Martha Inc.

[Ibis, God of Magicks]

Just about everyone knows that martha was found guilty.

But what pisses me off, is I turn on the news, and all these chics are like,

"Oh, the government is picking on her cause she's a woman"

"Oh! It's cause she's a successful women"

Bull Fucking Shit. It is becuase she did some thing against the law, and she got caught.

[J.J. Maxx]

Yes but we don't punish famous people the same as normal people.

For instance, if I went over to my neighbors house, snuck up beind him, hit him with a hockey stick, smashed his face into the groud, breaking his neck, I would probably be arrested and put in jail. But thats just me.

[Starkist]

...and it's also not in a hockey rink, which is another factor to consider since the sport condones fighting.

However, if you smashed said person's neck in while simultaneously selling shares based on inside information and then crafted a story to cover it up, then you're in deep trouble. :)

Martha Stewart's crime is similar in scope to the CEO's of Enron, however I'm really not sure who wouldn't do what she did. If someone called you up, unsolicited, and said that a bunch of your shares will be worthless tomorrow, would you sell them immediately, or hold on to them because that is the right thing to do?

[mike5000]

Last night on the news they showed the prison where Martha MIGHT be staying. Trust me, she is not getting any superstar treatment! Which is good.

[AtmaWeapon]

I hate the SEC and the rules regarding how you can work in the stock market. I've always wondered from the start what is wrong with making money off of "insider information". There's a big difference between knowing a company is going bankrupt, inflating its stock price and selling the shares and finding out your company is going down the crapper and selling the shares immediately. The difference is intent. In the first case, you are befrauding others. In the second case, your big sell should spook other investors, who will probably sell their stuff too. You and the guys who sold get to have a party about how smart you are while those who didn't ask themselves why they didn't see it coming.

I never realized it, but there's lots of restrictions how you can spend your own money on investment. We had an entrepreneur speak to us, and he mentioned the SEC only allows you to invest up to about $7 million in a startup company. It's my money. If I want to give Wally Enterprises, LLC. $15 mil to startup, I should be able to. I don't understand all these goofy laws regarding how much money you can spend in a free economy in the stock market.

[Michael Moore]

She deserves what she gets, bottom line.

[AtmaWeapon]

Why, pray tell? What if you had been in the same situation? If you had stock in a company and received word your stock was going to drop, you'd sell too. It's how the stock market is supposed to work.

Instead, I guess rich people are supposed to buy shares and never sell them. :shrugs:

[Prrkitty]

She knew what she did was wrong and did it anyway... and hoped she wouldn't get caught. She did get caught though.

She's not the only one that's done the crimes she's been accused (and tried for). Those that don't get caught are just lucky... she wasn't.

If you do a crime and are caught... be responsible enough to admit your fault and take your punishment. And when I say "you"... I don't mean anyone specifically.

[Eckels]

The funny thing is, comparatively, she was convicted for pretty much stealing a pack of gum.

The woman is a multi-MULTI-millionaire. Selling that stock saved her several thousand dollars, but that's it, at most. Do you really think it would have broke her to destitution had she not sold it?

I'm sure she's thinking, in retrospect, "I should've just let it drop", but too late now. In fact, I doubt it was something she thought about for more than a second.

If I had that much money I wouldn't be too worried about a few thousand either. I'm sure it was just a knee-jerk reaction to sell, and who can blame her? She probably didnt give it a second thought until someone came to the door and said "Hi, we're the govt, did you sell so-and-so stock on this day?".

"What? Oh yeah, I remember... Why?"

"Come with us maam."

People make it seem like it was some sort of grand scheme to make money. It's pennies in her bank account. Not that it makes it legal, but it's certainly not as bad.