The 8 of Coins/Disks/Pentacles Reversed

mcall.com: 15 NYSE specialist traders hit with federal fraud charges

"Federal authorities said that between 1999 and mid-2003, specialists at five firms put their companies' orders ahead of customers' orders, causing those customers to get inferior prices — a scheme the NYSE's internal regulators failed to catch.

'Over time, these small thefts accumulate into large profits that translate into higher compensation and bonuses for specialists who execute the trades,' U.S. Attorney David Kelley said at a Manhattan news conference.

Specialists run the open-outcry auctions on the floor of the NYSE, matching buy and sell orders for customers of the stocks they oversee. They also use their firms' money to buy shares when nobody else wants to buy and to sell shares from their own inventory when nobody else wants to sell.

The defendants were expected to 'refrain from trading for their firm's proprietary account except when necessary to maintain a fair and orderly market,'' said Mark Schonfeld, director of the SEC's New York office. ''The specialists named in today's action showed a disregard for their legal duty that was both profound and, at times, profane.'

Four pleaded not guilty to multiple securities fraud charges in federal court in Manhattan and were released on bail, and 10 more were awaiting arraignment. The 15th was believed to be in Europe.

If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $5 million."

The ones pleading not guilty are: David Finnerty, Donald R. Foley II, Frank A. Delaney IV and Thomas J. Murphy Jr.