The stock trades made by sitting members of the United States Congress are a well-publicized and controversial topic. Senators and representatives routinely secure far greater profits on average than their constituents do. To boot, they are privy to information that the general public is not.
Some progress has been made in curtailing possible abuses. The passing of the STOCK Act bolstered regulations, as would the proposed ETHICS Act. However, on the whole, both pieces of legislation are seen as ineffective and lackluster — on top of that, these regulations are violated on an astoundingly consistent basis — with little to nothing in the way of repercussions.
Per data from Finbold’s Senatorial Trading Radar, one Senator in particular sold as much as $530,000 worth of stocks on October 29 — in spite of the fact that markets tend to react favorably after elections are concluded, regardless of which candidate ends up winning the presidency.
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Tuberville dumps blue chip stocks across the board
In particular, Senator Tommy Tuberville, the senior United States Senator from Alabama and a staunch Trump ally made 12 transactions on October 29, all of which were sales, per a November 15 disclosure. Ten of those trades were worth between $15,001 and $50,000, while two were valued at $1,001 to $15,000.
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In total, he disposed of $152,012 to $530,000 in stocks — and his trades encompassed quite a few big businesses that are expected to perform admirably in the short and medium term.
One of those companies is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which recently posted a strong earnings beat. Wall Street equity researchers reacted favorably, setting price targets as high as $520.
At press time, MSFT stock was trading at $415, with year-to-date (YTD) returns of 11.90%.
In much the same way, Tuberville sold off his stake in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). The tech giant also had a standout earnings report — and although analysts still see plenty of upside for AAPL stock, Tuberville seems to disagree. At the time of publication, AAPL shares were trading at $225 apiece — marking 21.20% in YTD gains.
Tech wasn’t the only sector that the lawmaker reduced his exposure to — he likewise sold shares in Corteva Inc (NYSE: CTVA), Honeywell International (NASDAQ: HON), and the Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB), all of which are in the green on a YTD basis.
Is the Senator’s sale a bearish signal?
As mentioned, members of Congress are privy to information that can provide a definite edge when it comes to investing. At present, Tommy Tuberville is a member of the Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade, as well as the Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to draw a definite conclusion. As one of the most active traders in Congress, Tuberville is most certainly aware that the market rallies after elections — he could, however, be taking profits due to recession fears, particularly in light of Donald Trump’s proposed tariff plans.
Finally, it’s quite possible that the sale was not motivated by any sort of insider information — the Senator could simply have been reallocating his portfolio or cashing in due to more mundane, personal reasons.
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