Of course, there was no secret about this: it was not confidential information. Except in one respect - as the deadline approached, there was still no announcement of exactly when the band would suspend its operations.

Bizarrely - and proving that shareholders really do follow the herd rather than think for themselves - the share price of their management company did not take this into account. What should have happened, if the break really did affect the value, was that the share price should have declined steadily as the inevitable long-stop date approached. But it didn't.

It is now alleged that three people in the management company disposed of a substantial number of shares in the days before the date on which the band would suspend its recording and touring operations. Then, when the announcement was made, the share price tanked, falling more than 25% in one day.

The three have been charged with insider trading and, on the facts so far available, that looks like convictions are likely.

The big question remains: why did the share price remain high when it was common knowledge that the event was getting closer by the day?