Economy Members of congress outperformed the S&P 500 by huge amounts

[Jack V Savage]

Yes. I make the point honestly. Some Members of congress on both sides of the aisle use their political insider knowledge to make financial gain in the stock market. There is countless evidence of specific instances up to and not including events surrounding Covid and the government response to it. Congress or their immediate family should not be permitted to make trades during their time in office.

"Should" is irrelevant here. Factually, your assertions are not backed by evidence. IMO, lying is bad even if you think misleading people is helpful to your goals.

 

[Goonerview]

Nancy Pelosi’s ice-cream ain’t cheap.

 

[ShadowRun]

The democrats did it by good faith and not inside trading and republicans cheated the system and should get the electric chair for this

 

[Blayt7hh]

Just accepted as part of life now and shows how low our collective standards have fallen.

In the 80's and 90's if a politician got caught having sex with a prostitute their career was over. Now, we actually have a former escort in the US House of Representatives.

It's insane how much worse off our standards are now.

Well almost everyone of them past and present has done shit like that. And honestly, I don’t really care. I care a lot more when they’re doing stuff like taking kick backs or engaging in insider training. Which you know, is something they’ve also always done

 

[HomeCheese]

No. I think this sums it up better than I can (note the last sentence):

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272722000044

The case that you see made is based on statistical illiteracy (or self-justifying cynicism), but it's not impossible that it's happened.

Although I have never heard of it, I'm sure Science Direct is a legit site. There are a ba-zillion hits when you google insider trading by congress from sources like the NYT and the Post.

I suppose you significantly more trust in our governmental processes and our elected officials than much of us.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Although I have never heard of it, I'm sure Science Direct is a legit site. There are a ba-zillion hits when you google insider trading by congress from sources like the NYT and the Post.

I suppose you significantly more trust in our governmental processes and our elected officials than much of us.

Well, it's not about trust in elected officials as much as in science. Meaning, I think sound analysis of the data shows that there's no case.

Also, the work there is by Dartmouth econ professors. The site just provides access. Same paper is hosted by the NBER.

 

[MTT]

Violations of the STOCK Act seem to be a rampant issue between members of Congress and their staffers. It wouldn't be surprising if, despite violating various sections of the law, they failed to outperform the market. If the law is too stringent, amend it.

 

[mkess101]

There has to be a middle ground between "they're all scamming the system!" and "this is fine, complete non-issue".

Instead of an outright ban, just impose limits on both the amount that can be held and the frequency with which an active member of congress can trade. Then we aren't having a massive overreaction but we also aren't undermining people's belief that it's at least close to a level playing field.

If someone in Congress buys $50k in a stock it doesn't move the needle to me at all. If they buy $2m? Well...different story.

 

[Source]

There has to be a middle ground between "they're all scamming the system!" and "this is fine, complete non-issue".

Instead of an outright ban, just impose limits on both the amount that can be held and the frequency with which an active member of congress can trade. Then we aren't having a massive overreaction but we also aren't undermining people's belief that it's at least close to a level playing field.

If someone in Congress buys $50k in a stock it doesn't move the needle to me at all. If they buy $2m? Well...different story.

I am much more interested in the real values gained. I would support Congress having a public reporting period window before acting on a trade or option. Similar to publicly traded companies executives currently are required to do when buying or selling their companies stock.

 

[High Test With da Best]

https://newrepublic.com/post/177806/members-congress-made-stock-trading-2023

Here Are the Members of Congress Who Made the Most in Stock Trading in 2023

Here Are the Members of Congress Who Made the Most in Stock Trading in 2023
Congratulations to this bipartisan group for making a record profit in stock trading last year.
Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell put their hands on their hearts, as other members of Congress do the same around them

Congress killed it in the stock market once again, with Democrats outdoing their Republican colleagues by far, despite conflicts in some of their committee appointments, according to a new report by Unusual Whales, a market analysis group.

Some of those high-flying lawmakers included Democratic Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Brian Higgins and Republican Representatives Mark Green and Garret Graves. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConell, Senator Tommy Tuberville, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also make an appearance in the list of top officials who made bank in the stock market last year.

