article_title name birth_date nationality
jonathan lebed
 jonathan lebed 29 september 1984 united states
jonathan lebed

jonathan lebed -lrb- born september 29 , 1984 -rrb- is an american notorious for using internet technology to hype stocks .
between september 1999 -lrb- he was only 15 at the time -rrb- and february 2000 lebed made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the computer in his bedroom in cedar grove , new jersey by posting in internet chat rooms and on message boards encouraging people to buy penny stocks he already owned , thus , according to the sec , artificially raising the price of the stock .
between september 1999 and february 2000 , his smallest one-day gain was $ 12,000 while his biggest was $ 74,000 .
the sec under arthur levitt prosecuted him .
in 2001 lebed and the sec negotiated an out-of-court settlement in which lebed forfeited $ 285,000 in profit and interest he had made on 11 trades without admitting any wrongdoing -- allowing him to keep close to half a million dollars .
the case was controversial -- the sec had never prosecuted a minor -- and produced significant media interest .
lebed contended that his activity forecasting stock prices was no different from and no more illegal than what professional wall street analysts do every day , only he utilized the internet .
despite the negative press and sec inquiry , lebed continues to trade actively and sends out a free email newsletter on a daily basis in which he gives stock picks .
the end of the newsletter often contains a disclaimer like the one below .
my firm lebed biz llc has been compensated by a third-party -lrb- <would be company name> -rrb- $ 20,000 cash for a one-month idoi investor relations contract .
never invest into a stock we discuss unless you can afford to lose your entire investment .
for our full disclaimer go to : www.lebed.biz/disclaimer.htm lebed.biz staff lebed was profiled in an episode of the 2001 bbc documentary `` the future just happened '' .
