3 ms·

Is that not insider trading? I had opportunities to buy stock in companies that I knew my employer was about to do big business with, and could have profited h

Is that not insider trading? I had opportunities to buy stock in companies that I knew my employer was about to do big business with, and could have profited handsomely, but was advised that it was at the very least against corporate guidelines

AlotOfReading 2y ago
They're not talking about their employer's actions moving the stock price, they're talking about the basic industry knowledge that everyone else is doing the same thing. I (probably) don't work at the same company and I had access to exactly the same information.
bombcar 2y ago
Almost certainly not, insider trading is for "knowledge that isn't out there". What you are describing is, because the "knowledge wasn't out there". It's a fuzzy distinction and you're better safe than sorry. "We bought a bunch of cards" vs "we're going to buy a bunch of cards" type thing.
darth_avocado 2y ago
If you work for NVIDIA, it is insider trading. If you saw the pallets in a truck at a gas station, it’s not. In the wild, it’s no different from Wall Street making trades based on strip club attendance or by flying drones near Tesla factories.
- beejiu 2y ago
  > If you work for NVIDIA, it is insider trading. Just to be absolutely clear, it can be insider trading if you don't work at NVIDIA.
  - esprehn 2y ago
    Yeah, it's not about being an employee, it's about trading on Material Non-Public Information.
    - kortilla 2y ago
      No it’s not. It’s about how that information was gathered.
- georgeburdell 2y ago
  OP works for a customer of NVDA and made inferences based on shipments they saw coming in. That does not seem like public knowledge
  - darth_avocado 2y ago
    It CAN be considered insider trading then. If you work for company A and are aware of a large monetary deal between company A & company B that is otherwise not known to the public, if you trade company B’s stock, not only can it be considered insider trading, it may even violate company A’s internal policies which can get you fired.
    - esprehn 2y ago
      It's still illegal even if you don't work for company A or B.
      - kortilla 2y ago
        Not in the US. “Don’t trade on any information not known by everyone” is a much more strict version used in other countries. That stricter version destroys the incentive to short selling research firms.
        esprehn 2y ago
        That depends on how you learned of this otherwise MNPI. Insider trading can definitely be done by non-employees. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1164964/000101968715004168/globalfuture_8k-ex9904.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1164964/000101968715... """ An “insider” is an officer, director, 10% stockholder and anyone who possesses inside information because of his or her relationship with the Company or with an officer, director or principal stockholder of the Company. Rule 10b-5’s application goes considerably beyond just officers, directors and principal stockholders. This rule also covers any employee who has obtained material non-public corporate information, as well as any person who has received a “tip” from an Insider of the Company concerning information about the Company that is material and nonpublic, and trades (i.e. purchase or sells) the Company’s stock or other securities. This policy also applies to your family members who reside with you, anyone else who lives in your household, and family members who do not live in your household but whose securities transactions are directed by you or are subject to your influence or control, as well as trusts or other entities for which you make investment decisions. """
- puika 2y ago
  if "pallets of H100s shipping that were worth 100s of millions each pallet." and "12+ months of back orders with Nvidia alone" are not public information, then in my mind that is insider trading, especially those backorders.
  - gizmo 2y ago
    Facebook was doing billions of datacenter capex at the time. It was semipublic information.
- foobarqux 2y ago
  This is false because you have a duty of confidentiality towards your employer.

AlotOfReading 2y ago

They're not talking about their employer's actions moving the stock price, they're talking about the basic industry knowledge that everyone else is doing the same thing. I (probably) don't work at the same company and I had access to exactly the same information.

bombcar 2y ago

Almost certainly not, insider trading is for "knowledge that isn't out there". What you are describing is, because the "knowledge wasn't out there". It's a fuzzy distinction and you're better safe than sorry. "We bought a bunch of cards" vs "we're going to buy a bunch of cards" type thing.

darth_avocado 2y ago

If you work for NVIDIA, it is insider trading. If you saw the pallets in a truck at a gas station, it’s not. In the wild, it’s no different from Wall Street making trades based on strip club attendance or by flying drones near Tesla factories.

beejiu 2y ago
> If you work for NVIDIA, it is insider trading. Just to be absolutely clear, it can be insider trading if you don't work at NVIDIA.
- esprehn 2y ago
  Yeah, it's not about being an employee, it's about trading on Material Non-Public Information.
  - kortilla 2y ago
    No it’s not. It’s about how that information was gathered.
georgeburdell 2y ago
OP works for a customer of NVDA and made inferences based on shipments they saw coming in. That does not seem like public knowledge
- darth_avocado 2y ago
  It CAN be considered insider trading then. If you work for company A and are aware of a large monetary deal between company A & company B that is otherwise not known to the public, if you trade company B’s stock, not only can it be considered insider trading, it may even violate company A’s internal policies which can get you fired.
  - esprehn 2y ago
    It's still illegal even if you don't work for company A or B.
    - kortilla 2y ago
      Not in the US. “Don’t trade on any information not known by everyone” is a much more strict version used in other countries. That stricter version destroys the incentive to short selling research firms.
      - esprehn 2y ago
        That depends on how you learned of this otherwise MNPI. Insider trading can definitely be done by non-employees. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1164964/000101968715004168/globalfuture_8k-ex9904.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1164964/000101968715... """ An “insider” is an officer, director, 10% stockholder and anyone who possesses inside information because of his or her relationship with the Company or with an officer, director or principal stockholder of the Company. Rule 10b-5’s application goes considerably beyond just officers, directors and principal stockholders. This rule also covers any employee who has obtained material non-public corporate information, as well as any person who has received a “tip” from an Insider of the Company concerning information about the Company that is material and nonpublic, and trades (i.e. purchase or sells) the Company’s stock or other securities. This policy also applies to your family members who reside with you, anyone else who lives in your household, and family members who do not live in your household but whose securities transactions are directed by you or are subject to your influence or control, as well as trusts or other entities for which you make investment decisions. """
puika 2y ago
if "pallets of H100s shipping that were worth 100s of millions each pallet." and "12+ months of back orders with Nvidia alone" are not public information, then in my mind that is insider trading, especially those backorders.
- gizmo 2y ago
  Facebook was doing billions of datacenter capex at the time. It was semipublic information.
foobarqux 2y ago
This is false because you have a duty of confidentiality towards your employer.