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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Americans making millions buying shares like top politicians
US politicians seem to know something about the stock market that ordinary Americans don't. Since April 2020, the value of the S&P 500 has surged by a heady 165pc. But over the same period, the stocks most purchased by members of Congress or their families have registered paper gains of no less than 465pc. That's according to a trading strategy designed by a start-up called Quiver Quantitative. American lawmakers are so consistently successful that a flurry of new platforms and apps now compile filing data from US politicians as a key input in strategies for retail investors and even hedge funds. The number of people using these so-called 'copy trading' strategies has exploded. Tens of thousands of Americans now follow and imitate trades made by members of Congress, and they are making millions of dollars in the process. New plans to ban members of Congress from trading could make the boom short-lived, however. The ban comes amid concerns that politicians are unfairly profiting from information gained in their privileged position as a representative of the American people. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi is the old guard of Congressional trading and by far the most copied. The trades she discloses have developed such a reputation for out-performance that they have become market moving in themselves. In January, for example, Pelosi disclosed an investment in a health tech company called Tempus AI. Retail investors piled in. The company's share options surged 124pc. 'It's all INSIDE INFORMATION! Is anybody looking into this??? She is a disgusting degenerate,' Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month. Pelosi says all the trades are made by her husband, a property investor, and she has no involvement in the transactions. Whatever motivates these trades, it is becoming increasingly lucrative for a growing cohort of everyday Americans. Dub launched in March 2024 as America's first regulated brokerage to offer copy trading accounts to mimic politicians and star traders. 'It's been absolutely insane in terms of growth,' says Steven Wang, the founder and chief executive who dropped out of his freshman year at Harvard to build the platform. Today, it has 1.5 million users across America. Of the $100m or so invested across dub, nearly $23m is in its Pelosi tracker account. Since its launch in early 2024, its paper gains are 172pc. 'She beat every single hedge fund last year. Our customers have made millions of dollars just through her portfolio,' says Wang. Dub is one player in a rapidly expanding field. Autopilot launched in 2023 and allows retail investors to copy trade a variety of portfolios, including its Pelosi Tracker, by linking up their existing brokerage accounts. Also in 2023, financial data platform Unusual Whales launched two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking trades made by politicians – one for Democrats' holdings, one for Republicans'. Insiderwave is a similar app under construction. 'I wouldn't be surprised if there are 100,000 people out there who are copy-trading different strategies based on Congressional trading data,' says James Kardatzke, who founded Quiver Quantitative with his twin brother in 2020. The data company now has around 750,000 registered users. It publishes a wide range of alternative datasets, scraping sources such as private jet flight patterns and turning them into digestible datasets that can be used to inform investment strategies. One of the first datasets on its platform was its Congressional investment tracker, a trading strategy that involves investing in the companies that have the most net purchases by members of Congress. More than 5,000 investors are currently using this copy trade bucket approach, says Kardatzke. Most of the platform's users are retail investors, but Quiver Quantitative also has a couple of dozen institutional clients that pay for the raw data feeds, building them into the decision-making processes behind their own trading strategies. 'Many of them see it as a source not only for figuring out how companies might be impacted by government legislation going forward, but even just thinking about how politicians might have access to inside information when they're making their trades,' says Kardatzke. Alongside Pelosi, House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene's investments are becoming an increasingly popular copy trade. In April, Greene made an investment in Palantir just before immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) handed the company a $30m (£22m) contract. Greene sits on the committee for homeland security that oversees Ice. Since her trade, the value of her Palantir stock has jumped by 142pc. Dub recently released a copy trade account for Greene, which so far has $30,000 invested and is up by 22pc. Users have also invested $665,000 in a portfolio tracker for Donald Trump, which is up 24pc since it launched. The portfolio is based on the assets that Trump's family owns publicly, such as the Trump Media and Technology Group and Bitcoin, and the companies that donated to his campaign. 'It's our best guess of the stocks that would be very tightly correlated to Trump's actions and Trump's wealth,' says Wang. