Members of Congress profited from stocks in a slow legislative year

January 3, 2024 ndowd

Congress only managed to pass 27 bills in 2023, but many of its Members had a much more productive year in the stock market, according to a new report that highlights their trading performance—which was helped by the fact that those in Congress are exempt from certain insider trading rules. Some of these Members saw the value of their portfolio grow by well over 50%

Thanks in part to some well-timed (maybe even suspiciously well-timed) trades, a third of the 100 members of Congress that reported financial transactions this year beat the S&P 500, which was up 24% in 2023, according to Unusual Whales, a stock and options news service. When broken out by party, Republicans earned an average of 18% returns on their trades, while Democrats earned 33%, according to the report. (The report says the difference is explained by Republicans have large parts of their portfolio in financials, oil and commodities—all of which had rough years).

This year, Democrats absolutely dominated their Republican counterparts.

Dems were up 31%, and Republicans 18%.

Meanwhile, the S&P500 itself was up 24%.

Many traded despite conflicts in their committees in record numbers.

Read the full report here: https://t.co/zDYDmqpB8u pic.twitter.com/Zo4xssRIOT

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 2, 2024

Although members of Congress reported fewer trades compared to during the pandemic, they often made a killing. Stock and options transactions are usually reported as a range, with the true value of a trade somewhere in between. By adding the maximum disclosed amounts, Unusual Whales concluded that trading members of Congress could have made up to $1 billion in stock and options trades in 2023—hundreds of millions of dollars more than in 2022.

The total value of trades by elected officials is complicated by the fact that some of the elected officials seemingly flout the 45-day deadline for reporting transactions and file their transactions years later with no penalty, according to the report. The actual number and value of total trades could therefore be higher, according to Unusual Whales.

At times, elected officials traded in sectors that directly related to their work in Congress. Members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, House Armed Services Committee, and House Oversight and Accountability Committee purchased healthcare and financial services stocks in more than one thousand transactions that directly related to their committees’ work.

The top performing traders (ahem—members of Congress) include notable names such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) whose portfolio was up 65% on the year, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) who was up 38%, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) who was up 55%. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) notched the highest returns for 2023 at 238%.

Here is a longer table for many member’s portfolio returns.

The names are across the aisle, from Democrats to Republicans.

Famous traders like Dan Crenshaw, Nancy Pelosi, Josh Gottheimer and others all beat the market this year.

Read report here: https://t.co/77TDCaeQzq pic.twitter.com/tRYbmSdMzi

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 2, 2024