Sitting U.S. politicians tend to secure far greater average returns on their investments when compared to their constituents. Lawmakers have an informational edge — both in general and through their various committee assignments. On top of that, they often regulate the very industries they invest in.
Efforts to curtail or rein in this practice have been rather unsuccessful. The penalties for late filings and minuscule — as a result, the regulations in question are violated regularly. What’s more, the value of trades is reported in wide ranges — obscuring the exact amounts of money being invested.
It comes as little surprise that Senators and Congresspeople make plenty of suspicious stock trades. Back in early January, Finbold’s congressional trading radar picked up something rather interesting. A congresswoman sold a stock that she had been holding for two and a half years — just in time to avoid a significant drop in price.
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Carolina congresswoman times suspicious stock trade perfectly
On December 6, 2024, Virginia Foxx, the Representative of North Carolina’s 5th congressional district, sold between $50,001 to $100,000 worth of Pembina Pipeline Corporation (NYSE: PBA) stock.
At the time, Pembina stock was trading at $39.44. By press time on February 3, the price of a single PBA share had fallen to $36.11. While that might not seem like much in absolute dollar terms, it represents a pretty significant 8.69% drop.
If the investment was at the lower end of the reporting range, Foxx’s timely sale prevented a $4,345 loss — at the high end of the range, the hypothetical loss expands to $8,690.
On its own, that wouldn’t cause much suspicion — but the Pembina Pipeline Corporation is now exposed to significant risks, following President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canada. The company operates cross-border pipelines — and although energy products won’t face the 25% import tariff that other exports will, they will still carry a new 10% levy.
Foxx is a Republican congresswoman — a party insider, she has been a member of Congress since 2005 and has held various influential positions, including as chair of several House committees. In addition, she is an outspoken supporter of the president — having voted to object the certification of the 2020 presidential elections.
It should be noted that Trump has repeatedly called tariffs and other geopolitical threats a method of leverage in negotiations. However, as a high-ranking member of the Republican party, Foxx might well have been privy to actionable information regarding the flow of negotiations and the timing of the tariffs.
Featured image via Shutterstock
