Nancy Pelosi's Portfolio Returned Over 700% In a Decade

She is not a "Mama Bear."

She is a stock trader who is bought by the owner-class while happily doing their bidding, like most of our politicians. There are reasons why they are allowed to be career politicians.

While AOC tries and fails to be her protégé, who knows she still has a lot of time, and looking at her record, she is well on her way to becoming the new Pelosi.

According to the alternative data platform Quiver Quantitative, replicating Nancy Pelosi's stock trades would have yielded returns exceeding 720% since May 2014. Despite these impressive returns, the former House Speaker continues to face criticism for alleged insider trading and the potential introduction of new trade ban rules for Congress members.

Many have speculated that the California representative and other members of Congress benefit from insider information about laws likely to impact stock prices. For instance, the 2022 CHIPS Act, which offered subsidies for the semiconductor industry, has been a point of contention. Pelosi and her husband, Paul, sold 25,000 Nvidia shares at a loss when Congress approved the Act but later purchased Nvidia call options in significant quantities, as reported by Unusual Whales.

In November 2023, Pelosi acquired 50 Nvidia call options with a strike price of $120 and an expiration date of December 2024, well before Nvidia's 10-for-1 stock split. "That was definitely one that caught a lot of people's attention," noted Quiver Quantitative CEO James Kardatzke in an interview with Business Insider.

For Nvidia investors, it might be reassuring to know that Nancy Pelosi is not the only member of Congress buying Nvidia shares. Representatives Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts have also added shares of the AI chipmaker to their portfolios.

Pelosi's trades attract significant attention, but she is one of many Congress members with a portfolio generating substantial returns. Republican Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania has Nvidia as one of his top portfolio holdings, returning 512.8% since August 2019 and over 103% in one year. Similarly, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has invested significantly in the "magnificent seven" stocks: Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet. His portfolio has returned over 492% since February 2014 and over 50% in one year.

Many popular online trackers monitor the trades of US government officials based on the philosophy of "if you can't beat them, join them." ...Given that the STOCK Act of 2012 requires Congress members to report trading activities within 45 days of execution, the trade completion date isn't known until much later.