CNBC host and New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin left the new Securities and Exchange Commission acting chairman stunned when he asked about an astonishing hypothetical.
Sorkin had been discussing the economic turmoil Donald Trump set off when he announced his worldwide tariffs last week with Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda on CNBC’s Squawk Box Monday.
At one point, he suggested Trump officials may have been engaging in insider trading ahead of the Liberation Day announcement.
‘Given what the government’s been doing and this administration’s been doing, it would not shock me – and I hate to speculate- if we were to find out that a whole bunch of other people who work in Washington as our elected leaders one way or the other ultimately sold stocks last week – or potentially worse than that – shorted the market,’ he declared.
Sorkin then turned to Uyeda asking what he believes the SEC’s responsibility is in that case. Uyeda, in turn, vowed that the agency would enforce the law regardless of whether the offender was a government official.
‘We have a very clear established body of law for those who engage in acts that are prohibited by the insider trading rules,’ said Uyeda, whom Trump elevated to commission chairman in January.
But Sorkin wasn’t done – as he proceeded to ask the SEC boss whether those same rules would apply to somebody in government with advanced knowledge of Trump’s tariff plans.
‘If somebody had access to the list of – the tariff plan the day before the plan and decided to sell out of equities or to short the market, or to do something else that I haven’t thought about, right, would that be considered insider information to you?’ the reporter asked.
‘It potentially could,’ Uyeda replied.
CNBC host and New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin (right) left Securities and Exchange Commission Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda (left) stunned when he suggested Trump officials may have been engaging in insider trading ahead of the Liberation Day announcement
Stocks have been plummeting around the world after President Donald Trump announced his global tariffs last week
He went on to explain that the commission has ‘two basic duties – what we call the classic insider trading theory law, as well as the misappropriation theory of law.
‘There are various elements of that,’ Uyeda said. ‘If those elements are satisfied, they can be subject to insider trading liability.’
The conversation came as US stocks continued to plummet.
The S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1 percent, which had it on track for its best day in years.
That brought the index nearly 19 percent below its record set in February.
The Dow Jones also dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1 percent.
The situation is now likely to get worse as the latest round of tariffs – including a massive 104 percent levy on Chinese imports – are scheduled to kick in after midnight.
The S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1 percent, which had it on track for its best day in years
One of Wall Street’s most successful investors has warned that he expects an ’80 percent crash’ is coming
One of Wall Street’s most successful investors even warned that he expects an ’80 percent crash’ is coming.
‘I expect an 80% crash when this is over. I just don’t think this is it. This is a trap,’ Mark Spitznagel, chief investment officer and founder of Universa Investments, told MarketWatch, adding that when the real crash happens, investors will know it.
‘This is another selloff to shake people out. This isn’t Armageddon. That time will come as the bubble bursts,’ he said.
