GT Advanced CEO Sold Off Stock Ahead of iPhone 6 Announcement

[gnasher729]

It might be breaching some rules, particularly to do with the chapter 11 thing, but i dont think insider trading is the correct term. When would a CEO selling shares in the company that he heads NOT fit the definition of insider trading?

"Insider trading" is of course the correct term for an insider, well, trading.

There is legal and illegal insider trading. Insiders have to follow certain rules for trading shares, and if the rules are followed, it's legal. If the rules are not followed, it's illegal.

Plus, the top management of a company should avoid things that might give the impression that they might be illegal even if they are not. And there might be some question of whether the company delayed the bankruptcy announcement so that the CEO's share trade could go through at a high price; that would probably not be insider trading but stock manipulation, which is also illegal.

 

[MacSince1990]

No, he cannot. He is not allowed to trade on information that is not publicly available. That would be a felony.

No, no, no, you see, uh, it's fine, and obviously he just needed a new car... erm... *tugs at collar and sweats*

 

[ptb42]

Seems a flaw in the system. Shareholders should be notified of any pending stock sales by company directors, or at least it should be easy to get that info for free.

Hey, that would be a great idea! You could even call it something funky like EDGAR:

http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

And, maybe you could search for filings by any company:

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-e...001394954&type=&dateb=&owner=include&count=40

And, then maybe you could create a form that is required to be filed for any stock transactions by company officers and other "insiders":

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1325214/000148024814000162/xslF345X03/edgar.xml

I wonder why no one has thought of this, before you? That's amazing, isn't it?

 

[The Monkey]

That comment without saying what posts you are talking about is equally stupid. In reality, all we know now is that you strongly disagree with something someone posted, which for all we know could be totally accurate and well thought through.

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Nice try, but wrong. You seem like you have at least half a brain. Read through the comments and tell me they don't make you want to bang your head against a wall. As for which posts specifically, there are too many--including the expert who tried to define insider trading as allowing the insider to trade as long as they haven't tipped someone else. And that's just one example. It's like a contest to see who can spread the most misinformation. And if you can't see that--though I suspect you can--then you're as dumb as the rest of 'em.

 

[UpperQuadrant]

5,000 shares before the iPhone 6 announcement is

worth worrying about?

Did you not look up Mr. Gutierrez's withholdings of GTAT stock before you wrote the article?

The guy has about 169,000 shares of stock. Someone with that much stock selling 5,000 out of 169,000 is a meaningless amount. Number 2, he can't sell more than a small percentage of his stock at any one time because of SEC regulations.

Yeah, they are in financial trouble, but they can bounce back once Apple makes the payment they owe, if in fact they owe them the money.

 

[69650]

Hey, that would be a great idea! You could even call it something funky like EDGAR:

http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

And, maybe you could search for filings by any company:

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-e...001394954&type=&dateb=&owner=include&count=40

And, then maybe you could create a form that is required to be filed for any stock transactions by company officers and other "insiders":

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1325214/000148024814000162/xslF345X03/edgar.xml

I wonder why no one has thought of this, before you? That's amazing, isn't it?

So why did nobody spot the CEO's stock dumps and report on it?

 

[groovyd]

About 7 months ago, GT Advanced forecasted huge increases in revenue late this year. It was in their quarterly report, and analysts were trying to translate the amount into expected iPhone shipments.

Back then, no one knew there would be yield problems manufacturing the covers. It wasn't even GT Advanced with the problem, it was a Chinese manufacturer using the sapphire from GTA. Apple didn't drop their plans to use it in the iPhone until long after this stock sale was initiated.

Exactly, meaning only he knew it was all a farce. More likely though he just filed to give himself the option to sell whenever he wanted around the launch date. Doesn't mean he has to do it when the time comes. Keeping all options open is what he was doing.

 

[ptb42]

Exactly, meaning only he knew it was all a farce. More likely though he just filed to give himself the option to sell whenever he wanted around the launch date. Doesn't mean he has to do it when the time comes. Keeping all options open is what he was doing.

If you bothered to read the SEC filing, you would have noticed that the seller initiated a series of sales back in March. This was only the most recent one. And, the filing also states that the seller has no control over the timing. This is all done to comply with SEC rules on insider trading.

