5 ms·

Jonathan Lebed: Stock Manipulator, S.E.C. Nemesis, and 15 (2001)

50 points by Sujan 13y ago

lutusp 13y ago
The linked article is a terrific inside look at the S.E.C.'s efforts to define illegal market manipulation -- and failing.
tomf99 13y ago
He's stopped tweeting a year ago and his website is gone, but he grew up to be a professional stock manipulator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcgwZ3xjJg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcgwZ3xjJg Fox Business host confronts him (2010) https://twitter.com/LebedBiz https://twitter.com/LebedBiz http://www.northjersey.com/news/97250879_Still_touting_stocks.html http://www.northjersey.com/news/97250879_Still_touting_stock...
- Vaskerville 13y ago
  He's right here...site is still being updated...still making suggestions... http://inflation.us/ http://inflation.us/ https://www.youtube.com/user/InflationUS https://www.youtube.com/user/InflationUS
Aqueous 13y ago
It's very gobsmacking that the SEC finds the time and energy to make an example out of a 15 year old but can't muster the backbone to prosecute actual players in the investment banking industry, who regularly engage in pump and dump schemes exactly like the one this kid was doing! it's almost as gobsmacking that the kid's Yahoo Finance stock pitches are completely indistiguishable from the blather on CNBC that occurs every single day of the year. WHO THE FUCK IS TRADING ON STOCK TIPS FROM YAHOO FINANCE MESSAGE BOARDS?
- Zigurd 13y ago
  The SEC is lucky the kid was snotty enough not to hang himself, though it sounds like they were not satisfied with the shame inflicted. As simplistic as the mother's complaints are, had the SEC called her and explained what pump-and-dump is and why adults who understand what it is go to prison for doing it, they could have saved everyone a lot of grief and money.
- jcheng 13y ago
  > WHO THE FUCK IS TRADING ON STOCK TIPS FROM YAHOO FINANCE MESSAGE BOARDS? Not "is"; "was". This was during the dotcom bubble. A lot of people were paying attention to Yahoo finance boards, most of them pretty unsophisticated investors (obviously). Everybody knew someone who had made $10,000s to $MMs on the stock market and nobody wanted to be the only sucker to miss out--like the teachers in this story, taking stock picks from their students. Pretty crazy times.
pmorici 13y ago
This story would make a tremendous satirical comedy.
- defen 13y ago
  William Gaddis already did it, back in 1975: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_R http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_R
yetanotherphd 13y ago
The main point of the article: that all stock prices are artificial, and so there is no such thing as market manipulation, is wrong. Stock prices reflect the expected future dividends of a stock given current information. If a person intentionally gives wrong or misleading information to the public, and this results in shift in the stock price, then this could be market manipulation. The author is correct in stating that it is hard to distinguish a person giving their honest opinion about a stock they own, and market manipulation. However, that doesn't mean that the concept of market manipulation is ill-defined.
diydsp 13y ago
Well-written article! Wryly amusing in a laugh-out-loud. Thanks for this!
mentos 13y ago
Really good read, scrolled up to see the author, 'Michael Lewis', the author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, et al
PhantomGremlin 13y ago
I'll chime in: Me too! Me too! Me too! I also think it's a great story, well told by Michael Lewis. This teenager figured out exactly what was happening in the stock market in the late '90s up to the 1st dotcom crash (IMO the 2nd crash of Internet momentum stocks is coming soon). The kid was very wise for his years. The SEC, on the other hand, appeared to be clueless clowns. I was, however, disappointed to see the links here to the kid's recent activity. It looks like he's simply continued his promotion of penny stocks. I hate to sound cliched, but "meh". I see a lot of wasted potential. Why? Because this isn't 1999. His activities can't be nearly as profitable. There's too much noise on the Internet, he's now a little fish in a very big pond. But what do I know? Not much. In 1999 I was an American "salaryman", watching incredulously while stocks levitated almost to the moon, and yet I wasn't smart enough to make a few bucks speculating before the whole thing imploded.

