MATT LEVINE: The fine line between insider trading and knowing more than others
'Trading on information that no one else has - even really good information - even "inside" information - is not necessarily illegal'
If you bought short-dated out-of-the-money call options on Bioverativ, Inc. stock, just before its January 22 announcement that it will be acquired for $105 per share (a 63.8 percent premium) by Sanofi, then you did pretty well. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, someone did: Defendants' trading in Bioverativ calls is highly suspicious. Between Friday, January 12, 2018 and Friday, January 19, 2018, immediately preceding the Announcement, Defendants purchased 1,610 out-of-the-money Bioverativ calls with strike prices between $65 and $75 and an expiration date of February 16, 2018, despite the fact that Bioverativ shares had never closed above $64.11 per share. On January 22, 2018, after the Announcement made that same day, Defendants sold 732 of those contracts for a profit of approximately $2,518,622.70. Defendants sold an additional 75 contracts on January 23, 2018, netting an additional $207,825 in profits. Based on the last reported sale prices on January 24, 20...
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