To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2003 06:18:48 -0400
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Intriguing Yahoo news story
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003 00:49:47 -0400 (EDT) "Keith F. Lynch"
<kfl at KeithLynch.net> writes:
> An intriguing Yahoo news story about an unusual investor:
>
> http://tv.yahoo.com/news/wwn/20030319/104808600007.html
>
> Is it true?  I don't know.  But I find it much more believable than
> the idea that there's a patch which will make Microsoft software
> work
> properly and securely.
> --

A quick search on the internet suggests that this story originated with
the Weekly World News, and has not been repeated by AP or Reuters in the
past 14 days, nor did I find it on any other mainstream news outlet.  The
Yahoo story was just a copy of the WWN story, and it was carried on Yahoo
under 'entertainment and gossip' rather than hard news.

The story quotes 'unnamed sources' at the SEC, and refers to a
'hush-hush, ongoing investigation', which suggests that it would be
useless to try to confirm it with the SEC, _except_ that there is a claim
that Andrew Carlssin was arrested by federal authorities and is being
held.  There should be some way to check that fact officially.  Also, it
said that Carlssin was being held on Rikers Island.  Rikers Island has
ten jail facilities, but they are all part of the NYC Dept. of
Corrections, not the federal government.  But I suppose that federal
prisoners are normally held in state and municipal jails while awaiting
trial.

One aspect of the story which strains credulity is that the trader
allegedly ran $800 into $350 million in two weeks, resulting from 126
'high risk' trades, each one of which was profitable.  According to the
story, the SEC suspects that he used inside information, but even with a
wealth of inside information it seems unlikely that trading results could
be so perfect, unless one had detailed foreknowledge of price movements
minute by minute.  Also, how could one even establish a brokerage trading
account with only $800?  And if the trader possessed such amazing
advantages, whatever they might have been, why does he start with only
$800?

Ron Kean

.

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