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, says: 'Neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.' Altogether, there are two or three dozen Congressmen who trade actively, says Kardatzke. Pelosi ranks third in terms of paper profits over the last 12 months, at just under $1m, according to Quiver Quantitative. She was outdone by Republican Representative Michael McCaul, whose declared trades have made paper gains worth $3.6m and Democrat Representative Cleo Fields, who made $1.1m. Greene ranked sixth in terms of paper profits, at $367,000. Lawmakers insist that the stock market trades that they register are made without their knowledge, by their family members or wealth managers, and have nothing to do with insider information. 'I learnt about my Palantir trades when I saw it in the media,' Greene said back in May. McCaul's attorney says: 'Congressman McCaul did not purchase these stocks and had no advanced knowledge of the purchase. Rather, his wife has assets she solely owns, and a third-party manager made the purchase without her direction.' Ian Krager, Pelosi's press secretary, says: 'Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.' The crux of the problem, Kardatzke says, is that it is very difficult to prove which trades are made with someone's knowledge and which aren't. The copy trade boom began in the wake of the pandemic when lawmakers drew scrutiny for suspicious trades made after closed-door briefings. It has only gained more traction as start-ups work to make the filing data more accessible. Transparency rules in America are tighter than those in the UK. Members of Congress must detail any purchase, sale or exchange of an asset exceeding $1,000, made by themselves or their family members. In the UK, members of parliament are only required to register holdings worth £70,000 or more. The US system may be about to become even more strict. Republican Senator Josh Hawley is pushing for legislation that would ban officeholders from trading stocks. His bill, originally called the preventing elected leaders from owning securities and investments (Pelosi) Act, passed the Senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs at the end of July. Trump had initially expressed support for the idea, saying 'I like it conceptually.' When the act passed the committee, however, Trump lashed out at long-time Maga ally Hawley, calling him a 'second-tier Senator' and claimed the Democrats were using him 'as a pawn to help them'. Hawley later said the bust-up was caused by a misunderstanding, as the president had wrongly been told the bill would force him to sell his assets. 'When we walked through the text of the bill, he was like, 'Oh, OK,'' Hawley told Business Insider, adding that the president was committed to a stock-trading ban. Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, has also voiced his support. 'Whether it's Rep. Pelosi, Sen [Ron] Wyden, every hedge fund would be jealous of them,' Bessent told Bloomberg last week. 'And the American people deserve better than this.' Wyden, a Democrat, is also in the top 30 by paper trading profits in the last 12 months. Wang welcomes a Congressional trading ban, but is sceptical that it will pass. There is simply too much money being made. 'Until then, here's a product where if you can't beat them, we can at least provide you with a way to join them and make money.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The Americans making millions copying their politicians' investing
US politicians seem to know something about the stock market that ordinary Americans don't. Since April 2020, the value of the S&P 500 has surged by a heady 165pc. But over the same period, the stocks most purchased by members of Congress or their families have registered paper gains of no less than 465pc. That's according to a trading strategy designed by a start-up called Quiver Quantitative. American lawmakers are so consistently successful that a flurry of new platforms and apps now compile filing data from US politicians as a key input in strategies for retail investors and even hedge funds. The number of people using these so-called 'copy trading' strategies has exploded. Tens of thousands of Americans now follow and imitate trades made by members of Congress, and they are making millions of dollars in the process. New plans to ban members of Congress from trading could make the boom short-lived, however. The ban comes amid concerns that politicians are unfairly profiting from information gained in their privileged position as a representative of the American people. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi is the old guard of Congressional trading and by far the most copied. The trades she discloses have developed such a reputation for out-performance that they have become market moving in themselves. In January, for example, Pelosi disclosed an investment in a health tech company called Tempus AI. Retail investors piled in. The company's share options surged 124pc. 'It's all INSIDE INFORMATION! Is anybody looking into this??? She is a disgusting degenerate,' Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month. Pelosi says all the trades are made by her husband, a property investor, and she has no involvement in the transactions. Whatever motivates these trades, it is becoming increasingly lucrative for a growing cohort of everyday Americans. Dub launched in March 2024 as America's first regulated brokerage to offer copy trading accounts to mimic politicians and star traders. 'It's been absolutely insane in terms of growth,' says Steven Wang, the founder and chief executive who dropped out of his freshman year at Harvard to build the platform. Today, it has 1.5 million users across America.
