The trading floor has never been a place where effort is guaranteed to be rewarded, and it is precisely for this reason that, despite countless bloody lessons, those so-called "rumors" are still so tempting. After all, being able to predict market trends in advance is the ultimate dream of any trader.

Of course, for most ordinary traders, the so-called rumors are more likely to be rumors spread in the market. But for those capitalists who are familiar with Wall Street, real "insider trading" may not be rare. Today, let's take a look at a confession about "insider trading" from a trader who once worked at Sailboat Group.

Mysterious Call Opens the Door to Insider Trading

I used to be a trader at a hedge fund company for more than a year. One time, I received a mysterious call. After answering the call, I said, "Hello, this is Galen."

The person on the other end of the phone mumbled something, but I didn't hear it clearly. So I repeated, "This is Galen." The other side only said, "Is Gary there?" "No, he's out," I replied. Then, both sides of the phone fell silent.

I was about to hang up the phone when the vague voice sounded again, "Is Raja there?" I replied, "Sorry, he's not here either. What can I do for you?" The other end of the phone fell silent again, and I could even hear his breathing. I thought, this is really a mysterious person.

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Finally, the gentleman's voice became a little clearer. "Jeffrey Group will raise the price for Amazon in 6 minutes," he said. Then, the call was hung up. Who is he, is his words credible? Or is that gentleman just making a boring joke, I was very puzzled.

And it was 12:59 PM at this time, I didn't know who to tell this news to. I looked at the clock again, it was exactly 1:00 PM. My brain started to think quickly, will Amazon go up? How many shares should I buy? But who would call like a spy in broad daylight?

Time seemed to speed up, and it was already 1:03 PM. If the stock really goes up, but I didn't buy it, what if that gentleman contacted Gary or Raja? It was 1:04 PM! I decisively bought 100,000 shares of Amazon stock.At 1:05, Amazon's stock price began to rise. From fifty cents to two dollars, the little light on the Jeffries Group started to flash, and I picked up the phone. The caller told me they were raising the price. I thanked him and then hung up the phone. Watching the stock price that kept rising, I suddenly thought: I might have done something illegal.

But this thought was immediately thrown away by me, and I comforted myself that the matter was over. The boss asks me to make some achievements every day, and I think my opportunity has come. Amazon's stock price reached five dollars! I thought, I must rush to answer the phone in the future, if I can always receive such a phone, I will definitely become the best trader.

A game rule called "edge"

The first time I crossed the road was probably in the early 1970s in Cleveland, holding my parents' hands, and both of them were looking in both directions. We were not looking for the police, but looking for the car to come. In fact, insider trading is just like crossing the road. In 1994, when I first arrived in Wall Street, insider trading was as common as crossing the road.

Many outsiders will question such a way of doing things, but in fact, this is part of the game rules, and we call it "edge". After that mysterious call, it took only two years for the "edge" to help me from a Morgan Stanley sales assistant with an annual salary of 40,000 to a chief trader with an annual salary of 300,000 in the Sailing Group.

The financial industry in the late 1990s and the period after that is just like the American Professional Baseball League abusing stimulants under the tacit consent of the players' union. So, if you think my achievements should be in quotation marks, I have no opinion. The game rules are like this, either join or be eliminated. If I didn't try my best to climb all the "edges", I don't know if I can stay in the Sailing Group.

In August 2000, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued the Fair Information Disclosure Rules (Regulation FD), which made a series of provisions to prevent selective disclosure of information. But it is impossible to make changes overnight, and at that time, what we faced was a fair battlefield without information disclosure. It took several years for this rule to be truly followed by major companies and investors.

There is demand, there is supply, so Wall Street's "expert network" came into being. Specifically, if an insider of a company is unwilling to provide information, we can change the direction and find a doctor or lawyer who is familiar with him, and give him a consulting fee. Then, we can complete this transaction through him.

Another way to get information comes from the inside of Wall Street. In fact, analysts always know when to raise the price earlier than the public, bankers know the details of the transaction before it is public, and traders can see the data of large orders. Although not everyone does this, it is not difficult to find such a person. As long as a phone call, the matter can be solved, this is the "edge".Transactions between individuals also occur from time to time. In the year 2000, at the Marquee Club in Chelsea, the club was packed with people. Sitting opposite me was a trader named Lance, who had connections in several financial service companies. In the corner was Michael, a representative from the selling company, who would divulge their company's pricing adjustments in advance. A few tables away sat several bankers who were privy to some upcoming mergers and acquisitions.

I learned a lot at Sailfish Group, the most important of which was not to get caught, which required us to constantly change our strategies. As long as you adhere to the relevant principles, you are less likely to be fined for jaywalking. Even if you are caught, it's at most a warning. However, the FBI wants to know everything, and if you are not careful, there is a possibility of going to jail.

It's important to know that Raja from Sailfish Group is still in prison in Massachusetts. Gary was fortunate enough to leave a few months before Sailfish Group was prosecuted. So, if you plan to jaywalk in the financial industry, you must always pay attention to the movements on both sides.