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Insider trade on Splunk acquisition?

(twitter.com)
417 points mkmk | 1 comments | 21 Sep 23 15:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.209s | source
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kypro ◴[21 Sep 23 18:16 UTC] No.37601673[source]▶
I know this isn't what happened, but what if one day I'm waiting for the bus and I over hear a guy talking on their phone about an imminent acquisition?

1. Would that still fall under insider trading even if the information was accidentally heard, and even if I wasn't 100% sure of its accuracy?

2. If I had no clear connection to the company how would it be proven that I was trading on insider information? Surely it's not enough just to say the trade was statistically unlikely, or is it?

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1. jsight ◴[21 Sep 23 19:14 UTC] No.37602619[source]▶
In the most conservative definition, anything that communicates materially non-public information to you can potentially be a cause for insider trading.

It is fun to think about what the most minimal case could be. Ask the CEO what he thinks of revenue next quarter. If he smiles, starts to speak, then looks at the CFO and realizes he should stop, is that insider information? It probably is by some people's definition and he communicated no words.