Newsweek
10-07-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Members of Congress Investing In Defense Revealed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. At least four members of Congress have recently invested in defense companies, a Newsweek analysis has found. According to a review of financial disclosures—in collaboration with data platform Quiver Quantitative—Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, California House Democrat Gilbert Cisneros, Texas House Democrat Julie Johnson and Arkansas Republican Senator John Boozman have all purchased shares in defense companies since May. While they are not the only politicians to hold shares in defense companies, they are politicians who have purchased stock in defense companies since May. This time frame was chosen to gather the most recent available data, bearing in mind the 45-day lead-in time mandated for members of Congress to report their trades publicly. The stock purchases came at a time in which President Donald Trump mulled increasing U.S. defense spending. Some of the trades interacted with the members of the Congress's legislative committee. All of the companies the politicians traded with have received government contracts. Since purchasing the stocks, the share value of the companies has increased. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/AP/Canva Representatives for Mullin, Cisneros and Boozman said their finances were managed by independent third-party advisors and that they do not choose their shares. Johnson's representatives did not reply to Newsweek's request for comment. But ethics watchdogs warned the trades created conflict of interest concerns. Greg Williams, director of the Center for Defense Information at nonpartisan government watchdog the Project on Government Oversight, told Newsweek: "A blind trust is one in which the beneficiary cannot know what stocks and other assets it contains. If you know these trusts contain military stocks, then these Senators can know as well. If they know they contain these stocks, they can be influenced—knowingly or unknowingly—by that fact. "Whether or not they are involved in the management of these trusts, they are involved in legislation and oversight that may affect the value of these stocks. That is a conflict of interest." A spokesperson for Mullin, whose stock trades have previously drawn scrutiny, told Newsweek: "Senator Mullin uses an independent, third-party operator firm that manages all stock portfolio investments on his behalf. He does not conduct nor inform trades. This independent firm reports bi-weekly with Senate Ethics to ensure compliance with federal law." A spokesperson for Cisneros told Newsweek: "The Congressman and his wife have always employed outside financial advisors who have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain a diverse portfolio. The Congressman and his wife do not manage the day-to-day trading of their investments." A Boozman spokesperson told Newsweek: "The senator holds stocks through an IRA – a retirement account – which is managed independently by a financial advisor. He does not personally trade stocks and files all required disclosures, which are public records, and has supported greater transparency into Members' of Congress financial activities." Congressional stock trading is permitted, but the practice has attracted bipartisan criticism because of concerns it may facilitate insider trading if lawmakers are privy to information about assets that could move markets. There are also concerns politicians with stock holdings can influence the assets they hold to inflate their share value. Some members of Congress are now campaigning to impose a ban on all members and their immediate families from trading individual stocks. There are restrictions on Congressional stock trading. The 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act) prohibits members of Congress and other government employees from using non-public information for private profit. It also requires the reporting of certain transactions to the secretary of the Senate or the clerk of the House of Representatives within 45 days. According to a periodic transaction report filed in June, Johnson, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in General Dynamics Corporation Common Stock on May 2, 2025. Political stock filings come in ranges, not exact amounts. A similar June report showed that Cisneros, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, which funds the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Army, bought between $1,001 and $15,000 of shares within the same value in L3Harris and Northrop Grumman on May 30. Meanwhile, Boozman purchased between $1,001 - $15,000 of shares in Raytheon Technologies on May 30. Boozman sits on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, serving as chairman of the Senate Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and related agencies subcommittee which is in part responsible for funding construction activities in the DoD, like military housing. Mullin, who sits on the Senate Committee in Armed Services, which has legislative oversight of the military, purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 of shares in L3Harris on May 13. Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, the CEO of RepresentUS, a nonpartisan anti-corruption group, told Newsweek the trades create "an obvious risk of corruption." "Stock trading by members of Congress and other senior officials who are making decisions that could affect the value of those stocks creates an obvious risk of corruption and is devastating to public trust," she said. "Americans deserve a system in which they can be confident that their leaders are making decisions based on the national interest, not their bottom lines. A ban on congressional stock trading has bipartisan public support--we just need Congress to act on it." In May, when these trades were made, the White House unveiled a budget blueprint in May which proposed increasing defense spending by 13 percent to $1 trillion. The budget ultimately increased, but by 4.2 percent and Trump bridged some of this gap by injecting funds into other parts of the budget. The "One Big Beautiful Bill," for instance, passed in early July, adding, among other spending agreements. $120 billion in military-related funds. Meanwhile, L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Raytheon, all global aerospace technology companies, have all long received government contracts from the U.S. Air Force, the DoD and other entities. L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon have all received multiple DoD contracts since May, while General Dynamics saw continued labor agreements. "One of the clearest examples of the problem with congressional stock trading is when lawmakers own stock in government contractors directly tied to the work of the committees they serve on," said Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel, and senior director, ethics of nonpartisan democracy group Campaign Legal Center. "It is nearly impossible for such lawmakers to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest — which can greatly diminish public trust," he told Newsweek. "Voters have a right to know that lawmakers are prioritizing the national interest over their own financial interest," he continued. "Until there is a ban on congressional stock trading, the public will continue to see suspicious activity and question what lawmakers knew and when." Donald Sherman, executive director and chief counsel at ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Newsweek: "You don't need to be an ethics expert to understand why it's problematic for legislators to have a personal financial stake in industries directly affected by their legislative and oversight work. Congressional stock trading is a bipartisan problem that impacts every industry and state in our country; unsurprisingly, banning these conflicts of interest has bipartisan support from a wide majority of Americans. People who are struggling to pay for groceries and healthcare, or worried about the fate of our democracy, should not also have to question whether elected representatives in Congress are putting their stock portfolio ahead of their constituents' interests! He added: "Having a third party manager is merely window dressing that does not resolve the conflict of interest, particularly if a Senator is aware of their personal financial stake in a company or industry that falls within their legislative or oversight jurisdiction. The public should not have to wonder whether official acts made by their elected representative might be influenced by financial conflicts." However, some politicians are against greater regulating congressional stock trading. Speaking to The Free Press in November 2024, Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw said he was against a ban on congressional members trading on the stock market.
