About 67% of the American population believe lawmakers should be barred from investing in stocks, as they can be privy to information unavailable to the public. At present, a group of young traders have been tracking the trading activities and investment strategy of prominent politicians and sharing them via TikTok
Last year, a TikToker who goes by the account name @quicktrades shared with his followers information that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband invested $300,000 on the shares of International Media Acquisition Corp. (IMAQ) shares. The TikToker commented that the House Speaker was a psychic for having the confidence to invest a large sum on the company. .
Another TikTok user named Chris Josephs (@irisapp) released a video of how Pelosi’s husband purchased NVIDIA shares, a month before it was announced that the company’s chips would be utilized in the development of a supercomputer for the US government. Moreover, Josephs mentioned how Pelosi’s disclosed positions indicated increased trading of their initial investment by 20% to 30%.during the pandemic.
The TikTojers’ vigilance is drawing attention to how lawmakers are able to circumvent the STOCK Act passed by the Obama administration in 2012.
Why was the STOCK Act Legislated and Enacted
The STOCK Act, which stands for Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge was passed by lawmakers to protect privileged information from being utilized in insider trading. The goal of the Act is to prevent the use of non-public information from being used by members of Congress and government employees, to their advantages Furthermore, the Act also stipulates that any trades accomplished by lawmakers or their relatives should be disclosed within a 45-day timeframe.
Former President Barack Obama had expressed hopes back then that the passing of the STOCK Act would help reduce the lack of trust between Washington, D.C., and the American people, Apparently, a lot of young traders are now convinced that the elite who are controlling the politicians, also have access to non-public information that they can use for their own investment activities.