No, he's just a stupid idiot with too much money who though he could get away with it. There's no conspiracy, unless idiocy is a conspiracy?

I should say, the man is very book smart, but has no common sense, that's what I meant by idiot.

I think the SEC lawyer was a complete fool for writing that email! WTF? This is particularly childish: " I think I will email this to Chairman Cox myself. I think he will enjoy it."

But it also sounds like this guy did commit insider trading. He is a complete fool if he did that as well!

he is an idiot, no denying that, but i may be a hater since i hate the mavs GO SPURS GO, lol it has nothing to do with sports, i guess he will be getting martha stewart prison time

It's interesting to release an email but how does Cuban support the notion that a year later the SEC that punished that lawyer then decided to go after Cuban? Has the SEC gone after anyone else who criticized Bush?
Cuban should have learned from Martha Stewart.

"The feds allege that Cuban sold shares of a soon-to-be-doomed Internet search company in 2004 while the price was still high. "

Let's see, we had the dotcom surge and bust of the late 90's, and then Cuban buys stock in a dotcom, and then sells when the stock is high, making a profit. How is that insider trading?

UnDave, he was told by the chief executive of the dotcom that they were going to do something which would decrease the value of the stock the following day. He sold off his stock within minutes, before the knowledge was public. That is insider trading, just like Martha.

"On June 28, 2004, Mr. Cuban called Mamma.com’s chief executive after receiving an e-mail message from the executive, who told him of a planned stock offering and asked if he would like to invest. Such offerings often depress share prices, at least temporarily"

So an executive told him they were going to offer more stock, and Mr Cuban got mad that his investment would lose money, at least temporarily, based on past experience, and got out of the company. I still don't see the problem.

I don't know if Cuban is guilty, I'm not on that jury (and doubt I would be) but whoever the lawyer was that sent that email is a douche. WTF? People like that really grind my gears. UNPROFESSIONAL.

Good luck buying the Cubs now.

They'll never win the World Series, so he's better off anyway.

Cuban is such a douche. he is on the news all the time here with examples of his doucheness.

Yeah, we've decided to be Rockets fans.

And, has this email been verified as legit?

Yeah, I verified it. Totally legit.

Whoever this SEC Lawyer is who wrote this email should be fired or seriously reprimanded. Possibly even put up for possible disbarment.

You never reveal your personal bias and vindictiveness in an email to someone you intend to prosecute and you don't reveal those traits and your pettiness to your boss.

And I thought the goal of being able to buy and sell stocks on the NASDAQ was to buy low and sell high and make a profit while doing so. I was unaware that I was suppose to keep stocks that were going to crash and burn because some yahoo might be upset at my taking advantage of the system. now if it can be proved that Cuban had insider information then charge him if it is simply that this lawyer is pissed at Cuban riduculous ego then drop it.

And the Lakers. The Lakers have sucked since Magic, Kareem, James Worthy, Kurt Rambus and Pat Reilly retired (well Pat hasn't retired) had epic battles with the Boston Celtics. the current Lakers are selfish, self-absorbed, self-promoting individuals who cannot work consistently as a team.

Remember 9/11/1857! Ha!

Hey hey hey...don't go Laker-bashing now.

Good god there's so many wankers in this story I don't know what side I would take - if any.

The lawyer sounds like a completely unprofessional jackass. His letter reads like a script from a bad movie.

If 9/11 was "planned" as pretext to go to war with Iraq, then it was sh*te planning considering Iraq had NOTHING to do with it, that's a pretty loopy premise to go with.

As for insider trading - naughty, naughty. He got caught, he needs to suck it up.

Wankers aplenty!!!

I'm with wackdoodle on this well mainly kobe but that's another day another thread, i used to feel that way about shaq too but ever since he left got fired from the lakers he has a different attitude

"Lakers are selfish, self-absorbed, self-promoting individuals who cannot work consistently as a team."

I started the Times article and stopped reading when I got to this part:
"After once saying he would not hire the N.B.A.’s chief of referees to “manage a Dairy Queen,” Mr. Cuban paid a $500,000 fine — and spent a day at a Dairy Queen serving Blizzards to fans."

The reason it is a problem UnDave is that you can't sell stock based on information that isn't public yet. The stock market operates on "known risk", and insider trading cheats that system.

Definition of Insider Trading:

Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities (e.g. bonds or stock options) by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company. In most countries, trading by corporate insiders such as officers, key employees, directors, and large shareholders may be legal, if this trading is done in a way that does not take advantage of non-public information. However, the term is frequently used to refer to a practice in which an insider or a related party trades based on material non-public information obtained during the performance of the insider's duties at the corporation, or otherwise in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence or where the non-public information was misappropriated from the company.

No but I think he is being punished for his celebrity. Let me just start off by saying on some level he was set up the person who called him blurted out information that put him in a position that was no win. The person who called him basically told him that people where diluting the momma.com stock he didn't not ask for this info he was given it. The person who called him may not be famous but they are just as guilty if not more guilty than Cuban. I also think that the SEC should put as much effort into busting all insider trading not just ones committed by people that are famous....I know that there are probably people in this room who have gotten some inside tips from a friend who works at a company ever so casually and took action based on that tip!

"Good luck buying the Cubs now.

They'll never win the World Series, so he's better off anyway."

No arguments from a White Sox fan over here.

And 9/11 being planned by Bush? Riiiight...

And for all those who are saying that it's just like Martha Stewart's it's a little different yes still insider trading but a little different. Martha's was for her own company and she got in trouble for lying about the insider trading as well hers was a lot more heinous!

At most Cuban is going to be fined due to the email leak and the fact that Cuban probably has pretty good lawyers etc. The fine he will pay is going to come out of his freaking piggy bank he has on his desk too. Also he was already out of the race for buying the Cubs the Good Old Boys network that is MLB isn't going to allow Cuban to buy the cubs. Which is kind of stupid because like him or not look what he has done for Dallas remember when the Mavericks were a joke now they sell out the stadium, have one of the best arena's in the league, and players actually want to go there....I"m just saying.

I think the concept behind "Loose Change" is very far fetched. I do however think that the Bush administration has gone after many people who have not agreed with them. Valarie Plame anyone?

Many criminal acts done by Bush and his administration have gone unpunished.

Well said bastylefilegirl! I couldn't put it any better.

That SEC lawyer is a jackass, but so is Cuban if he engaged in insider trading.