Int'l Business Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
GOP Lawmaker Caught 'Selling' Stock in Healthcare Group That Accepts Medicaid as 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Passes House, Trade Insider Says
Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R-PA) reportedly dumped stock shares in a major healthcare provider for Medicaid recipients — stock that has now dropped nearly 44% as cuts to Medicaid in Republican's "Big, Beautiful Bill" are finalized by Congress. According to Quiver Quantitative, which tracks stock trading among insiders, including Congress, Bresnahan sold his shares in Centene Corporation on May 15, days before the House initially advanced President Donald Trump's so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill," which includes sweeping tax cuts and spending increases. Critics warn the legislation could strain Medicaid funding and other social safety net programs. Centene ($CNC) stock has since cratered, falling over 43% since Bresnahan's trade, while the broader S&P 500 (SPY) rose about 5% in the same period. The "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed the Senate last week and returned to the House after amendments were made. The massive tax and spending bill passed the House once again Thursday and now heads to Trump's desk. Bresnahan insists he does not personally manage his investments and says his financial advisor made the trade. He has pledged to place his assets into a blind trust but, according to Quiver Quantitative, has yet to do so. In early May, Bresnahan introduced a bill to ban congressional stock trading. He campaigned on restoring trust in government, but has come under scrutiny after disclosures revealed he reportedly made over $4 million in trades during his first months in office. Originally published on Latin Times
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Nancy Pelosi outperforms major hedge funds with jaw-dropping gains in 2024, leaves Wall Street pros in the dust
Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), and her spouse, Paul Pelosi, have been making some quiet waves on Wall Street and have accumulated investment gains that outperform every large hedge fund and the S&P 500, as per a report. Nancy Pelosi and Husband's Net Worth New financial filings disclose that the pair's net value rose to about $413 million in 22024 from $370 million in 2023, as per the New York Post. While legislators are required to disclose only net worth ranges, a market research company such as Quiver Quantitative estimated that the Pelosi portfolio is at about $257 million based on daily stock values it tracks, which is a $26 million jump from 2023, according to the report. Diverse Business Ventures Add to Fortune However, the couple's net worth would be much higher than that because of their other ventures, which include but are not limited to a Napa Valley winery, ownership in a political data and consulting firm and a stake in a Bay area Italian restaurant, reported the New York Post. ALSO READ: US bombs Iran: Tehran sends chilling coffins message to Trump as fears of World War III rises Live Events Smart Trading Strategy in Paul Pelosi's Name But a massive portion of their fortune has come from a sizable stock portfolio and timely trades, all done in Paul Pelosi's name, as per the report. Bloomberg reported that the couple's investment portfolio has gained an estimated 54% return in 2024, which is more than double the S&P 500's 25% gain, and also beating every large hedge fund. A spokesperson told, 'Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,' quoted the New York Post. Early 2025 Moves Signal More Gains The couple also started off 2025 with a good start as they bought call options in January for the then-little-known artificial intelligence health firm, Tempus AI, which has since inked a $200 million deal with AstraZeneca and doubled its stock price, reported New York Post. Nancy and Paul also took out call options for energy company Vistra, whose stock rose last month after it announced a $1.9 billion deal to acquire natural gas facilities across the country from a private equity firm, as per the report. FAQs How much did Nancy and Paul Pelosi make in 2024? They added between $7.8 million and $42.5 million to their net worth last year, as per New York Post. Is Nancy Pelosi directly involved in these trades? No, a spokesperson says she doesn't own stocks or participate in trading, and most activity is in Paul Pelosi's name, as per the report.
