OMG Martha's GUILTY!!

[bumcat]

I think she'll look quite stunning in a striped gray outfit, working in the shop making license plates... or better yet... working in the prison call center taking orders for magazine subscriptions!





Are you kidding? She's gonna be the new cook!!!

 

[RUDisney]

I don't picture her in grey stripes. I picture her in bright orange.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

So let me get this straight.....Martha Jail ????????
O.J. Golf Cart?????????????


Oh ok I understand now .....



Nuff said
Mishell

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by castlegazer
Look, there's criminals that deal drugs to your kids and there's criminals who sit on the NYSE board and make insider trades - they're all criminals, they all broke the law. Sentencing will determine how vile the crime is and she will probably be sent to Danbury, but if these charges stick, she is still a criminal. All criminals should be taken off the streets, per se.

Yes, they're all criminals but some are dangerous and some are not. I just don't feel that non-violent offencers (especially first-timers) should be locked up at tax-payers expense. They committed a financial crime and should be punished for it. I hope they hit her where it hurts...in her pocketbook! Big time!

As for getting her off the streets...since the street she was caught on was the NYSE, can they ban her from there? No trading privileges for Martha? That would hit her in the pocketbook for a VERY long time....

 

[Planogirl]

$45,000 should be a drop in the bucket to her. Why in the world would she knowingly break the law for so little money? I can't even imagine her thinking about it.

But who know, maybe she expected more money.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

is anyone thinking what I'm thinking? SNL will have fun tommorow night

 

[swea_pea1]

Originally posted by oogieboogie
she was convicted of lying, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. Not of insider trading!

She was never charged on insider trading.

Exactly! If she would have admitted to the insider trading thing, most analysts think she would have paid a fine and been done with it. It's because she refused to admit the insider trading (thereby protecting her broker who will undoubtedly be much more severely punished for it) that she got the jail time.

Coming from somebody who works in the brokerage industry, the integrity of the system puts food on my table and and clothes on my kids' backs. I'm glad to see that she was punished for what she did. She thought her status put her above the lying and it did not!

 

[robsmom]

I think that there is no doubt that the government was using her as an example and in some ways that might seem unfair. That said, she is guilt as all heck. If we are going to have a robust stock market, people have to believe that trading is fair. If the people who are rich/famous/in-the know/etc. are able to play by separate rules, someone else has to lose and there is really no reason for the average investor to bother playing the game. JMO

 

[Mamu]

There's a saying if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

Martha is a very bright buisness person, who marketed herself and made billions. At the time of the crime she was on the board of The New York Stock Exchange. She knew the laws, but choose to disregard them. Then tried to cover up her crime. She dumped her stock to average people like you and I who get no insider trading info, good or bad. She purchased this stock with insider trading info, when that stock looked like it was in trouble, more info dump-it.

Somehow she wasn't happy being a billionare she wanted more.

This isn't about making or losing money, it's about power. The more money you have the more powerful you are. Martha wanted it all and got caught.

 

[RUDisney]

Originally posted by robsmom
If we are going to have a robust stock market, people have to believe that trading is fair. If the people who are rich/famous/in-the know/etc. are able to play by separate rules, someone else has to lose and there is really no reason for the average investor to bother playing the game. JMO

But, the system IS unfair. How many IPO's have you been able to get your hands on? They all go to the rich and powerful... not to us regular investors.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

Originally posted by RUDisney
.... It makes me wonder if she was only brought this far along because she is a powerful and successful woman. She only made about $40,000 from this trade. It hardly seems worth the amount of money that was spent on trying this case.

If it really makes you wonder...ponder this, if she was willing to risk it all for ONLY $40,000 (that's more than alot of people make in a year), what makes you think that she wouldn't risk more with her own company for millions and millions, much like the Enron and WorldCom people?

She did wrong and was found guilty...period.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

Originally posted by RUDisney
But, the system IS unfair. How many IPO's have you been able to get your hands on? They all go to the rich and powerful... not to us regular investors.

IPO's go to the people who invested in the company well before it goes public, investment banks, institutional investors, etc. SEC regulations do not allow "regular" investors to invest this early, there are too many risks and too many people would lose money. The i-banks and institutional investors have massive teams with alot of financial backing to do the appropriate due diligence and really understand the industry and risks. Some shares in an IPO are reserved for employees and friends + family. Unless you have a friend who works at the company or a friend who is the broker on the underwriting team most IPOS will be out of reach for us regular investors. Unfair you say, but think about the millions invested by the investment banks and private equity companies that fund the operations for these businesses while they are in start up mode. Companies do not just open their doors and go public.

 

[Kitty 34]

Wow!! That surprised me!!

 

[RUDisney]

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to have her incarcerated at home? Sure, she'd have luxuries that other prisoners wouldn't, but I can tell you that after the past week of being trapped at home with the chicken pox, I'm going stir crazy. I've been thinking about going out for a ride just to get out of the house... but not getting out of the car so as not to infect anyone else. So, does it only cost us the price of an ankle bracelet for her + monitoring, or does it cost as much as having her in a country club prison?

 

[lucky_bunni]

I think it's really sad the US government is using a 62 year old, successful woman, as a scapegoat. This should scare all of us. Regardless of her guilt or not (which I really see her as not guilty, as what she lied was something they couldn't even make her guilt of) the crime doesn't fit the punishment. 20 years is more than some murders get... how is this justice. I say they should have fined her, made her do some hardcore community service and been done with it.

 

[faithinkarma]

lucky_bunni,

she has not been sentenced yet. 20 years is the maximum she could get on all counts. It is extremely unlikely she will get anything near that.

RUDisney,

Loved your post. Didn't someone once say that anyone contemplating marriage should spend a week in a third floor walk up with 3 flu stricken kids?

 

[ScarlettO]

Originally posted by RUDisney
Wouldn't it be more cost effective to have her incarcerated at home?

That's a great idea. However, I'd make her be " home Alone" without any of her staff help.