Five Predictions for 2014

Fiction is predictive. In my novel, The Trust, a Catholic charity launders money through a sex superstore. Total fiction from the depths of my imagination. Several months after The Trust was published, Connecticut authorities indicted a Catholic priest for cooking...

Insider Trading in Madoff Settlement?

First, we read that savvy investors were paying 20 cents on the dollar to Madoff victims for their claims. Quickly, inexorably, not surprisingly—investor bids ticked up to 25 and 30 cents. Then, we read that Jeffry Picower's widow settled with the...

Insider Trading in Madoff Settlement?

  First, we read that savvy investors were paying 20 cents on the dollar to Madoff victims for their claims. Quickly, inexorably, not surprisingly—investor bids ticked up to 25 and 30 cents. Then, we read that Jeffry Picower's widow settled with...

Insider Trading: ‘Tis the Season

After returning from three strip malls, Phoebe Jenkins kicked off her shoes first thing. Right there in front of the kitchen sink. She was exhausted from the holiday crowds—all the pushing and shoving, the occasional hip check or two. Her swollen dogs were...

Return of the Flash Crash

Did you see the 60 Minutes exposé on speed trading? I've embedded the video, which explains how high-frequency trading works. It sheds light on the May 6 flash crash—why the Dow dropped nearly 700 points in twenty minutes. It's only a matter of...