So I can't make a post about how awesome the company I have stock in is and profit from it? I thought I just had to disclose that I was a owner of that stock to avoid problems.
Generally, no, there are very specific conditions which make such a statement legal.
Statements such as "you will double your money" should always be avoided. Ideally you want a closed-loop system in which people viewing your statement have read to and agreed to the fact that you will be making money from your claims and your statement is marketing material and should not be construed as investment advice. Without such statements and provisions people reading the tweets could easily mistake such statements as investment advice or guarantees in regard to returns. Also, include a safe harbor provision regarding forward looking statements.
Basically, if you're going to talk about stocks or other investments in which you have a stake, consult a lawyer, specifically one who knows the securities law in both the jurisdiction you're speaking, the jurisdictions in which the company is registered and the jurisdiction in which the exchange operates, and for good measure the jurisdictions in which the message will be received.
This is the reason you sign 50 pages of legalese just to open up a trading account. It details exactly how, where, why and when your bank will fuck you over. This is why GS doesn't tweet about their Facebook deal and why 50 will be in jail long before Blankfein.
50 should be smarter than this. 50 cent doing this is the perfect opportunity for a beleaguered SEC to 'crackdown' on securities fraud on a very public figure in a very open and shut manner.
This statement should not be construed as legal advice and you should retain counsel in order to obtain such advice :)
It took a day or two for reality to set in, and 50 Cent (whose real name is Curtis Jackson) began backing off of his cheerleading Monday, The New York Observer reports. He began sending more cautious messages to his followers, saying things like "I own HNHI stock thoughts on it are my opinion. Talk to a financial advisor about it."
There was similar case where someone would verify the academic credentials of CEOs of publicly traded companies in order to discover fraud and misrepresentation.
After discovering a flaw, he would short the company's stock, then go public with the news.
I maybe mistaken, but I believe that was not considered insider trading and his methods were a valid way to invest and make money. I think that is quite a brilliant strategy.
I was following the tweets in real-time. He did mention that he owned stock in the company. He first explained that he invested in TVG (TV Goods, a subsidiary that markets through channels like QVC and HSN), and then a few tweets later explained that the ticker symbol was HNHI.
