IANAL but probably. The intern is trading on (possibly) material non-public information. Now, if the intern is just making a small purchase, they may well get away with it. But trading on things like inside financial information, an M&A, major partnership, etc. before they're made public (I think the language one sees is actually before the public has had time to absorb the information) is pretty much the definition of insider trading.
I don't know if Cramer actually does move markets or not. I guess the defense would be that Cramer is just some clown with a finance show and no one takes him seriously. It's just entertainment.
> There are studies depicting the market’s reaction to recommendations made on Cramer’s show. Notably, in January 2009, graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania published a study claiming that over time, the average next-day increase for a stock that Cramer recommended was 3% for the entire study sample, and almost 7% for smaller cap stocks. They proved through the use of electronic communication networks (ECN) that most trades came in after 7 p.m. ET, when "Mad Money" concluded.
> Another study conducted by Northwestern University, titled "Is the Market Mad?: Evidence from 'Mad Money'" and published in 2006, showed that the average cumulative return on Cramer’s recommendation was 5.19%, but, more important, almost all the increases were nullified within 12 days.
> Cramer recommends stocks with momentum, both positive and negative. His recommendations affect the price, with the impact reversing quickly, consistent with pricing pressure caused by viewers' jumping on Cramer's recommendations. Cramer's sell recommendations also affect prices, though the impact does not quickly reverse.
