Earlier today, I wrote to you about congressional trading and why it’s such a big issue.
If you’re like most people, you probably found some of the facts I laid out in that piece shocking…
Like the 183 members of Congress that reported making at least one trade between 2019 and 2021…
…more than half of which sat on committees that would have given them potential access to insider information.
Or the fact that members of Congress traded nearly $400 million worth of stocks in 2022 – 25% higher than what they traded in 2021.
So what does this mean for your money? Let’s take a closer look…
Congress Beats the Market
To say that Congress resembled a Wall Street trading desk last year wouldn’t be an understatement. And here’s the kicker…
More than two dozen members of Congress beat the stock market in 2022. That’s despite the stock market suffering its worst year since 2008.
Let’s take a closer look at who is making the biggest trades and gains.
The chart below shows the members of Congress that beat the stock market and their gains in 2022.
It spans Democrats and Republicans across both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Overall, in 2022, Democrats lost 1.76% on average on their investments, while Republicans gained 0.4%.
In other words, lawmakers of all political stripes on average came out ahead of the market last year.
Coming in first was Rep. Patrick Fallon, who made 51.6% on his investments in 2022.
Fallon’s most successive bet was on Twitter. He loaded up on $150,000 worth of shares back in January 2022 and sold it shortly after Elon Musk announced plans to acquire the social media giant.
Now, congresspeople’s focus on tech wasn’t limited to Fallon. Last year, members of the House bought $41.7 million worth of their top 10 preferred stocks.
The following chart highlights each of these 10 companies…
As you can see, House members overwhelmingly favored the technology sector. The top five companies are well-known names: Apple, Tesla, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), and Nvidia.
What’s more, Democrats did 78% of the buying, at $32.6 million. Their favorite stock was Disney, with $6 million worth of investments.
Apple came in second to Disney, equaling just under $6 million worth of investments.
Meanwhile, House Republicans bought $9.1 million of their top 10 stocks. They focused on a mix of sectors and targeted companies like Energy Transfer, Dow, AT&T, and PayPal.
Over at the Senate, it’s a similar story. Take a look at this next chart…
In 2022, members of the Senate bought $8.3 million worth of their 10 preferred stocks. And as you can see, the top 10 stocks were in the technology sector, followed by infrastructure.
The top four companies were giants Microsoft, PayPal, Intel, and U.S. Steel.
What This Means for Your Money
If you read today’s earlier piece, you’ll know this is a symptom of a much bigger issue, which is that our government is broken.
This goes back to something I’ve said many times before.
Anyone can own and trade shares. But not everyone makes laws, meets with corporate lobbyists, and decides how taxpayers’ money is spent.
The good news is, if we follow where Congress’ money is going, we can take advantage of it.
See, right now, more than 100 congresspeople are preparing to pour their money into one investment…
And that’s because a rare, generation-defining event is about to hit the markets on September 20.
We have only seen something like this three times in the last century.
It could splinter the entire stock market in half… and send everyone’s most loved stocks plummeting.
At the same time, it could push a select group in a corner of the stock market to all-time highs.
I call it “America’s Secret Stock Panic.”
And folks who prepare before September 20 could have the chance to secure a seven-figure nest egg… While those who don’t could have their portfolios cut in half.
That’s why I’m going on camera tomorrow, August 3 at 10 a.m. ET, to reveal how you can prepare for what’s coming.
I’ll even give away the name and ticker of the top way to play this rare market event, for free. Sign up for tomorrow’s briefing with one click right here.
Regards,
Nomi Prins
Editor, Inside Wall Street with Nomi Prins