Monday, April 30, 2007

Accused DC Madam also a stock picker...

You just had to know I couldn't pass this up.

The woman accused of running a prostitution ring serving Washington's elite, including at least one U.S. government official, also appears to be something of a stock picker. The woman, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, asked a federal judge on Monday for permission to sell almost 5,000 shares of Dolby Laboratories Inc. that were in an account frozen by the government because she believed the stock had reached its high point.

"I believe it's reached its peak," she told Judge Gladys Kessler. Palfrey said she bought the shares in the sound system firm at about $22 a share. "I don't want to see it waste away," she said, facing an expensive trial with most of her assets frozen.

Dolby was at about $37 a share on Monday morning, a possible pre-tax profit of $75,000.
However, about two hours after the hearing ended, the stock started to fall and closed down 5.5 percent to $35.42 on the New York Stock Exchange. It was not immediately clear what sparked the selloff and one analyst doubted a connection.


Ouch. I didn't realize that Randall Tobias was the ex chairman of Eli Lilly.