Trader Lost Millions Apparently Trying To Manipulate Intrade Data To Favor Mitt Romney

[Emit]

A new study reveals that a single trader may have been responsible for making the race seem closer than it really was in the final stretch to Election Day.

posted on September 24, 2013 at 9:31am EDT

One trader lost at least $4 million betting on former presidential candidate Mitt Romney through Intrade, possibly to make it appear he was faring better against President Barack Obama in the waning days and hours of the 2012 election than he was.

That’s what a new study by Microsoft Research’s David Rothschild and Columbia University’s Rajiv Sethi suggests. The study, published earlier this month, analyzed Intrade transaction level data over the course of the final two weeks of the election cycle.

Intrade is an online exchange where members make bets on various events, notably presidential elections, and is watched closely by political insiders to gauge the strength of a candidate. Intrade was thrust into the spotlight in 2008 when it correctly predicted the outcome of the presidential election.

Rothschild and Sethi found that a single trader accounted for one-third of all bets made on Romney during the two week period of the study, which saw about 3.5 million contracts traded. The total election cycle had 7.6 million contracts traded.

The trader bet solely on Romney and constantly sold on Obama, losing about $4 million in the process.

~snip~

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jacobfischler/trader-lost-millions-apparently-trying-to-manipulate-intrade

[Jackpine Radical]

1. It's amazing what psychopathic Republicans with too much money will think of.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. You know what they say about a fool and his money.

[LiberalAndProud]

3. I am so curious about that trader.

I wonder if s/he believed, in a faithful, religious way of believing, that Romney would win in the end. It doesn't make sense to gamble so much simply to manipulate the numbers. It produces a cosmetic difference, but Romney's campaign could have employed that 4 million in different ways if the intent was to affect the outcome of the race.

I also wonder if the trader's name was Rove.

[magical thyme]

4. I'm wondering if the traders name was Romney?

Nothing like betting on yourself to make it look like you have momentum...

[thelordofhell]

5. Turn Those Machines Back On!!!

[MoonRiver]

6. "A fool and his money are soon parted."

nuff said

[Pretzel_Warrior]

7. that is hilarious. nice capitalism, ass hole!!!

[Squinch]

8. Well, now, that just warms the cockles of my heart.