcribed. SAC Capital first came under investigation ten years ago when Holly B. Becker, a Lehman Brothers stock analyst, tipped off her husband Michael J. Zimmerman, who worked for Cohen, about Amazon. What? You expected them to not discuss such matters under the sheets? If you can’t tell your significant other about some hot tip during late night pillow talk, what good is a marriage that was reported on in the Sunday NY Times Style section? Ironically Holly told Michael that SAC should short Amazon Inc. because it was not a viable corporation and had no future. She should have gotten a refund from Wharton, or wherever she got an MBA from, for not knowing which way the wind was blowing. full: http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/02/the-fall-of-a-predator/ _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
