Congressmen shouldn't be allowed to trade securities at all. They should be required to put their money into blind trusts where a professional money manager manages the money and the congressman has no decision making authority over how the funds are traded.
Should Congressmen be allowed to trade on Inside Information?
- Thread starter nitro
- Start date
How about making insider trading legal for everybody?
Nice retraction. <sarcasm> Now if Browns bill is all well and good why does Gillibrand need to add "teeth".
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Hereâs the language Brown proposed:
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, by rule, prohibit any person from buying or selling the securities or security-based swaps of any issuer while such person is in possession of material nonpublic information relating to any pending or prospective legislative action relating to such issuer,
if:
(A) such information was obtained by reason of such person being a member or employee of Congress; or
(B) such information was obtained from a member or employee of Congress, and such person knows that the information was so obtained.
Thatâs pretty straight forward. It orders the SEC to enact a rule that is actually a bit more strict â because it explicitly includes swaps â than the insider trading rules that apply to the general public.
If a congressman or senator traded on information while in possession of material non-public information gained because he or she hold office, that lawmaker is in violation. If a staffer or other associate of a lawmaker trades on that information, they are also in violation.
Someone should ask Elizabeth Warren, who is running against Sen. Brown up in Massachusetts, whether she supports her party-mate Gillibrandâs version of the law or Scott Brownâs version.
Every member of congress and anyone who works for them should be forced to manage a hedge fund whose returns are made public. Then we will know who is honest and who is a dirty insider trader. And the funds that make the most money should be forced to donate their profits to the federal government. The losers should be allowed to pass their losses on to their shareholders. That way you will know at the end of the year when you write off your loss that at least it is an honest loss.
This is why economics is not a real science, the method is flawed.
The paper cites:
Rep. Henry E. Brown sits on the highways and transit subcommittee of the House transportation
and infrastructure committee. On Jan. 23, 2009, three days before the administrationâs
economic-stimulus package was introduced on the House floor, Rep. Brown bought shares of
Caterpillar Inc., a maker of heavy-construction equipment that benefits from government
spending on infrastructure projects. Rep. Brown sold the shares on Sept. 20 for an estimated
gain of 39%. (Wall Street Journal, 17 June 2010, C1)
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Odds are that the bill was talked about before it was brought to the floor, so it was public knowledge. And the bill could've been shotdown so there was no guarantee of success with the trade.
Second, he held for 8 months. This wasn't similar to what Generalissimo Bush did when he dumped the stock of that company he sat on the board of.
The above sounds similar to when Eric Cantor had bought TBT this summer right before the downgrade of US debt by S&P. Likewise, there was a warning about the possibility of the downgrade before the actual event, would you call that insider trading too?
The paper cites:
Rep. Henry E. Brown sits on the highways and transit subcommittee of the House transportation
and infrastructure committee. On Jan. 23, 2009, three days before the administrationâs
economic-stimulus package was introduced on the House floor, Rep. Brown bought shares of
Caterpillar Inc., a maker of heavy-construction equipment that benefits from government
spending on infrastructure projects. Rep. Brown sold the shares on Sept. 20 for an estimated
gain of 39%. (Wall Street Journal, 17 June 2010, C1)
--------------------
Odds are that the bill was talked about before it was brought to the floor, so it was public knowledge. And the bill could've been shotdown so there was no guarantee of success with the trade.
Second, he held for 8 months. This wasn't similar to what Generalissimo Bush did when he dumped the stock of that company he sat on the board of.
The above sounds similar to when Eric Cantor had bought TBT this summer right before the downgrade of US debt by S&P. Likewise, there was a warning about the possibility of the downgrade before the actual event, would you call that insider trading too?
Jan 23, 2009 closed @ 35.66
It wasn't till April that he would be even. Bet he was sweating his nuts off....
Now here's an example of a pro:
The Pelosis purchased 5,000 shares of Visa at the initial price of $44 dollars. Two days later it was trading at $64. Woo Hoo!
Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus trades options and short sells. Another pro.
I wonder who manages Obama's money?