One of the bigger storylines of stock trading in 2021 was continued calls for members of Congress to be barred from buying and selling stocks.
Here is a look at just how well members of Congress who traded stocks in 2021 did against the overall market.
What Happened: Many retail traders and some members of Congress voiced concerns of members being able to trade stocks.
Members of Congress can wait up until 45 days after a buy or sell transaction to disclose the trade. The year 2021 also saw many members of Congress fail to disclose their trades within the designated time limit.
Traded were disclosed throughout the year that showed members of Congress buying shares of companies that stood to benefit from several government proposals related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a push for more money allocated to electric vehicles.
From Dec. 1, 2020 to Dec. 22, 2021, members of Congress bought and sold $296 million in stocks, according to a report from UnusualWhales. A total of more than 3,500 transactions from 105 members of Congress were tracked in an annual report for the I am the Senate section of the UnusualWhales website.
Included in the transactions were $140 million in options, up over 5x from the previous year. Over $500,000 in cryptocurrency transactions by members of Congress were disclosed from six members.
Members of Congress beat the market on average with the average gains seen below:
- House Democrats: +14.7%
- House Republicans: +14.7%
- Senate Democrats: +15.4%
- Senate Republicans: +13%
- S&P 500: +13.6%
A total of 35 members of Congress had better returns than the S&P 500, consisting of 19 Democrats and 16 Republicans.
Top 10 Traders: Here were the 10 best trading members of Congress in order of performance per data provided by UnusualWhales.
- Austin Scott (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2011, Georgia
- Brian Mast (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2017, Florida
- French Hill (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2015, Arkansas
- John Curtis (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2017, Utah
- Dan Crenshaw (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2019, Texas
- Nancy Pelosi (Democrat), U.S. Representative since 1987, California
- David Rouzer (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2015, North Carolina
- David McKinley (Republican), U.S. Representative since 2011, West Virginia
- Peter Welch (Democrat), U.S. Representative since 2007, Vermont
- Debbie Dingell (Democrat), U.S. Representative since 2015, Michigan
Related Link: Exclusive: UnusualWhales Creates Nancy Pelosi ETF So You Can Track Her Trades
Key Takeaways: Austin Scott had the two best trades of 2021 according to the data. Scott sold shares of FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) for gains of 780% and 571% in two separate orders during the year.
Mast sold shares of Tilray Brands (NASDAQ:TLRY) near all-time highs in 2021 for gains of 564% and also sold shares for a gain of 340%. Mast bought shares of Tilray before voting in support of the MORE (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement) Act in late 2020.
One of the most notable names on the list is Pelosi, who serves as the Speaker of the House. Pelosi and her husband made several large purchases throughout the year that were widely covered by the media.
Pelosi ranked second in Congress in terms of option purchase volume. Pelosi’s options saw average gains of 36.6%, which could prove conservative given that options are harder to track.
One of the notable transactions by Crenshaw in 2021 was the purchase of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares. The purchase was disclosed after the congressman defended Tesla’s move to Texas, the state he represents.
Among the largest stock transactions (by monetary volume) in 2021 by members of Congress were Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Shell Midstream Partners (NYSE:SHLX), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Antero Midstream Corp (NYSE:AM), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF), United States Steel (NYSE:X) and Alcoa Corp (NYSE:AA).
