Nancy Pelosi's husband buys millions worth of Nvidia stock ahead of chip-manufacturing bill vote

[867-5309.]

The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just bought as much $5 million worth of stock in software and computer-chip company Nvidia, publicly available financial disclosures show.

According to the disclosures, Paul Pelosi purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of Nvidia stock NVDA, 3.46% on June 17.

The stock purchase comes as the Senate is expected to meet this week to discuss a bipartisan bill to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the country. The bill aims to provide grants, tax credits and other incentives for companies to manufacture semiconductors in the United States.

“The Speaker does not own any stocks,” Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hammill, said in a statement to Fox Business about the stock purchase on Monday. “As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the Speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked ‘SP’ for Spouse. The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.”...

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nancy-pelosis-husband-buys-millions-worth-of-nvidia-stock-ahead-of-chip-manufacturing-bill-vote-11658179117

Interested to see everyone's take on this. It seems like a bad look, at least. Could a law forbid members of congress and their spouses from trading on the market? Should it?

Nancy has said she is open to reform on this issue.

[cilla4progress]

1. It should

Be against the rules

[Mike_in_LA]

2. Don't like it at all

Pelosi is an icon, but this is a horrible look.

[FakeNoose]

4. If a Repuke did this, everyone would be shrugging their shoulders

Perhaps Paul Pelosi's stock broker might have something to say on his behalf? I don't know.
If Nancy says she had no direct knowledge, I believe her.

[blueknight73]

11. On the other hand

If a Repuke did this we would be screaming bloody murder

[Celerity]

32. +1

[Raine]

36. Exactly nt

[SunImp]

39. Some Democrats would be screamed at just not any of the Leadership

[TheBlackAdder]

29. Republicans did it with early COVID PPE, pulled out of restaurant and other hospitality stocks.

Last edited Tue Jul 19, 2022, 07:55 PM - Edit history (1)

[FakeNoose]

31. Yes they did and it was outright FRAUD

We have no way to know if Paul Pelosi did insider trading on this stock deal.
But I think he deserves the benefit, until we know more.
Nancy said she had no advance knowledge and I believe her.

[AndyS]

5. Yeah, it's a bad look.

Awhile back D leadership, I asume Pelosi included, passed a bill that would have forebade this but in conferance the Rs amended the bill to limit stock trades to Legislators only not family members. Nice way to put lipstick on a pig. The bill only applied to trades affected by legislation under consideration, in other words insider trading.

[former9thward]

44. The Rs have no power to amend bills in the House.

An amendment needs a majority vote and the Rs do not have that.

[Baggies]

6. Bad Look

Gives the appearance of having insider knowledge that she passed on to her husband.

[Beachnutt]

7. Thanks for the stock tip...

I may buy some too.

[867-5309.]

13. lol

Can I get a little something for the tip?

[Native]

17. My thought exactly!

[onecaliberal]

8. He's doing something legal? Yawn.

[Elessar Zappa]

9. As long as it's not due to inside information then

I have no problem with it.

[867-5309.]

24. That's what's tough about it

They're married and share a bank account

[Elessar Zappa]

26. That doesn't mean it's insider trading.

[Torchlight]

28. What exactly is the actual concern?

Reading the story allows for some relevant context I think you may have overlooked.

If you didn't overlook that context, then I'm afraid I'm completely lost on your concern. Could you build on exactly what that concern is?

[TheBlackAdder]

30. Yeah, I think there was a lot of media buzz even before the bill was written.

[pwb]

10. Put me down as who gives a rats ass.

Like she was the only one in congress to buy any stock in Chips? This is a hit story.

[brush]

12. Congress to try to increase semiconductor manufacturing...

in the US so it follows that the stock of companies in the industry will go up.

Ok, that's not unexpected. The report should also tell us how many other investors bought semiconductor stocks because of this news.

I'm betting he's not the only one.

[Voltaire2]

14. This really has to be made illegal.

We need to be the clean government party.

[Celerity]

33. +1

[Bettie]

15. This is wrong

Being a member of congress should not be a ticket to wealth simply because you (or your spouse, children, etc.) get insider tips and are allowed to do things others can not do.

It is supposed to be public service.

Also, "oh, only my spouse owns stocks!" is a stupid and disingenuous argument.

NOTE: I do not see this as bashing, it is wrong for ALL of the profiteers of the House and Senate. It gives the appearance of conflicts of interest and probably actual ones for at least some of the members. If you or I did this, we'd be in big trouble.

[jonstl08]

16. Looks bad

They are going to vote on some chip making law and he buys stock while they are writing up the bill. Looks like it is some sort of insider trading. All US Reps, Senators, VP, Potus and administration personnel should have their investments including spouses in a blind trust so they do not know how it is invested. They have no control over it.

