United States Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz has acquired a stake in ViaSat (NASDAQ: VSAT), a company known for producing military communications equipment.
This purchase comes at a peculiar moment, with accelerated chatter about the possibility of World War Three stemming from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
This transaction is noteworthy, given the congresswoman’s position on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction.
Her role involves overseeing military infrastructure and investments, raising questions about potential intersections between her legislative duties and personal financial decisions.
Therefore, this prompts speculation about possible insider trading, particularly given that Schultz has recently been involved in other questionable stock trades.
One more:
Tina Smith, the junior United States Senator from Minnesota, made quite the suspicious trade on November 12, per data from Finbold’s Senatorial Trading Radar.
This wasn’t the first time that Smith invested in TCMD shares — she had previously done so in November of 2023, as well as on March 11 this year. To be more precise, this trade was made by Senator Smith’s husband, Archie — an independent investor who largely focuses on healthcare companies.
Here’s where things get interesting, or at the very least rather convenient. Tactile Systems is a healthcare company — and a relatively small one, at that. TCMD is a small-cap stock, with a market capitalization of just $382 million. Senator Tina Smith currently serves on the Senate Committee on Health. The business is also based in Minnesota — her home state.
Interesting that Viasat is up 27% week to date, however that jump seems to coincide with the public disclosure, so now we wait to see if any contracts or other positive news is forthcoming.
I wonder how much of politicians gains are from insider info verses the dumb money piling in afterwards… obviously the earlier you can access public disclosures potentially the better, especially if looking at momentum trading.
The other funny thing is the price dropped between the purchase date and the disclosure due to poor earnings… almost like it was planned to help pump the stock or some other shenanigans?
Republican Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, who represents Florida’s 27th congressional district made a significant profit on a low-profile mid-cap stock, per data from Finbold’s congressional trading radar.
On May 1, the congresswoman made a $15,001 to $50,000 investment in DT Midstream (NYSE: DTM), a little-known natural gas company. The purchase was made public through a June 10 filing.
At the same time, Salazar closed her position in New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ: NFE). Her timing was certainly auspicious — since the trade, NFE stock has dropped by 62.22% — in contrast, DTM stock has risen by 73.86%. At press time, DTM shares were trading at $107.15 — at the time of her purchase, DTM stock was trading at a price of $61.63.
The congresswoman is a sitting member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs — a position that is doubtlessly beneficial when making investments in the energy sector. In the worst case scenario, at the lower end of the $15,001 – $50,000 range, Salazar has made a profit of $11,079 on this single trade — in the best case scenario, the figure is $36,930.
Oil also happens to be one of her primary political interests. Salazar has taken an active role in trying to cut off Cuba from Mexican oil shipments, as well as introducing legislation that would stop Venezuelan oil exports. On the domestic front, she has supported measures that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from being able to set emission standards for new vehicles.
And the Congressional Bill to stop this kind of shit has stalled:
Little headway has been made in addressing the issue — the STOCK Act, which regulates congressional trading, is violated on a regular basis. The ETHICS Act, which would expand regulations, is seen by many as being ‘too little, too late’ — and since being introduced in April of 2023, it has seen little progress in terms of getting through the legislative pipeline.
I gotta run for Congress-- get me on a seat at the trough.
Basically legalized corruption. It’s like in Mexico where police officers get paid so little, they need to take bribes in order to stay afloat, as well as keep them safe. I heard someone said a good portion of illegal aliens in the US are actually law enforcement officers who had to flee from Mexico because they would be killed otherwise (because they wanted to be a good cop, not a corrupt one).
It means you can’t be an upstanding and good politician in the US, because you will have bad things happen to you if you go against the prevailing corruption.
More importantly, the STOCK Act does not prohibit lawmakers from trading in companies over which they have significant influence, including within the jurisdiction of their committees. This raises serious concerns about our elected representatives and their potential conflicts of interest.
