Brokerage firms arrange meetings with legislators
(NEWSER) - Congressmen aren’t the only ones trading on their inside info . A lucrative practice has sprung up in Washington, in which hedge funds and other investors pay handsomely for private meetings with top lawmakers or their aides, who give them an early scoop on market-moving news, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Dec. 8, 2009 , for example, several hedge funds learned of a health care reform deal that would kill the public option—and hence boost shares of private insurers—hours before the public did. More»