[Tomconroy]

18. Not a problem. The bill is obviously public information. Anybody

can act on it if they think the stock is a good bet. This is not insider information. Anybody can follow what bills are being considered by Congress.
A complete non issue.
Hope his individual stock purchases turn out better than mine usually do.

[Raven123]

19. Not s crime, but a terrible look months before the election

[zonemaster]

20. This bill is mainly for chip fabs, and Nvidia doesn't fab its own chips

Nvidia uses TSMC and Samsung, both overseas companies with overseas fabs. Intel would be the big winner as the bill currently stands, since they have a lot of domestic fab capacity. If Congress appropriates some of the money to chip design, not just manufacture, this would possibly be a bigger deal for Nancy Pelosi.

Chip stocks have been pounded, recently. He may just be buying it on the dip.

[gratuitous]

21. The House passed its version of the bill in February

The Senate version is marked up for a vote this week, common knowledge to anyone who can follow the Senate's calendar. Meanwhile, Paul Pelosi made his stock purchase in June, four months after the House vote and one month before the Senate vote. The purchase was disclosed in full compliance with the rules. While this is probably cause for the vapors at Fox, anyone with a lick of sense doesn't have to get nearly so upset.

I don't have a position as to the larger question of whether members of Congress or their spouses or their children or their cousins or their in-laws or their out-laws should be trading on the market, but there doesn't appear to be anything nefarious going on here.

[Calculating]

22. Yeah

I've been buying Intel, AMD and Nvidia as well. Good buying opportunity for chip stocks.

[Torchlight]

23. Relevant to include that Nvidia does not manufacture chips

It’s worth noting that Nvidia designs their owns chips, but hires other companies to manufacture them and likely would not directly receive benefits from subsidies related to this congressional bill.

[Demsrule86]

25. This is from the daily caller a right wing source and should not be posted here

I saw it yesterday...that is the original source.

[beaglelover]

27. Of course it should. No one else or their spouses can trade on inside information and

neither should members of Congress and their spouses.

[Victor_c3]

34. Was the purchase made before or after the bill was announced?

If the purchase is made from information that is readily and publicly available, then I don’t see the issue. If not, then I’ll have a completely take.

Like I assume most here do, I expect absolute accountability from my elected officials.

[W_HAMILTON]

41. After.

The House passed a bill back in February and the Senate passed its own version shortly after that; the bill referred to now is simply the part of the process where there are negotiations on how to iron out the differences between the two versions so that a final version can be sent to President Biden for his signature.

[Victor_c3]

42. As long as it's above board, I'm alright with it

Thanks for the explanation.

At this point, it might not be the best for optics, but it doesn’t look like any insider trading occurred. I say have at it

[867-5309.]

45. It hasn't passed the Senate

and she could have information on it's status there.

Like a number of folks here, I think it's at least a bad look.

[Samrob]

35. GOOD!! Dems need money too! nt

[Raine]

37. They have billions of dollars already

you would think that be more then enough for generations to come. Seems so many of these people money is an addiction just like drugs.

[Victor_c3]

43. I really don't get the drive to be worth billions

The moment I had $10 million, I’d quit trying to get more.

Reminds me of the survey from this article:

https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/16/how-much-money-is-needed-for-ideal-life-study

I think the same study found that a majority of Americans needed $100 million or more to live their ideal life.

How much crap and things does the average person need?

At 42 years old, all I want is a newer (i.e. used) Porsche 911, a garage full of woodworking tools, and a 3-4 bedroom house in the woods. In reality, I can make every bit of that happen - and I don’t even have a million dollars.

[brooklynite]

38. My wife can't buy crypto because of her regulatory responsibilities...

I would never consider buying it on my own. A politician (especially in Leadership) shouldn't need a rule to avoid an obvious risk of appearing to trade on inside information.

[W_HAMILTON]

40. Your post should be alerted on for smearing Democrats.

The original story was reported on numerous rightwing websites and since been picked up by more reputable ones -- did you choose the link you did to "information launder" it? -- much like how we normally see even legitimate sites report on rightwing-manufactured bullshit eventually.

The underlying bill has been publicly reported on for months:

January 25, 2022 - "U.S. House leaders unveil chips, China competition bill" (https://www.reuters.com/business/us-house-leaders-set-unveil-chips-china-competition-bill-2022-01-25/)

February 4, 2022 - "U.S. House backs sweeping China competition bill as Olympics start" (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-set-pass-sweeping-vote-china-competition-bill-2022-02-04/)

March 8, 2022 - "More than 140 U.S. lawmakers urge speedy action on chips funding" (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/more-than-140-us-lawmakers-urge-speedy-action-chips-funding-2022-03-08/)

[Takket]

46. Kelly Loeffler was caught red handed insider trading to profit off the pandemic

and there was zero response from Congress. So it seems there is no issue with insider trading for Congresspersons.

[Celerity]

47. +1