Ex-Nvidia analyst admits insider trading charge

Source: Reuters.com

Sonny Nguyen, 39, told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York at the plea proceeding that in 2007 and 2008 he tipped former Primary Global Research consultant Winifred Jiau about chipmaker Nvidia's quarterly financial results before they were announced to the public.

Jiau, a former technology consultant with Primary Global in California, is scheduled to go on trial before the same judge on June 1. Nguyen, who was released on $100,000 bond, is expected to testify at the trial, the court heard.

Nguyen is among at least 14 people who have been charged in the investigation of expert networking firms that match investment managers with public companies.

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Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia said in a statement that it put Nguyen on administrative leave after the company was told he intended to admit to involvement in the case.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/27/us-insidertrading-nguyen-plea-idUSTRE74Q5JK20110527

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That last part really has to be the kicker. He wasn't suspended because he was involved in illegal activity, but because he "intended to admit" it.

I used to be an IT support person on Wall Street. Insider trading is somewhat common here. It's a big joke whenever one of these guys gets appointed to be the Fall Guy.

Previously, they had been on a "tick-tock" schedule of new models every 12-14 months, with die-shrinks of previous models as mid-range and budget cards.

Then, in 2007 or so they started missing launch dates, big time. Then they resorted to "paper launching," in which they distributed a bunch of engineering samples to hardware sites, but couldn't deliver any volume of actual product. Then they had to wait around for TSMC, which was also whiffing.

Or something like that, anyway. I've been less hardware-aware since I killed my computer and had to downgrade. It's like looking through the window of a candy store I can't afford to enter.