I disagree. There is a huge difference between insider trading and buying a company to sell off pieces of it and make the remainder more efficient through reorganization, even if the reorganization includes layoffs. In the former case, you are abusing your access to information that others do not have in order to make a profit at their expense, and this is why it is illegal. In the latter case, you are making a positive contribution to the wealth of the stockholders of a company, even though this might cause hardship to some of the employees who will have salary/benefits cut or even lose their jobs. Gekko embodies both of these behaviors (as did some of the participants in 80s takeovers), but I don't believe that insider trading properly represents capitalism.