As more people learn daily, Twitter is a way to get a message out to the entire world. The twist, of course, is that your message will only be seen by people who have chosen to follow your updates. A "tweet" by a person who has no followers is the proverbial tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it.

I am interested in how Twitter may intersect with the insider trading laws, and would like to throw this hypothetical question out for your thoughts:

An executive at publicly-traded ABC Corp. learns that his company is about to be acquired at a significant premium to its current stock price. He goes on Twitter and posts the following:

"I'm about to become a rich man. My company, ABC Corp., will be acquired next week at a 50% premium to current stock price. Shhh!!"

Here are the scenarios for discussion. Assume in each scenario that many of the followers act on the tip by buying the stock of ABC Corp. that day:

(a) Executive has 5 followers, all family members.

(b) Executive has 5 followers, all strangers.

(c) Executive has 2,000 followers.

In fact, ABC Corp. is acquired the following week and the stock jumps from $20 to $30 on the public announcement, at which time the followers who traded sell their ABC Corp. stock for a big profit. My questions for you are:

Is Executive liable for insider trading "tipping" in any of these scenarios?

Are the followers who profited on the tip liable for insider trading in any of these scenarios?

I will weigh in with my take on this next week.