Congressman on tech committee just invested $450k in these stocks

An October 4 disclosure reveals that Representative Ro Khanna of California’s 17th congressional district has been very active when it comes to investing. The disclosure encompasses more than 200 transactions — most of which range from $1,001 to $5,000. The total worth of the transactions is estimated to be $450,000.

Khanna, a part of the Democratic party’s progressive wing, has been one of the few members of his party to outspokenly support the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) — at the same time, he has long been one of the leading voices calling for the banning of political stock trading.

However, Khanna has previously stated that ‘banning congressional spouses from stock trading would be unfair’. The Representative’s spouse is the daughter of a successful investment firm executive.

Khanna’s committee assignments cast doubt over stock trades

Congressman Khanna is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, as well as a member of the  Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation. 

While his trading activity is vast enough to encompass various industries, his access to information not privy to the public through his congressional assignments gives rise to all-too-common ethical quandaries.

Some of Khanna’s largest investments are in tech — businesses like Aon (NYSE: AON) and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD).

The representative bought AON stock 13 times from September 4 to September 30. During that period, AON stock was trading at levels between $345 and $348. 

At press time, it is trading at $357.17 — having seen a price increase of approximately 3.4% since Khanna’s purchases. However, it should be noted that AON is up 24.34% year-to-date (YTD) — the congressman’s investment might very well signal that there is more room for growth ahead.

Khanna purchased CRWD shares three times in September — twice on September 9 and once on September 17. On September 9, the shares were worth $246.58 — on September 17, the price had climbed up to $268.72.

At press time, CrowdStrike stock is trading at $307.84 — CRWD share price is up 24.72% YTD. At press time, the Congressman’s returns on the first two trades are 24.84% — and 14.55% on the third trade.

Ro Khanna’s profits revealed

Each of the congressman’s AON purchases was worth between $1,001 and $15,000. At the lower end of the estimate, we come to a figure of $13,000 — at the higher end, we come to  $195,000.

At a 3.4% return, Khanna would profit anywhere from $442 to $6,630 on those trades.

The representative’s purchases of CrowdStrike were also worth between $1,001 and $15,000 apiece. The combined worth of his two September 9 trades is between $2,002 and $30,000 — with a price surge of 24.84%, he could be up anywhere from $497 to $7,452 on the purchases.

The third CrowdStrike trade currently nets the Congressman 14.55% in profit — an additional $146 to $2,182.

Once everything is put together, the lowest estimate in terms of profits is $1,085 — the highest is $16,264 — a stark reminder of the inadequacy of the current filing system.

Readers should keep in mind that Khanna’s filing is quite long and detailed — Khanna’s total investments are in the area of $450,000 — his total potential profits are likely much higher (and harder to calculate).