Circle of Friends: The Massive Federal Crackdown on Insider Trading---and Why the Markets Always Work Against the Little Guy - Hardcover

Gasparino, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062096060 ISBN 13: 9780062096067

Publisher: Harper Business, 2013

Synopsis

The bestselling author of The Sellout tells the explosive story of the government’s crackdown on insider-trading networks—an investigation that has already racked up more than 60 convictions.

In Circle of Friends, award-winning journalist Charles Gasparino—one of Wall Street's most knowledgeable observers—follows government investigators and prosecutors as they pursue one of the most aggressive and broad-reaching series of insider-trading cases in the nation's history. A richly textured page-turner of investigative journalism based on extensive reporting, Circle of Friends chronicles the massive federal crackdown that has already put some of the biggest names on Wall Street behind bars, including Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, and Rajat Gupta, a former CEO of consulting giant McKinsey & Co. Other similarly sized targets are still waiting nervously, including the biggest one of them all—financial impresario Steve Cohen of SAC Capital, the giant hedge fund that has confounded regulators for years by cranking out a steady stream of market-busting returns.

Gasparino goes behind the headlines to reveal how the government makes its case, using every tool at its disposal—and at great expense to taxpayers—to supposedly make the investing world safer for average Americans. Gasparino asks why federal officials are so eager to prosecute these cases: What is the real damage to individuals? Do average investors really care? He explores why insider trading is all the rage these days when the U.S. government has failed to bring a single criminal case against the culprits who caused the 2008 financial crisis.

Circle of Friends is not a defense of insider trading, but it does offer an account of the politics of Wall Street crime fighting, revealing the behind-the-scenes ambitions that motivate headlines and burnish political careers.

A riveting work of narrative nonfiction, as engrossing and explosive as fictional thrillers of the finest magnitude, Circle of Friends is a wakeup call to the investing public.

About this title

About the Author

Charles Gasparino is a senior correspondent for the Fox Business Network and the Fox News Channel, where he reports on major developments in the world of finance and politics. A former writer for the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, he has also served as a columnist for the New York Post and The Huffington Post as well as a contributor to The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, and Forbes. Gasparino is a recipient of numerous business journalism awards, including the prestigious Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for The Sellout. His other noteworthy books include Blood on the Street and King of the Club.

From the Back Cover

The bestselling author of The Sellout tells the explosive story of the government’s crackdown on insider-trading networks—an investigation that has already racked up more than 60 convictions.

In Circle of Friends, award-winning journalist Charles Gasparino—one of Wall Street's most knowledgeable observers—follows government investigators and prosecutors as they pursue one of the most aggressive and broad-reaching series of insider-trading cases in the nation's history. A richly textured page-turner of investigative journalism based on extensive reporting, Circle of Friends chronicles the massive federal crackdown that has already put some of the biggest names on Wall Street behind bars, including Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, and Rajat Gupta, a former CEO of consulting giant McKinsey & Co. Other similarly sized targets are still waiting nervously, including the biggest one of them all—financial impresario Steve Cohen of SAC Capital, the giant hedge fund that has confounded regulators for years by cranking out a steady stream of market-busting returns.

Gasparino goes behind the headlines to reveal how the government makes its case, using every tool at its disposal—and at great expense to taxpayers—to supposedly make the investing world safer for average Americans. Gasparino asks why federal officials are so eager to prosecute these cases: What is the real damage to individuals? Do average investors really care? He explores why insider trading is all the rage these days when the U.S. government has failed to bring a single criminal case against the culprits who caused the 2008 financial crisis.

Circle of Friends is not a defense of insider trading, but it does offer an account of the politics of Wall Street crime fighting, revealing the behind-the-scenes ambitions that motivate headlines and burnish political careers.

A riveting work of narrative nonfiction, as engrossing and explosive as fictional thrillers of the finest magnitude, Circle of Friends is a wakeup call to the investing public.

Reviews

Gasparino describes the involvement of government officials in insider-trading investigations up to early 2013. He begins in mid-2007, when we meet a little-known but successful trader who is told by the FBI that he faces jail unless he confesses and helps the government catch others. Often suspects are identified by “another cooperator.” The author weaves his tale like a novel, except it is a well-researched account of events using interviews, names, and dates. Instead of small firms, the FBI became convinced that “a massive circle of friends existed on Wall Street . . . mainly at some of Wall Street’s biggest trading outfits, known as hedge funds who were using and trading on insider information.” Gasparino tracks the government’s successes, failures, and work in progress, with major violators such as Raj Rajaratnam jailed while the “white whale of Stamford” continues in their sights. He concludes that “no one who studies the markets and financial systems has any doubt . . . they will repeat the same practices that led to the 2008 collapse.” Very informative. --Mary Whaley

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Business
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062096060
• ISBN 13: 9780062096067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384