Members of the US Congress are exempt from the laws that ban insider trading. But House of Representatives rules may consider congressional insider trading unethical.

Unless your name is Pelosi.

A 2004 study found that stock sales and purchases by Senators outperformed the market by 12.3% per year. Peter Schweizer points out several examples of insider trading by members of Congress, including action taken by Spencer Bachus following a private, behind-the-doors meeting on the evening of September 18, 2008 when Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke informed members of Congress about the issues due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Bachus then shorted stocks the next morning and cashed in his profits within a week. Also attending the same meeting were Senator Dick Durbin and John Boehner; the same day (trade effective the next day), Durbin sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696, and reinvested it all with Warren Buffett. Also the same day (trade effective the next day), Congressman Boehner cashed out of an equity mutual fund.

In May 2007, a bill entitled the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act was introduced that would hold congressional and federal employees liable for stock trades they made using information they gained through their jobs and also regulate analysts or political intelligence firms that research government activities. The STOCK Act was enacted on April 4, 2012.

With that backdrop, here’s Mish on the “Pelosi Payday;” https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/nancy-pelosis-husband-uses-call-options-to-buy-microsoft-ahead-of-big-govt-contract

Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Buys Microsoft Ahead of Big Govt Contract

Nancy Pelosi’s husband made an excellent Microsoft stock market trade. Let’s check out the details.

Purchase of Stock Via Call Options

Barron’s reports Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Bought Roblox, Microsoft Stock

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband just disclosed he bought Roblox stock the day it went public, and acquired Microsoft stock through options.

The Barron’s article is behind a paywall. Fox News also reports the same thing: Pelosi’s Husband Bought $10M in Microsoft Shares Through Options. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband purchased millions of dollars worth of Microsoft (MSFT) and Roblox (RBLX) shares last month, new financial disclosures form reveal.

Paul Pelosi exercised call options and paid $1.95 million to buy 15,000 shares of Microsoft at a strike price of $130 on March 19, according to an April 9th filing with the House clerk. That same day, Pelosi, who owns and operates a California venture capital investment and consulting firm, paid $1.4 million for 10,000 shares valued at $140 apiece.

Since Pelosi made the purchase, Microsoft share prices have climbed from about $230 to roughly $255 – an increase of close to 11% – after the company secured a lucrative government contract worth nearly $22 billion to supply U.S. Army combat troops with augmented reality headsets. The deal was announced on March 31.

Extremely Bad Looking

Comments by Krystal and Saagar

• This is an extremely bad look at the very least. And at worst, it’s outright corrupt.
• It has the appearance of using insider knowledge of where the US government is headed.
• Access to that knowledge if you are Speaker of the House you may have special insights in order to profit massively off of your stock trades.
• Nancy Pelosi is already a very wealthy woman. 
• Why are members of Congress allowed to trade stock while they are holding public office? 
• We covered this on the Republican side at the beginning of Covid.
• Even the appearance of this is so disgusting.

Nancy Pelosi Wealth

Nancy Pelosi in the 7th Richest Person in Congress.

Question of the Day

Q: How did Nancy Pelosi become so wealthy?
A: You tell me. Any guesses?

Legal For Congress, Not You

Here are recent Pelosi Insider Moves. The list shows the Microsoft call options.https://9ec5fb687175892dabd8b8ac3310a062.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

And here is a list of Senate Transactions you may be interested in.

If you had knowledge of this deal and made a similar trade, then got caught, you would be fined, lose all your profits, and potentially be thrown into jail.