Opinion
Former House Speaker and Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California made a whopping 65% profit on her stock trading portfolio last year.
At least according to an analysis done by Unusual Whales of House of Representatives members’ financial disclosure records.
And she’s not even the most profitable member of Congress on this front, though she is near the top.
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The New York Post reports, “Pelosi wasn’t alone, with other options-happy members of Congress among the top-performing investors. Those included Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who logged a return of more than 122%; and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who was up more than 25%.”
“Unlike buying individual stocks, options allow for more leverage, which means more exposure to a stock and a greater reward if a bet is right,” the Post noted. “Options also could be an indicator an investor has access to inside information, according to ethics watchdogs.”
You think?
It hasn’t been a secret that Pelosi and her husband Paul, a venture capitalist in San Francisco, have long profited significantly from their jointly held stock portfolio.
The duo’s 2023 profits were caused by trading options contracts.
The story continued:
Pelosi’s 2023 returns stand in stark contrast to 2022, when her portfolio dropped 19.8% — worse than the 18.2% decline in the ETF that tracks the S&P 500, according to the 100-page report by Unusual Whales.
At the time, Pelosi’s portfolio took a major hit after she and her husband, tech investor Paul Pelosi, announced that they sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price point of $165.05 a share.
The sale – reportedly made as she came under fire for blocking legislation that would have regulated Congressional stock trading – resulted in a loss of more than $341,000, according to financial filings.
Late last month, however, securities filings showed the Pelosis were plowing into Nvidia once again.
Something Seems Fishy
“An X account known as Congresstrading published a screenshot of a disclosure form that showed that Pelosi bought 50 call options with a strike price of $120 and an expiration date of Dec. 20, 2024,” the Post noted.
The transaction was made in December and was for $2 million, according to Unusual Whales.
The disclosure form showed the amount as between $1 million and $5 million.
Congresstrading tweeted, “Pelosi bet millions on $NVDA in November using call options. Using a deceptive tactic, she purposely disclosed this on the Friday before Christmas weekend to avoid media coverage.”
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It’s ‘Corrupt and Should Be Banned’
“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 the New York Post about Pelosi’s profits. “There are teams of people at sophisticated hedge funds that exist to find minor arbitrage opportunities to make a profit. It’s preposterous to think they are finding profit where Bridgewater or Renaissance Capital is missing it.”
When Pelosi was asked in 2022 about whether or not members of Congress should be prohibited from the stock market, she replied, “We are a free market economy. Congress should be able to participate in that.”
Just a “free market.” Sure it is.
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