Could an insider trader get information, not act on it, write an article about his scoop, and then make trades after the article's published? If the publication he writes on is obscure and not followed, is the information still considered public?
Sure, but that doesn't mean it "loses its value unless it is published immediately".
Basically, the info has a certain amount of value, that doesn't really go down. If you pair that information with the knowledge of when it will be published, it goes up in value.
> Basically, the info has a certain amount of value, that doesn't really go down.
I was thinking of the value of the news to Bloomberg, which was mentioned in the article:
At Bloomberg, scoops about deals are highly valued, because beating competitors like Reuters or Dow Jones helps to justify the high price of a terminal, which carries rich veins of data along with news, at a reported cost of around $24,000 a year. The terminals constitute the company’s core business.
If the information is deemed important, then, as soon as Bloomberg is confident in the information's accuracy, it will publish. Once Peltz had a record of giving reliable tips, that would likely happen quickly.