The drift between the Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. has never been larger, with different outlooks on the economy, politics, and migration.
This competition has transpired in the form of insider stock trades in the U.S. Congress and Senate, with some politicians making millions of dollars due to their well-placed stock trades.
The current stock market situation has brought significant gains to the S&P 500, with the technology sector being the biggest winner. This has allowed U.S. politicians from both sides of the spectrum to record handsome profits.
However, the recent pullback in the technology sector has caused one of the biggest daily shifts in gains. Republicans recorded a $2 million profit due to their focus on energy stocks. In comparison, their Democratic counterparts lost a combined $2.6 million.
Who lost, and who gained the most from stocks in U.S. politics?
Pete Ricketts, a Republican Senator from Nebraska, accounts for over half of the Republican profits with a solid daily gain of $1.23 million, followed by James French Hill and Kevin Hern, Republican House Representatives who made $190,000 and $178,000, respectively.
On the other side, House Democrat Sara Jacobs, who is a granddaughter of the Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) founder Irwin Mark Jacobs and owns a substantial stake in QCOM stock, has lost $1.62 million in a single day due to a 5.50% decrease in QCOM share value.
She is followed by notable insider traders such as Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Senator from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse, who lost $517,000 and $302 million each.
In 2023, Democrats won the stock market contest
According to a report from U.S. politician stock trade tracker Unusual Whales, Republicans earned an average return of 17.99% on their trades, while Democrats earned an average return of 31.18%.
The report explains this difference by noting that Republicans had significant portions of their portfolios invested in financials, oil, and commodities, all of which had a rough year.
If the current trend holds, Democrats seem poised to win this year as well, as the technology sector is having an impressive performance overall, boosted by the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
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Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