You can spin endless conspiracy theories, or you can learn about SEC rules and look on EDGAR to see how GT Advanced officers have complied with them. It's your choice.

 

[linkgx1]

Something seems highly illegal about this. I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying I get an Enron vibe.

 

[ptb42]

So why did nobody spot the CEO's stock dumps and report on it?

There are people that explicitly follow insider trading, and even recommend financial strategies on them, i.e.

http://www.insiderinsights.com/

But, you have to be a subscriber for this service.

If you were a stockholder, you should have been watching EDGAR yourself.

 

[groovyd]

If you bothered to read the SEC filing, you would have noticed that the seller initiated a series of sales back in March. This was only the most recent one. And, the filing also states that the seller has no control over the timing. This is all done to comply with SEC rules on insider trading.

You can spin endless conspiracy theories, or you can learn about SEC rules and look on EDGAR to see how GT Advanced officers have complied with them. It's your choice.

Spinning conspiracy is a lot more fun and the half of all conspiracy theories is usually true. Win win.

 

[the8thark]

Insider trading much?
He used inside information to make the decision about selling his shares. Totally illegal.

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So why did nobody spot the CEO's stock dumps and report on it?

Because people report on things when they will generate the most page hits or public outcry.

 

[UpperQuadrant]

Something seems highly illegal about this. I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying I get an Enron vibe.

All members of upper management C-Level and Board of Directors are ALWAYS going to have insider information. What's illegal is telling other people OUTSIDE their position to trade a stock based on information they know about.

OR selling more than a specified percentage of their withholdings. CEOs cannot sell more than a specified amount of stock at any given time. I think he's capped by 3%, which this falls within. This CEO only sold 3% of his total holdings in the company he's running. The problem is that this is a small company with not many shares outstanding, etc. so for them, this was a catastrophic event.

Now, the CEO sold 5,000 shares out of his 170+ thousand shares, so that's under 3% of his total holdings in shares (not including stock options).

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Something seems highly illegal about this. I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying I get an Enron vibe.

Totally different scenario. Enron was doing things that were maliciously and premeditatedly fraudulent, I think GTAT was just being stupid or they are trying to recover from the fact that they didn't ship products to Apple because of technical problems that were unforeseen. I think it wasn't done maliciously with intent.

 

[Peace]

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-over-9000

I think what he did there was from before your reference.

I defer to this.

World of Warcraft has a habit of inserting memes from a lot of different genres.

It's over 9000 was an acheivement that started in the game around 2009.

I see the origin is from 2007'ish.

Just like the acheivement "Make Love not Warcraft"

Just a habit since I'm a WoW guy.



carry on !!

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Isn't this borderline insider trading since he knew the screens weren't sapphire?

It isn't "bordering" on it. It's 100% insider trading! He also knew they were going to file for bankruptcy soon as well so he was ditching stock before that death knell as well. But hey, Congress can do it and even enact laws that will favor one company or another that they then buy stock in, etc. When you or I do it we go to prison. Double standards? You damn betcha.

 

[ptb42]

It isn't "bordering" on it. It's 100% insider trading! He also knew they were going to file for bankruptcy soon as well so he was ditching stock before that death knell as well. But hey, Congress can do it and even enact laws that will favor one company or another that they then buy stock in, etc. When you or I do it we go to prison. Double standards? You damn betcha.

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant.

Hint: read the SEC filing, that is referenced in the original article.

 

[miniyou64]

But hey, Congress can do it and even enact laws that will favor one company or another that they then buy stock in, etc. When you or I do it we go to prison. Double standards? You damn betcha.

BUT BUT BUT we NEED the government to protect us from all the bad people that are out to get us!!! It's for our own good that they have double standards. Who would rule us properly and lord their stolen - not earned - wealth over us?!

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant.

Hint: read the SEC filing, that is referenced in the original article.

My point is that what's legal isn't always what's right (i.e. the Congress reference). Apparently it's OK if the CEO runs a company into the ground and yet personally benefits from it at the same time. It's very convenient.

Maybe if people in this world learned the difference between right and wrong rather than what they can get away with legally (and legal just means someone said it's allowed; you can have bad laws and even evil laws. The word "law" doesn't mean right, good or anything of the sort) the world wouldn't be quite the cesspool that it is.