'Congressional Trading Genius' Strike Again! This Time, Tech Stocks Become Their Favorite Targets

The U.S. Congress has long been a "lucky land" for equity investment in the U.S. stock market. Almost all U.S. congressmen who participate in equity investment can obtain a return rate far above the market average like they are all "stock genius".

According to the latest documents, congressmen are beginning to search for cheap tech stocks, as the past month may have been the best time to buy tech stocks.

December last year was the worst month for the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq since April last year. A large number of investors chose to sell tech stocks due to concerns about the inflation situation. But while some are fearful, others are greedy.

According to documents submitted by Republican Congressman James Comer on January 10, he purchased stocks of Broadcom, Uber, computer networking company Arista Networks, and cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks on January 2. In addition, he also bought stocks of Paypal and Home Depot, which are in the consumer or financial sectors, with purchase prices ranging from $1,000 to $15,000.

Comer is apparently not an exception.

Data shows that more than 20 congressmen's investment portfolios obtained a return twice that of the S&P 500 index in 2024. Among them, the investment returns of the top five performing congressmen grew by more than 100%. As one of the "targets", the family investment portfolio of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi increased in value by 71% last year.

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi has attracted a lot of attention due to his repeated successes in the stock market by hitting policy turning points, which has sparked collective outrage in American society. It is believed that this is clear evidence of Pelosi using insider information for trading. He has also single-handedly made the stock trading of the entire Congress a hot topic of public discussion.

Back to the investment strategy of Congress, tech stocks are one of the most favored areas for congressmen. 49% of Democratic congressmen's investments flow into tech stocks, while it only accounts for 15% of the investments of Republican congressmen.

Unusual Whales, which tracks the investment returns of congressmen, has found that the main driving force behind the growth of congressmen's investments comes from the huge profits of large tech companies in 2024, such as Amazon, Nvidia, and Meta. Apple, however, is the top choice for congressmen's trading.

In addition, driven by the development of artificial intelligence and the transformation of the global economy, the software sector is the most popular among congressmen. The trading volume of this sector in the U.S. stock market is also high, highlighting its current strategic dominant position. Following closely are semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, as well as bank stocks.

But these trades are increasingly intolerable to the American public. On January 14, bipartisan members of the House of Representatives reintroduced a new bill, demanding a ban on congressmen and their immediate family members trading individual stocks during their tenure.

Congressmen have warned that although attitudes within Congress on this issue are not consistent, the American public is unanimously opposed to it. As congressmen, they should not use the information gap to seek private gains.