Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores

Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723 (1975), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that only those suffering direct loss from the purchase or sale of stock had standing to sue under federal securities law. The Court noted that under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, derivative investors are considered buyers or sellers of securities for application of SEC Rule 10b-5.

Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 24, 1975 Decided June 9, 1975
Full case name	Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores
Citations	421 U.S. 723 (more) 95 S. Ct. 1917; 44 L. Ed. 2d 539
Case history
Prior	Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Holding
A private damages action under Rule 10b-5 is confined to actual purchasers or sellers of securities and the Birnbaum rule bars respondent from maintaining this suit.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William O. Douglas · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
Case opinions
Majority	Rehnquist, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Marshall, Powell
Concurrence	Powell, joined by Stewart, Marshall
Dissent	Blackmun, joined by Douglas, Brennan
Laws applied
Securities Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 74, as amended, 15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 421

Further reading

• Hawkins, C. (1975). "Standing to Sue for Violations of the Federal Securities Laws—the Birnbaum Doctrine". Arkansas Law Review. 29: 538. ISSN 0004-1831.
• Mullaney, Thomas J. (1977). "Theories of Measuring Damages in Security Cases and the Effects of Damages on Liability". Fordham Law Review. 46: 277. ISSN 0015-704X.

External links

• Text of Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723 (1975) is available from: Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)