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This is just an anecdotal experience but according to a former hedge fund manager, insider trading is an open secret in the industry. You really can't expect to

This is just an anecdotal experience but according to a former hedge fund manager, insider trading is an open secret in the industry. You really can't expect to gamble away billions of investor's money without an edge. Information is the only possible edge that is closely guarded in the markets. I don't know how true that is, he's a washed up piece of shit that wall street chewed out but has the eyes and ears of gordon gekko wanna be finance grads. but I'm writing this because this is like the 3rd time I've heard this. Just throwing it up there if "soft insider" information is what they were referring to.

edblarney 10y ago
Big funds will have direct access to CEO's and execs. They'll sit down for an interview. Technically speaking, everything that the CEO will say has to be public information. It has to be above bar. But sitting in the room, being right there, one might easily be able to glean more information than is actually public. Ergo - and edge. And it's not quite illegal. So that is a form of fairly above board 'soft inside' information that nobody will ever go to jail for. As far as more obvious 'insider' - maybe so, maybe not - I don't know - but I do know that you don't even need to do that. But generally I believe there is basically no reasonable way to beat the market: all of the quant stuff is done by very smart people, fast computers, the value investing done by massive players like Buffet, and the regular investing done by people with 'extra info'. I really do think that small retail investors are the losers in the casino. Oh - and also 'big dumb money', i.e. low-performing people at big banks, sitting on huge sums that the hedges get little bites out of.
- brilliantcode 10y ago
  How many retail investors get face time with CEO of Kraft? It's a pretty rigged zero sum game for the rest with much of the edge in the hands of the few. I actually started to treat trading very much like the casino. I just do it to make news reading interesting. Of course the mental pictures I form in my head are influenced by what I read. I use my gut.... Therefore retail trading is a social acceptable gambling. brb shorting TSLA.

edblarney 10y ago

Big funds will have direct access to CEO's and execs. They'll sit down for an interview. Technically speaking, everything that the CEO will say has to be public information. It has to be above bar. But sitting in the room, being right there, one might easily be able to glean more information than is actually public. Ergo - and edge. And it's not quite illegal. So that is a form of fairly above board 'soft inside' information that nobody will ever go to jail for. As far as more obvious 'insider' - maybe so, maybe not - I don't know - but I do know that you don't even need to do that. But generally I believe there is basically no reasonable way to beat the market: all of the quant stuff is done by very smart people, fast computers, the value investing done by massive players like Buffet, and the regular investing done by people with 'extra info'. I really do think that small retail investors are the losers in the casino. Oh - and also 'big dumb money', i.e. low-performing people at big banks, sitting on huge sums that the hedges get little bites out of.

brilliantcode 10y ago
How many retail investors get face time with CEO of Kraft? It's a pretty rigged zero sum game for the rest with much of the edge in the hands of the few. I actually started to treat trading very much like the casino. I just do it to make news reading interesting. Of course the mental pictures I form in my head are influenced by what I read. I use my gut.... Therefore retail trading is a social acceptable gambling. brb shorting TSLA.