What would you do? Consider all options (pros and cons) and explain your reasoning.

You areMichael & Bernard.After fifty years in the coal business as senior executives in Deep Coal, Inc., you both have decided it's time to retire. You see the writing on the wall and popular sentiment is that "coal is out" and "clean-energy is in."

Michael & Bernard would like to cash out (sell their shares) of Coal, Inc. and retire in style, as they always dreamed of doing, but Federal Regulations limit the amount of stock they can sell each year. At this rate, they estimate it will take 5.7 years to sell all of their stock and they will lose millions, especially if the pricereallystarts falling. There goes the retirement they dreamed of.After careful thought, Michael & Bernard come up with a plan. They willartificially inflatethe price of the stock. They're able to do this with a little creative accounting. Nothing will be illegal.

After a year of artificially inflating the stock price, they are approached by Jeannie and her husband Jamie with an important question: They need money and are wondering if they should invest all of their savings and retirement in Coal, Inc. stock, since it is going so well.Michael & Bernard have known Jeannie since she was a little girl. She is their daughters' best friend. In fact, Jeannie calls them "Uncle Mikey and Uncle Bernie." When Jeannie graduated from Ross Business School, they were proud to help her get her job at Deep Coal, Inc., where she has done very well.

What should they tell Jeanie? Remember, corporate executives are not allowed to "Inside Trade," meaning they can't disclose information affecting the price of company stock that they learned from their position inside the company.