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> people with knowledge of the matter said. > Salesforce jumped 5.9 percent to $75.82 as of 3:01 p.m. in New York trading. This article, and the subsequent st

> people with knowledge of the matter said. > Salesforce jumped 5.9 percent to $75.82 as of 3:01 p.m. in New York trading. This article, and the subsequent stock price hike are all the result of an anonymous tip. How can I become one of these anonymous "people with knowledge on the matter"? A malicious actor could make a killing submitting false tips on buyouts and taking advantage of the following stock price hike.

fragmede 11y ago
"Pump and dump" is a common form of security manipulation, which the SEC frowns upon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump
coryl 11y ago
The difficult part is getting someone with credibility to publish your tip.
stygiansonic 11y ago
My guess is it is someone close to, or involved in the discussions whom the reporter knows to be reputable (by virtue of past dealings with them or their current position). There's nothing in the article to suggest the tipster is completely anonymous, and though Bloomberg is never 100% correct, I would expect them to vet their sources. The reporter could merely be protecting their source.
- jonknee 11y ago
  It's almost certainly someone affiliated with Salesforce (perhaps one of their new investment bankers). There are only a handful of firms large enough to buy Salesforce, this is a good way to gauge interest. SAP, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle are about it.
  - stygiansonic 11y ago
    That's a good point; it may also allow them to command a higher valuation/offer, if that's what they're looking for.
mason240 11y ago
Right before RadioShack went bankrupt, there was a rumor that Amazon was going to buy them (giving them an instant national chain of showrooms). The stock went up, then RS went out. I was wondering at the time if someone with stock had known about the pending bankruptcy, and started the rumor so they could cash out.
mathattack 11y ago
I think they need to have some serious backup for the anonymous tip to be published. (Know who the individual tipster is, etc) Just because the tipster is anonymous to us doesn't mean they're anonymous to the news organization.
- scott_karana 11y ago
  And who holds journalists accountable for vetting the source of the tip? Their editors and publishers, who have an opposing incentive in pushing pageviews?
  - mathattack 11y ago
    It's not a great system. But... 1) If they are making it up themselves, they can be sued. 2) If they are frequently wrong, day traders shouldn't listen. (And it's day traders, not long term investors who pay the price when they're wrong)
    - scott_karana 11y ago
      You're right, point 2 alone would be enough to correct this. > 1) If they are making it up themselves, they can be sued. Sued by who, and with what evidence for wrongdoing? I don't see that being likely.
jrs235 11y ago
Salesforce trading resumes after volatility halt http://finance.yahoo.com/video/salesforce-trading-resumes-volatility-halt-190200297.html http://finance.yahoo.com/video/salesforce-trading-resumes-vo...
jasonmp85 11y ago
> How can I become one of these anonymous "people with knowledge on the matter"? What I'd like to know is how I can get a job where writing the tautology "The […] company’s options could include rebuffing any buyer, or working out a sale" passes as insight.
MCRed 11y ago
People have started rumors and profited from them using options in the past.... and been prosecuted for it. Don't know what percentage of people who try it are successful and what percentage of those get away with it, I just know charges have been filed in the past. Anyway there's more profit to be made from other people's delusions. (EG: I knew in 2001 there would be a housing bubble and made money between then and 2007 from the bubble. I called the end of the bubble a year early but close enough.) I could tell you such a delusion right now but you wouldn't believe it... the best, most profitable delusions are widely held, until they aren't. In 2007 everyone thought house prices always rose. I can't tell you how many times I got downvoted on hacker news for claiming there was a housing bubble.
exelius 11y ago
> How can I become one of these anonymous "people with knowledge on the matter"? Be a C-level executive at Microsoft who feeds tips to a reporter or banker? Corporate espionage is a real thing, and every major investment firm engages in it. How else can you explain things like the market's ability to perfectly predict earnings results hours before they are released? After working at high levels of big companies in corporate America, I learned that there are no secrets at any company. Executives will speak privately and candidly to each other about their company's plans; while their companies may be competitors, it benefits both of them personally to have advance knowledge of the plans of the other company (and they may work together at some point in the future). There are a great many things that nobody will confirm publicly, but any major effort at any large US company has been tipped to financial analysts or the press long before its announcement.

