This has not been a good week to be Brian Hunter. Yesterday the world’s most famous energy trader got slapped with a lawsuit by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly manipulating the markets in natural gas futures. This morning, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that it would seek penalties amounting to $291 million from Brian Hunter, Amaranth Advisors and another trader formerly with the hedge fund.
FERC seeks $30 million from Brian personally. It has assessed penalties of $200 million against Amaranth Advisors, plus $59 million in unjust profits. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this morning laid boot into various Amaranth entities, along with natural gas traders Brian Hunter and Matthew Donohue, seeking “penalties of $200 million for Amaranth, $30 million for Hunter and $2 million for Donohoe. The commission also proposes that Amaranth disgorge more than $59 million in unjust profits, plus interest.
Things could get even worse for Hunter. This morning , for instance, Gary Weiss wonders whether or not Hunter might face jail time. "Hey, I have a question: isn't market manipulation against the law? Don't people go to prison for that? Just wondering. After all, it seems to me that what these guys are talking about is a lot worse than insider trading," Weiss writes.
FERC wants Amaranth, Hunter to pay $291M for manipulation [Market Watch]
Another Regulator Piles on Brian Hunter [Gary Weiss]
Posted by , Jul 26, 2007 1:48PM
salmon boy? more like FISH!
Posted by roger , Jul 26, 2007 1:50PM
scapegoat. scapegoat. scapegoat....
first off, the douchebags running FERC were handpicked by Ken Lay so start there.
second, I know from experience that it is REALLY REALL HARD to lose 3 billion dollars. Even with huge leverage that takes a major commitment. It might possibly even require some degree of market manipulation to acheive such an apocolyptic trading result.
But these dumfuck bureacrats are suggesting they were manipulating the market for profit, which is clearly not the case as any 5 year-old could discern from the evidence.
crooked is as crooked does... what we ought to have is a congressional investigation into FERC.
Brian Hunter traded. horribly I will add, but the dumbfucks who wrote him a check bear 110% of the responsibility- that's capitalism. love it or get the fuck out of the free world.
Posted by , Jul 26, 2007 1:56PM
i believe, at the time of most of those messages, he was making $$ though no?
Posted by Anonymous , Jul 26, 2007 1:59PM
Someone please explain this salmon thing ...
Posted by roger , Jul 26, 2007 2:08PM
"i believe, at the time of most of those messages, he was making $$ though no?"
how the hell would I know? And who the hell cares? This is energy trading, and manipulating settlement prices, if criminal, take every bastard loacal from the nymex out in the street and shoot them. especially the option settlement committee that is in charge of manipulating settlements.
this is weak stupid bullshit and I wil tell you what FERC's agenda is. The gov wants regulatory oversight over hedge funds so they can get a piece of the action, it gives them red ass to see all the private equity sloshing around behind their backs, and this is the opening salvo of "something must be done to reign in these evil hedge funds"
Fuck that. You can't manipulate the NYMEX. It's like exorcising a demon from satan.
Posted by NY IBanker , Jul 26, 2007 2:27PM
i must say, that is one impressive catch he's holding in that pic
Posted by jt , Jul 26, 2007 2:54PM
Can someone again please explain to me how 1)what hunter did is any different than what any other traders did?
2. How hunter expalins how john arnold @ centarus is a master of what hunter tried to (and failed) to do (while arnold made $1bn+) and yet is not being prosecuted?
3. How exactly it is illegal to try to anticipate others moves and react accordingly?
Posted by anon , Jul 26, 2007 3:19PM
Hunter simply pissed off many people by opening a new fund in less than a year after gambling away a sh*t load of money of those people.
Posted by jt , Jul 26, 2007 4:05PM
cleary he didn't piss off THAT many people if he was able to raise funds to open a new co that quick...that and/or there really are just that many fools out there who wish to be parted with their money
Posted by , Jul 26, 2007 4:34PM
If at first you dont succeed... hell George W burns 12 billion a month in Iraq and had the audacity to run for reelection. and win. Theres a shitty investment if I ever saw one. When does he get indicted?
Can someone again please explain to me how 1)what hunter did is any different than what any other traders did?
He lost 3 billion dolars in 14 minutes.
2. How hunter expalins how john arnold @ centarus is a master of what hunter tried to (and failed) to do (while arnold made $1bn+) and yet is not being prosecuted?
because arnold made money. we love money makers they walk on water. Did Ken lay get indicted when Enron was making gobs of money? Or did he only get indicted when he shit the bed and lost everything?
3. How exactly it is illegal to try to anticipate others moves and react accordingly?
If you make money it's alright. If you lose it's gross negligence or criminal behavior.
bulllllllllllllshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit........
PS- That is a really nice fish.
Posted by roger , Jul 26, 2007 4:35PM
If at first you dont succeed... hell George W burns 12 billion a month in Iraq and had the audacity to run for reelection. and win. Theres a shitty investment if I ever saw one. When does he get indicted?
Can someone again please explain to me how 1)what hunter did is any different than what any other traders did?
He lost 3 billion dolars in 14 minutes.
2. How hunter expalins how john arnold @ centarus is a master of what hunter tried to (and failed) to do (while arnold made $1bn+) and yet is not being prosecuted?
because arnold made money. we love money makers they walk on water. Did Ken lay get indicted when Enron was making gobs of money? Or did he only get indicted when he shit the bed and lost everything?
3. How exactly it is illegal to try to anticipate others moves and react accordingly?
If you make money it's alright. If you lose it's gross negligence or criminal behavior.
bulllllllllllllshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit........
PS- That is a really nice fish.
Posted by , Jul 26, 2007 4:36PM
hunter deserves to be taken down a peg or two and the federales are just the ones to do it. that's how the system works. you live in america, not an anarchy, and there's a certain system by which the feds impose their own version of vigilante justice. you should know that by now.
also yes roger he was making money at those times since his performance has been all over the press. just fyi.
i *think* attempting to manipulate the market even unsuccessfully is still not allowed.
Posted by Anon , Jul 26, 2007 4:42PM
Completely agree
IT's all about taking Hunter "down a peg or two"
How much will $30 mil set him back, anyway? What was his annual bonus?
Posted by anon , Jul 26, 2007 5:05PM
Let's see.
Suppose you take six (6) people, who give you $500 mil each in trust, and you lose their money. Does 6 people equal THAT many people, probably not.
Can these 6 people have enough power (and money remaining) to hire private eyes to dig up Hunter's IMs and then discreetly pass them along to the feds? And all that while Hunter is running around town doing business as usual?
Hmmm, that's a really tough one.
Posted by In the Industry , Jul 27, 2007 11:08AM
"cleary he didn't piss off THAT many people if he was able to raise funds to open a new co that quick...that and/or there really are just that many fools out there who wish to be parted with their money"
Mostly it his money that is funding the new company, they are not having that much success getting committments outside of the start up money. Watch this space - I bet they close down plans for the new fund now that BH is going to be tied up with legal suits.