50 points by Sujan 13y ago

The linked article is a terrific inside look at the S.E.C.'s efforts to define illegal market manipulation -- and failing.

tomf99 13y ago

He's stopped tweeting a year ago and his website is gone, but he grew up to be a professional stock manipulator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcgwZ3xjJg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcgwZ3xjJg Fox Business host confronts him (2010) https://twitter.com/LebedBiz https://twitter.com/LebedBiz http://www.northjersey.com/news/97250879_Still_touting_stocks.html http://www.northjersey.com/news/97250879_Still_touting_stock...

Vaskerville 13y ago
He's right here...site is still being updated...still making suggestions... http://inflation.us/ http://inflation.us/ https://www.youtube.com/user/InflationUS https://www.youtube.com/user/InflationUS

Aqueous 13y ago

It's very gobsmacking that the SEC finds the time and energy to make an example out of a 15 year old but can't muster the backbone to prosecute actual players in the investment banking industry, who regularly engage in pump and dump schemes exactly like the one this kid was doing! it's almost as gobsmacking that the kid's Yahoo Finance stock pitches are completely indistiguishable from the blather on CNBC that occurs every single day of the year. WHO THE FUCK IS TRADING ON STOCK TIPS FROM YAHOO FINANCE MESSAGE BOARDS?

Zigurd 13y ago
The SEC is lucky the kid was snotty enough not to hang himself, though it sounds like they were not satisfied with the shame inflicted. As simplistic as the mother's complaints are, had the SEC called her and explained what pump-and-dump is and why adults who understand what it is go to prison for doing it, they could have saved everyone a lot of grief and money.
jcheng 13y ago
> WHO THE FUCK IS TRADING ON STOCK TIPS FROM YAHOO FINANCE MESSAGE BOARDS? Not "is"; "was". This was during the dotcom bubble. A lot of people were paying attention to Yahoo finance boards, most of them pretty unsophisticated investors (obviously). Everybody knew someone who had made $10,000s to $MMs on the stock market and nobody wanted to be the only sucker to miss out--like the teachers in this story, taking stock picks from their students. Pretty crazy times.

pmorici 13y ago

This story would make a tremendous satirical comedy.

defen 13y ago
William Gaddis already did it, back in 1975: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_R http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_R

yetanotherphd 13y ago

The main point of the article: that all stock prices are artificial, and so there is no such thing as market manipulation, is wrong. Stock prices reflect the expected future dividends of a stock given current information. If a person intentionally gives wrong or misleading information to the public, and this results in shift in the stock price, then this could be market manipulation. The author is correct in stating that it is hard to distinguish a person giving their honest opinion about a stock they own, and market manipulation. However, that doesn't mean that the concept of market manipulation is ill-defined.

diydsp 13y ago

Well-written article! Wryly amusing in a laugh-out-loud. Thanks for this!

mentos 13y ago

Really good read, scrolled up to see the author, 'Michael Lewis', the author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, et al

PhantomGremlin 13y ago

I'll chime in: Me too! Me too! Me too! I also think it's a great story, well told by Michael Lewis. This teenager figured out exactly what was happening in the stock market in the late '90s up to the 1st dotcom crash (IMO the 2nd crash of Internet momentum stocks is coming soon). The kid was very wise for his years. The SEC, on the other hand, appeared to be clueless clowns. I was, however, disappointed to see the links here to the kid's recent activity. It looks like he's simply continued his promotion of penny stocks. I hate to sound cliched, but "meh". I see a lot of wasted potential. Why? Because this isn't 1999. His activities can't be nearly as profitable. There's too much noise on the Internet, he's now a little fish in a very big pond. But what do I know? Not much. In 1999 I was an American "salaryman", watching incredulously while stocks levitated almost to the moon, and yet I wasn't smart enough to make a few bucks speculating before the whole thing imploded.