fragmede 11y ago

"Pump and dump" is a common form of security manipulation, which the SEC frowns upon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump

coryl 11y ago

The difficult part is getting someone with credibility to publish your tip.

stygiansonic 11y ago

My guess is it is someone close to, or involved in the discussions whom the reporter knows to be reputable (by virtue of past dealings with them or their current position). There's nothing in the article to suggest the tipster is completely anonymous, and though Bloomberg is never 100% correct, I would expect them to vet their sources. The reporter could merely be protecting their source.

jonknee 11y ago
It's almost certainly someone affiliated with Salesforce (perhaps one of their new investment bankers). There are only a handful of firms large enough to buy Salesforce, this is a good way to gauge interest. SAP, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle are about it.
- stygiansonic 11y ago
  That's a good point; it may also allow them to command a higher valuation/offer, if that's what they're looking for.

mason240 11y ago

Right before RadioShack went bankrupt, there was a rumor that Amazon was going to buy them (giving them an instant national chain of showrooms). The stock went up, then RS went out. I was wondering at the time if someone with stock had known about the pending bankruptcy, and started the rumor so they could cash out.

mathattack 11y ago

I think they need to have some serious backup for the anonymous tip to be published. (Know who the individual tipster is, etc) Just because the tipster is anonymous to us doesn't mean they're anonymous to the news organization.

scott_karana 11y ago
And who holds journalists accountable for vetting the source of the tip? Their editors and publishers, who have an opposing incentive in pushing pageviews?
- mathattack 11y ago
  It's not a great system. But... 1) If they are making it up themselves, they can be sued. 2) If they are frequently wrong, day traders shouldn't listen. (And it's day traders, not long term investors who pay the price when they're wrong)
  - scott_karana 11y ago
    You're right, point 2 alone would be enough to correct this. > 1) If they are making it up themselves, they can be sued. Sued by who, and with what evidence for wrongdoing? I don't see that being likely.

jrs235 11y ago

Salesforce trading resumes after volatility halt http://finance.yahoo.com/video/salesforce-trading-resumes-volatility-halt-190200297.html http://finance.yahoo.com/video/salesforce-trading-resumes-vo...

jasonmp85 11y ago

> How can I become one of these anonymous "people with knowledge on the matter"? What I'd like to know is how I can get a job where writing the tautology "The […] company’s options could include rebuffing any buyer, or working out a sale" passes as insight.

MCRed 11y ago

People have started rumors and profited from them using options in the past.... and been prosecuted for it. Don't know what percentage of people who try it are successful and what percentage of those get away with it, I just know charges have been filed in the past. Anyway there's more profit to be made from other people's delusions. (EG: I knew in 2001 there would be a housing bubble and made money between then and 2007 from the bubble. I called the end of the bubble a year early but close enough.) I could tell you such a delusion right now but you wouldn't believe it... the best, most profitable delusions are widely held, until they aren't. In 2007 everyone thought house prices always rose. I can't tell you how many times I got downvoted on hacker news for claiming there was a housing bubble.

exelius 11y ago

> How can I become one of these anonymous "people with knowledge on the matter"? Be a C-level executive at Microsoft who feeds tips to a reporter or banker? Corporate espionage is a real thing, and every major investment firm engages in it. How else can you explain things like the market's ability to perfectly predict earnings results hours before they are released? After working at high levels of big companies in corporate America, I learned that there are no secrets at any company. Executives will speak privately and candidly to each other about their company's plans; while their companies may be competitors, it benefits both of them personally to have advance knowledge of the plans of the other company (and they may work together at some point in the future). There are a great many things that nobody will confirm publicly, but any major effort at any large US company has been tipped to financial analysts or the press long before its announcement.