US politicians are required to regularly report their stock investments and similar financial activities to prevent potential conflicts of interest. This is intended to prevent public figures from using their influence to unfairly profit from volatile markets. However, the latest report shows that many politicians have outperformed the market average.
2023 Politicians’ Trade Report
Last year, we witnessed numerous incidents in Congress. McCarthy failed to be elected as Speaker of the House for the 14th time, Mitch McConnell froze in front of the cameras, and George Santos was expelled from Congress. Finally, Senator Menendez admitted to corruption and claimed his gold bars.
Amidst these busy days, US politicians did not fall behind in trading. Their most significant power is foreseeing upcoming governmental actions, as they are privy to inside information, which gives them an advantage in stock and even crypto markets.
We see this in the 2023 report. 33% of the 100 members who traded outperformed the SPY, meaning they beat the market. Democrats left their Republican colleagues far behind in terms of gains.
The number of transactions made by politicians decreased last year, and they are shortening the disclosure time and using the note feature, which is seen as a move against transparency.
Below, you can see the politicians with the best performance ratios.
Perhaps we should delve into the details of some leading politicians’ trade performances.
Nancy Pelosi
A member of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives and a very prominent figure. A week after visiting California, the home state of Chinese President Xi, and before Biden announced the US’s new semiconductor hubs, her husband repurchased Nvidia shares he had sold a year earlier due to various controversies.
Worse yet, before the purchase in November, on December 11th, US Commerce Secretary Raimondo stated that Nvidia could sell slower artificial intelligence chips to China to comply with US export controls. Then, on December 28th, Nvidia released a modified version of an advanced chip to circumvent US restrictions. The $2 million purchase was made at a very opportune time. Pelosi was just one example.
This report, compiled by Unusual Whales, has been making waves in the US media for years and putting politicians in a tough spot.
