Contributor, The Freeport Society
Ossoff, Peters, Hawley, and Merkley want it to stop!
So much so that these four senators – Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia), Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) – have submitted a proposal to ban the president, vice president, and members of Congress from buying stocks and a range of other financial assets during their tenures. Spouses and dependent children would be included in this ban.
Hats off to them. Their hearts are in the right place.
But who are they kidding?
To get this approved, they’ll have to navigate a labyrinth of resistance. And even if they’re successful and get this into law with a start date of 2027 – as planned – about as many of their colleagues would conform to these new rules as do those who comply with the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012.
It’s a farce.
Staff at The Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for “sharp accountability reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies, revealing those who bought and sold stocks they regulated and other ethical violations by individuals charged with safeguarding the public’s interest.”
- More than 1,800 federal officials reported owning or trading major tech stocks as the U.S. ramped up scrutiny of the behemoths in that sector.
- At least 60 officials at five agencies reported trading stock in companies right before they announced enforcement actions against them.
- Nearly one in three Environmental Protection Agency officials reported investing in companies that were lobbying their agency.
- 30 senior Federal Trade Commission officials owned or traded stock in companies that were under the agency’s merger review or investigation.
- And more.
But here’s the thing: While it’s unlikely that the new proposal will survive or come to fruition, and while so many ignore the STOCK Act requirements… enough comply for us to take advantage.
That’s why I monitor the reporting sites so vigilantly and let you know as soon as I find any insider trades (political or otherwise) that you can follow.
Over the last several weeks, several interesting trades have popped up. Here’s the latest for you…
Oscar Munoz: Salesforce (CRM)
According to a Form 4 submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Salesforce Director Oscar Munoz bought 2,051 CRM shares at an average per share price of $243.68 on June 21.
In total, the transaction was worth $499,806 and brought Munoz’s overall position in CRM to 7,026 shares.
The purchase also marks Munoz’s first-ever insider buy of CRM stock since he joined the board in January 2022.
Vivek Ramaswamy: BuzzFeed (BZFD)
In May, former 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy disclosed a 7.7% stake in BZFD stock, equivalent to 2.72 million shares.
At the time, Ramaswamy stated that he believed BZFD stock was undervalued and that he wanted to engage in communications with the company’s board and executives in order to maximize shareholder value.
On May 26, Ramaswamy penned a letter to BuzzFeed’s board revealing that he had increased his stake to 8.37%, cementing him as the second-largest Class A shareholder. The letter also noted that BuzzFeed has a “nonzero” chance of becoming bankrupt in December 2024, as that is when the company’s noteholders “can force repayment of your outstanding convertible debt.”
According to a new regulatory filing, Ramaswamy’s stake in the quirky media company has risen to 8.9% or 3.12 million shares. He increased his stake between June 6 and June 20 at prices ranging between $2 and $2.61.
Josh Gottheimer: Broadcom (AVGO)
AVGO’s stock is up by about 60% year-to-date and is set to enact a 10-for-1 stock split on July 15. This caught the attention of U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat who recently disclosed a significant number of trades he made between June 6 and 28.
On June 28, he purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 of AVGO stock. That came just four days after U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat and former Speaker of the House, purchased 20 Broadcom call options with a strike price of $800 and an expiration date of June 20, 2025.
Gottheimer is a member of two committees, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Financial Services Committee. According to Quiver Quant, Gottheimer has an estimated net worth of $48.3 million and has placed a total of 2,818 trades.
Besides Broadcom, Gottheimer’s other purchases include between $1,001 and $15,000 each of Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Insider Action in Nvidia (NVDA)
NVDA has certainly caught the attention of insiders as well as every other investor on the planet… not all of it good.
Near the end of June, insiders of the company reported selling out of $852 million worth of NVDA stock. There have been zero insider buys this year.
CEO Jensen Huang recently disclosed a $31.86 million sale, selling 240,000 shares at an average per-share price of $132.77. Throughout 2024, Huang has sold $275.73 million worth of Nvidia. At the same time, he still owns a staggering 864.85 million shares worth over $110 billion.
Meanwhile, Gottheimer – the same New Jersey politician I mentioned earlier – bought between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of NVDA stock on June 28.
He’s not alone. He joins a growing list of politicians who have bought into the illustrious chipmaker recently. This includes the likes of Pelosi, whose husband bought 10,000 shares of NVDA, worth between $1 million and $5 million, last month.
Per the regulatory filing, on the same day Gottheimer bought his latest batch of tech stocks, he also sold stock in John Deere (DE), Lowe’s (LOW), and Marriott (MAR).
Interestingly, DE reported this week that it’s reducing its workforce by 600 employees from three U.S. factories.
That’s quite the coincidence…
Nevertheless, it appears Gottheimer generally gravitates toward information technology stocks. In fact, by trade volume, IT is by far his top-traded sector. He’s made 760 trades of IT stocks, almost double his next most traded sector, healthcare.
Gottheimer is one of the most active members of Congress when it comes to investing. The Democratic lawmaker made 620 trades in 2023, the fourth highest among a fairly crowded field of congressional investors.
It definitely pays to follow the smart money… and the insider money.
To life, liberty, and insider insights.