Wachovia: Support My Insider Trading Efforts or I'll Sue

I was going through the stack of newspapers that had accumulated while I was on vacation, and on the front page of The Charlotte Observer was the headline: "Cameron Harris sues Wachovia."

This is big news in Charlotte, where Harris' family sold their insurance company to Wachovia's predecessor, First Union. Friends just don't sue friends around here; bless his heart.

The Harris suit claims that while on a hunting trip with Ken Thompson, Wachovia's then CEO, he pumped Mr. Thompson for information about what was really going on at Wachovia. He asserts that Ken Thompson's failure to give him what would have been unpublished insider information caused him to keep his stock and incur a large financial loss. He might have gotten out at $55 instead of riding it down to whatever he owns now. He and his family owned around a million shares so the pony ride down cost him some real dough.

I'm no legal genius, but if Ken Thompson had told him about what was really going on and he had sold his stock before the swan dive, wouldn't he be guilty of insider trading? Wouldn't both he and Ken Thompson be eligible for a free trip to Club Fed down at Fort Walton Beach, Fla? Hasn't he heard of Martha Stewart.

We all remember how Martha acted on a tip from her friend Sam Waksal and did some time for insider trading. Her trade only gained a few hundred thousand dollars. Cameron Harris' gain would have been around 50 million.

This is a suit I'll have to follow. Can you really sue for failure to receive and act on insider trading information?

Disclosure: I am a former employee of Wachovia and have family members working for Wells Fargo (WFC) and they have an interest in Wells Fargo stock and vested and unvested stock options.

Comments

[Roger Knights:]

"Can you really sue for failure to receive and act on insider trading information?"

Yes, says the Red Queen.

Oct 21 07:53 PM

[helplessobs...:]

This guy was stupid when he asked for inside information and is dumb and dumber if he thinks the courts will make him whole. Where do we find these people?

Oct 21 10:41 PM