Nancy Pelosi, the “Queen of Stonks”, makes another incredible stock trade

Oh, Nancy. You’ve done it again.

I wrote back in July how Nancy Pelosi, the US House Speaker, has a crystal ball when it comes to the stock market. Her nickname, the Queen of Stonks, says it all.

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Nvidia plunges but only after Pelosi’s sale

With US legislators required to file their stock orders within 45 days, per law from 2012, Pelosi is required to reveal all her trades – or her husband’s, as she claims. In a filing from July, she confirmed she had sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia.

Paying $165 per share, Pelosi received a windfall of $4.125 million.

The US Government told Nvidia last night to restrict chip sales in China and Russia. The stock plunged on the news, currently down 11%, trading at $134 per share. That means Pelosi’s sale would be worth $3.35 million today, a rough drop from the $4.125 million she received 5 weeks ago.

It’s just the latest prescient move which Pelosi has pulled off. Her doubters will say the fact she is involved in writing the legislation for these very same companies she is trading as the reason, but that could be just a coincidence…right?

Legality

I’m singling out Pelosi here because she is the highest profile representative involved in this practice, yet there is a whole bunch of them at it. It has actually been one of the few issues both political parties in the US have been able to agree on, funnily enough. Congress representatives have argued that banning stock trading would hamper efforts to recruit the best candidates for the job. I’ll let you decide about whether that makes sense.

The 2012 law requiring disclosure of transactions by lawmakers has done little to curb the practice of insider trading, which was the whole reason it was instilled. Last year alone, a study showed 54 members of Congress violated the Act. Although to be clear – the act doesn’t even prevent the insider trading, it just requires reporting transactions within 45 days.

Recently, following mounting public pressure at her dizzying portfolio gains, Pelosi has made an about-turn. Public outcry rose in particular following reports at the start of the year she made $30 million on bullish call options of tech stocks – the very same ones she was involved in regulating.

U-Turn

The 82-year-old stock whizz has now said she supports an initiative to ban lawmakers trading. Until then, however, it seems she is making hay while the sun shines. And just for the avoidance of doubt, again, this is both Republicans and Democrats engaging in this practice.

But there really is only one Queen of Stocks. According to Finty, Nancy Pelosi and her husband have an estimated net worth of $120 million. Her salary is $223,500 annually. I think it’s fair to say the stock ban won’t stop her putting food on the table.

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