Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge

Since I was about nine years old, my dad made sure to put a pretty large emphasis on the importance of investing. Now, about eight years later, my portfolio has gone really well. In 2013 I invested in Apple and in 2017 I invested in Nvidia. Both were very good calls but it’s Nvidia and Apple, it’s not like I was making some crazy call option or short given that I have been invested in some of their and the economy’s biggest growth periods. I’m no day trader. However, after taking business math and becoming somewhat adept at reading charts, and having a surface-level understanding of trading and all its complications, I have learned a lot of really sad realities of trading in America. Such as the fact that 89% of all stock equity is owned by the top 10% of investors. However, after going down the lovely rabbit hole of Investopedia, Yahoo Finance, and my favorite Finance Podcast: The Trillionaire Mindest I’ve learned about the sad reality of Insider Trading, especially in politics.

Even though the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge(STOCK) act has been in place for almost ten years, that has not stopped anyone. For example, the speaker of the house who many people likely know to be Nancy Pelosi. What you probably didn’t know, is that she is a massive Inside Trader. What I know for sure is that Nancy and her Husband have not stopped trading on congressional knowledge. Many people don’t see anything wrong with a Congress member trading individual stocks as literally, every other person is not allowed to. As of early this year, 59 Congress members were identified by Insider and other organizations as actively violating the STOCK act. FIFTY-NINE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. That’s over half the Senate or over ten percent of total Congress members. That may seem like a small number but that’s only people who are obviously violating it. That doesn’t count any potentially savvy investors or anyone who may be in the yellow zone of violating the STOCK act. In a time where economic policy directly affects some companies that make more money than some countries, it’s pretty integral that these people are unbiased in their policymaking. This just isn’t the case, these people are continually beating the market because they are trading on congressional knowledge because I know for a fact that 60 different people are on the level of Warren Buffet. And that raises the age-old question: how the hell do these people even mildly care about you when they can make hundreds of millions of dollars off of the economic policy THAT THEY MAKE. Imagine being allowed to trade on stocks that your actions directly affect, before anyone else can, and the only reprimand is a two hundred dollar fine. OUT OF ALL THE GOD DAMN MONEY, THESE STUPID POLITICIANS MAKE(over $100,000 a year and millions in investments) ALL THEY GET IS A $200 FINE. That’s not even a drop in the bucket, it’s a drop in a lake. But by all means, your lovely politicians care.

Photo Credit: Nasdaq.com

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