The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, the old saying goes. And it looks like elites in Congress are raking in the dough any way they can.
Some members of Congress who have left D.C. complained on the way out that they couldn’t live well on their six-figure retirement pension. They whine about living in luxury while Americans struggle to put food on the table and gas in the car to get to work so they can pay the taxes that feed these rich elites.
Now there’s a new report that one of the most controversial Democrats in Congress has padded her bank account even more while in office. After this news was exposed, people might wonder just how she made such timely investments while working on the people’s business.
From the Daily Caller:
Former House Speaker and Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California made a 65% profit on her stock trading portfolio in 2023, according to an analysis of House of Representatives financial disclosure records by the group Unusual Whales.
Pelosi put together a whale of a deal in the stock market with her husband, Paul, who is a venture capitalist in San Francisco. Unusual Whales reported that in 2023 the Pelosi portfolio dealt in trading options contracts. These allow the contract holder to purchase a stock at a lower price than its market value.
The group reported that the Pelosi deals outperformed the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index of the U.S. stock market’s largest companies by a margin of 40%.
“It’s a sign of quasi-insider trading that’s corrupt and should be banned – it’s either an addiction to risk or a sign of corruption,” said Jeff Hauser, the director of the Revolving Door Project.
To put the Pelosi margin of success in perspective, there is a common saying in trading that 90% of traders fail. There are wins and losses on both sides of a trade with a select few traders consistently earning high margins of returns.
The outlet reported that the Pelosi’s profits surpassed those of the largest hedge funds in the United States. The largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, lost 7.6% last year while Republican donor Ken Griffin’s Citadel LLC topped most funds with 15.3% in gains. None were able to top the S&P 500 which gained more than 20%.
“There are teams of people at sophisticated hedge funds that exist to find minor arbitrage opportunities to make a profit,” Hauser said. “It’s preposterous to think they (Pelosis) are finding profit where Bridgewater or Renaissance Capital is missing it.”
Timing is everything and the Pelosis appear to have their trading clock timed to perfection. Media reports were hectic in 2022 with reports of Paul Pelosi trading stocks in Nvidia, a manufacturer of semiconductors. His deals went down just before Nancy worked to pass the CHIPS Act in the House using her influence as speaker.
CHIPS boosted U.S. semiconductor manufacturing with billions of dollars in government subsidies. Reports show Paul Pelosi then divested his Nvidia holdings before purchasing $1 to $5 million in call options last November.
While Nancy Pelosi is the highest profile member of Congress with successful trading, she doesn’t rank highest among politicians in D.C. Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York has spent the majority of his career in elected office and has done well in the trading world. Reports show he topped all House members by raking in a 239% profit in 2023.
Pelosi was ninth on the list. Second through fourth on the list were Republicans Mark Green of Tennessee, Garret Graves of Louisiana, and David Rouzer of North Carolina. They gained 122.2%, 107.6%, and 105.6%, respectively.
Pelosi has justified her investment earnings against questions about her conduct by saying, “We are a free market economy. Congress should be able to participate in that.”
Key Takeaways:
- Nancy Pelosi pocketed massive gains in stock market trading in 2023.
- Questions surrounded how she and her husband, Paul, made the deals.
- Pelosi wasn’t the only member of Congress with massive market wins.
Source: Daily Caller
