Asking Too Much?

MARK CUBAN is a perfect example of a "good american", or perhaps, a good example of what many Americans would like to be, and think a good American ought to be; successful, self made. Also, Hard working, ambitious, aggressive, flashy, colorful, fun. Now, he's in a bit of hot water, so to speak. The billionaire investor is on trial in federal court for insider trading, a charge he has fought before, and this is an example of the difference between the big, and the small investor. Ah, those halcyon days just before facebook went public! the excitement, the sheer capitalistic investorial drama! My stockbroker called, and said "we must not miss out on this!". OK, sure, fine, I said, perhaps less than enthusiastically. Whatever. Hell, I don't have enough money to worry about anyway. So the IPO was $38, and I got in at $42, and I said, WTF? Why didn't I pay thrity eight, like all the other IPO investors? The only comment my stockbroker made was "yes", in answer to my question: "do rich people get in line ahead of poor people at IPO kickoffs"? By the time my order was processed, the stock price had climbed to forty two on early trading, and that's what I paid, and that's that! Meanwhile Mark Cuban takes a thirty second phone call from a high ranking corporate executive, informing him that the stock price of one of his investments is probably going to drop considerably in the nest day's trading, and, just like that, Cuban avoids losing half a million dollars by selling. He claims he is not guilty, but most likely is, guilty of being rich, and taking advantage of the contacts created by his wealth, against which the American federal government tries to legislate, with limited degrees of success. I personally feel I was cheated because I am not wealthy, because I think I should have paid the IPO for facebook, not the inflated price that rose later on opening day. If what Mark Cuban did weren't illegal, there would be a vigorous market consisting of valuable corporate information being bought and sold by people with the money to do so, for the purpose of gaining an edge in stock trading. Anyone unable to afford the info would be left out, and without any advantage. Poor people would not be able to invest, and, unless I'm wrong, the corporations, our corporate masters, do indeed want poor people investing, even though rich folks do most of the investing. They want the poor people involved, because such involvment makes everyone more dependent on corporate success for personal success. I just wish I could get the same kind of high level inside corporate info mark Cuban does, and I wish I could pay the same IPO stock price as people like Cuban, instead of paying more. Maybe that's asking too much.