[ by Larry Goldfarb ]

Like a pack of Lhasa Apsos hearing the crinkle of a package of doggie treats, the FBI, FINRA, and the SEC are descending on Rochdale to try to determine if any wrongdoing has been perpetrated.

The facts as we know them:

• The FBI has started a probe of a rogue Wall Street trader for alleged stock manipulation.
• The trader, identified by people familiar with the probe as David Miller, of Rochdale Securities, allegedly made an unauthorized purchase of 1.6 million shares of Apple — a $1 billion trade that has rocked the small brokerage and put it on the brink of extinction.
• The errant trade, which was allegedly made Oct. 25, the day before the tech titan reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results, was first believed to be an honest mistake.
• The trade is now being looked at as part of a alleged market manipulation scheme to pocket millions in phony profits, sources said.
• Regulators including the SEC and FINRA have joined the FBI in the probe, sources said. 
• Regulators and Rochdale are probing whether he was involved in similar transactions with other traders in an effort to make a profit for himself.

For more information, please read [NY Post, 11/6/12].