Nancy Pelosi’s 2023 Trading Profits Will Be Over 65% in Stock Options: Report

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by Lydia Moynihan

Nancy Pelosi’s investment portfolio is once again among the top performers on Capitol Hill, and she has recently received a big boost from her use of controversial stock options, according to government disclosures.

The 83-year-old former speaker of the House, a Democrat who still represents San Francisco, returned 65% of his stock portfolio in 2023, more than double the S&P 500’s 24% return. A new analysis of the stock market reveals this. -Trade data site Unusual Whales.

Pelosi was not the only top-performing investor, including other members of Congress who were satisfied with other options. That includes Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who posted a gain of more than 122%. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) rose more than 25%.

Unlike buying individual stocks, options allow for greater leverage. This means you have greater exposure to stocks and greater rewards if your bets are correct.

Ethics watchdogs say options can also be an indicator that investors have access to inside information.

“This is a sign of corrupt quasi-insider trading and should be banned. It’s a sign of risk addiction or corruption,” said Jeff Hauser, founder and director of the Revolving Door Project.

Options trading on Capitol Hill soared from $30 million in 2022 to a record of more than $160 million last year. That’s despite the total number of parliamentary transactions dropping to 11,000 from 14,000 last year, according to the filing.

“Sophisticated hedge funds have teams of people who exist to find small arbitrage opportunities and make profits. Where Bridgewater or Renaissance Capital are missing out on profits, they “It’s ridiculous to think we’re making a profit,” Hauser added.

“It’s either they know too much or they can’t stop thinking about money.”

Spokespeople for Pelosi, Greene and Gottheimer did not respond to requests for comment.

Pelosi’s 2023 return is in stark contrast to 2022, when her portfolio fell 19.8%, and is worse than the 18.2% decline for ETFs tracking the S&P 500, according to a 100-page report by Unusual Whales. It was something.

At the time, Pelosi’s portfolio took a big hit when she and her husband, tech investor Paul Pelosi, announced they were selling 25,000 Nvidia shares at an average price of $165.05 each.

The sale was reportedly made in response to criticism for blocking a bill regulating Congressional stock trading, resulting in a loss of more than $341,000, according to financial reports.

However, late last month, securities filings showed Pelosis was re-entering Nvidia.

The X account, known as Congresstrading, published a screenshot of a disclosure form showing Pelosi purchased 50 call options with a strike price of $120 and an expiration date of December 20, 2024.

The deal that took place last month was for $2 million. According to a rare whale. Disclosure forms indicated the amount was between $1 million and $5 million.

“Ms. Pelosi bet millions of dollars on $NVDA using call options in November. She intended to do this on the Friday before Christmas using deceptive tactics to avoid media coverage.” “We made it public,” the lawmaker said. tweeted.

Not all lawmakers who made big gains this year took advantage of the option. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) – not to be confused with the billionaire King Street Capital founder of the same name – was the top performer this year with a portfolio return of 239%.

Higgins doesn’t actively trade. Rather, his impressive gains were fueled by his NVIDIA holdings, which he purchased in 2021, and whose stock price has also risen 239% in the last year.

The Unusual Whales report also found that of the 100 members of Congress who trade stocks, one-third had a portfolio that outperformed the S&P.

Last year, the average Democratic yield was 31%, well above the Republican average of 18%. Unusual Whales notes that Democrats are more invested in tech stocks (which will skyrocket in 2023), while Republicans are more exposed to the banking and oil sectors.

In 2022, about 20 lawmakers beat the stock market despite Wall Street having its worst year since 2008.

These gains were smaller in percentage terms, with the best performer being Rep. Patrick Fallon (R-Texas), who earned 51.6% on his 2022 investments.

Right behind him was Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), with a 50.8% increase, the report shows.