Comment by Manuel_D

> But can you short a stock if you are a director at that company?

You can, if you cover your tracks well enough. Or donate to a President willing to keep the SEC off your back.

I get that people in power can place bets on their own actions. But again, they can just do that in the stock market. A lawmaker might know a law is going to pass and trade on that insider knowledge. Or maybe the vice president owns shares in Haliburton and then helps encourage invading Iraq... what's old is new again, I guess.