The Unusual Whales analysis is based on financial disclosures made by members of Congress every time they or their families make a trade. Higgins’s gains far outpaced the others’, with 238.9 percent returns over 2023, nearly 10 times the S&P 500 index, which rose 24.8 percent by the end of the year. The data also found Democratic members of Congress secured a 31 percent gain in returns, far outpacing Republicans’ 18 percent gain.



Buisness is good if you are in congress and it's bipartisan. They are geniuses when comes to the stock market it's like they have Insider knowledge or something.

Not surprising I haven't heard of the top two repubs.

More interested in the overall average vs S&P to show their potential institutional advantage. Or a whole tenure of multiple terms of a single one vs S&P to rule out luck. Or what % of the general public also hit those same multipliers in the same year.

Did they mention what the average was for all members?

 

[White Whale]

Not surprising I haven't heard of the top two repubs.

More interested in the overall average vs S&P to show their potential institutional advantage. Or a whole tenure of multiple terms of a single one vs S&P to rule out luck. Or what % of the general public also hit those same multipliers in the same year.

Did they mention what the average was for all members?

Unusual Political Trading

Track unusual house, senate, SCOTUS investing, and corporate lobbying for free using unusualwhales.com, as well as deep dive in the most unusual of trading + political deals. The go to place to see everything in finance, politics, investing, and options.

unusualwhales.com

Here's how to track all of Nancy Pelosi's stock purchases

Here's why amateur stock traders are obsessed with the Nancy Pelosi stock tracker: which shows what Wall Street moves she makes.

www.dailydot.com

Nancy Pelosi has been doing well in stocks for years. Her husband invests for them and his timing is incredible. They invested in NVDA before its funding was announced.

 

[High Test With da Best]

Unusual Political Trading

Track unusual house, senate, SCOTUS investing, and corporate lobbying for free using unusualwhales.com, as well as deep dive in the most unusual of trading + political deals. The go to place to see everything in finance, politics, investing, and options.

unusualwhales.com

Here's how to track all of Nancy Pelosi's stock purchases

Here's why amateur stock traders are obsessed with the Nancy Pelosi stock tracker: which shows what Wall Street moves she makes.

www.dailydot.com

Nancy Pelosi has been doing well in stocks for years. Her husband invests for them and his timing is incredible. They invested in NVDA before its funding was announced.

Preaching to the choir friend

 

[White Whale]

Nancy Pelosi Made $500,000 From Her Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) Bet, Doubling Her Annual Government Salary In Just 2 Months

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has achieved significant financial gains from her recent investment in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), a prominent company in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. On Nov. 22, Pelosi acquired 50 call options for Nvidia with a strike price of $120...

finance.yahoo.com

Nancy Pelosi Made $500,000 From Her Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) Bet, Doubling Her Annual Government Salary In Just 2 Months

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has achieved significant financial gains from her recent investment in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), a prominent company in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. On Nov. 22, Pelosi acquired 50 call options for Nvidia with a strike price of $120, expiring on Dec. 20, 2024. The transaction value ranged between $1 million and $5 million.

As of early 2024, Pelosi has reportedly made nearly $500,000 from this investment, surpassing her annual government salary of approximately $223,500. This gain is attributed to Nvidia’s stock performance, which has seen an increase of over 21% in value since Pelosi’s acquisition, according to Finbold.

Pelosi’s investment in Nvidia has drawn attention because of her track record of successful trades in Congress. Along with her husband, a venture capitalist, Pelosi has made substantial profits from trading call options in various blue-chip companies. However, her stock trades often face scrutiny, with some accusing her of using insider information to make lucrative trades.

Pelosi’s investment decisions and their timing have been a topic of debate. While some criticize her for potential insider trading, others commend her strategic investment choices. The rise in Nvidia’s stock value, partly because of the high demand for its chips in AI computing, has contributed significantly to Pelosi’s recent financial success from this investment.

Nancy Pelosi is master invester.