If you’re looking for trading opportunities, track Congress.
Granted, your elected officials don’t have to disclose what they bought for about 30 to 45 days after the transaction, per the STOCK Act. Oftentimes, they disclose sooner than that.
Part of the STOCK Act “Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EGA) to require specified individuals to file reports within 30 to 45 days after receiving notice of a purchase, sale, or exchange which exceeds $1,000 in stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other forms of securities and subject to any waivers and exclusions.”
You can read more about the Act here:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/2038
Look at Nancy Pelosi, for example. In November, she bought a chunk of Nvidia December 2024 120 calls. At the time she bought, shares traded at around $503. Shortly after she bought in, the NVDA stock dipped, and then exploded to $825. The calls, if she still held them today, are worth millions of dollars. Most recently, she took a position in Palo Alto Networks (PANW), which recently gapped lower and quickly recovered some lost ground.
Earlier this month, Congresswoman Kathy Manning bought shares of Lockheed Martin (LMT). She didn’t buy a lot, but still, it was worth following. Days later, according to a tweet, Manning, who sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, “We must hold Iran accountable.”
In January, Congressman Kevin Hern bought shares of Exxon Mobil and Devon Energy. Then, according to a tweet, he also prefers gas cars over electric vehicles, which would fuel oil trades.
These things happen all the time.
And if you can spot the trades and the disclosure of trades in time, you could potentially make some good money. It’s just too bad we can’t buy something, and then make a major political statement that’s sure to send a stock higher.
We should consider ourselves lucky or elected officials have to disclose trades.
