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2021-12-31 Government Corruption
Nancy Pelosi scoops up call options for Google, Disney, Roblox stocks
[NY Post] Congress is in recess for the holidays — but Nancy Pelosi has kept busy playing the market.

The Democratic majority leader and her husband, Paul Pelosi, recently bought millions of dollars worth of call options for stocks including Google, Salesforce, Roblox and Disney, financial disclosures published Thursday show.

The purchases occurred from Dec. 17 to Dec. 21 — just days after Pelosi insisted in a press conference that members of Congress should be allowed to trade individual stocks despite often being privy to insider information that can move markets.

"We’re a free-market economy," Pelosi told reporters, adding that members of Congress "should be able to participate in that."

The Pelosi family’s trades this month include Google and Salesforce call options worth between $500,000 and $1 million each, as well as Roblox call options valued at between $100,000 and $250,000. The duo also bought up between $250,000 and $500,000 in calls for chipmaker Micron Technology and between $100,000 and $250,000 of Disney call options in disclosures that were earlier reported by Congresstrading.com.

Paul Pelosi runs Financial Leasing Services, a real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm. In recent years he’s made big-money bets on companies his wife is supposed to regulate, including Amazon, Apple and Google.
Posted by Frank G 2021-12-31 06:56|| || Front Page|| [12 views ]  Top

#1 So we're looking for a tech market boom?
Posted by Skidmark 2021-12-31 07:29||   2021-12-31 07:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Yep
December’scalls — which are set to expire in late 2022 and early 2023 — show that the Pelosis believe tech stocks are going to continue their current bull run in the new year, according to Thomas Hayes of Great Hill Capital.

“They’re trying to ride the momentum,” Hayes told The Post. “The Pelosis live in San Francisco — they’re around a lot of hype so I’d see how they’re caught up in the euphoria.”
see also
Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended lawmakers saying that the US is a "Free-market economy" and lawmakers should be allowed to buy stocks even though there has been a surge in STOCK Act violations.
Nancy Pelosi defends lawmakers owning individual stocks

Some DC insiders have speculated that Pelosi is slow-walking bipartisan legislation that would hurt big tech firms.
Posted by Frank G 2021-12-31 07:45||   2021-12-31 07:45|| Front Page Top

#3 Or, walking the rubes into a trap. Like all other laughable investment rules for congresscreatures, who says she will be bound by the "investment" moves she makes?
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 07:55||   2021-12-31 07:55|| Front Page Top

#4 Not tech market overall -- most of the high fliers like Teladoc have been crushed this year -- just a select few big-donor California-based companies that Nancy and Hubby Paul know well through their SF/Hollywood social circle. Salesforce (Benioff) and Disney (Iger) are the tells.

Also, most of these companies have pending business in Washington (Google's cloud business for ex) or are influenced by decisions made by the Pelosis' pal in Sacramento -- Disney's parks business for ex.

Nancy will probably retire in 2023. Look at the structure of the bets she and hubby made: nearly all of these are call options that expire on 9-16-2022. A couple of them expire in January 2023.

Nicely timed for Nancy & friends to influence DoD or other federal agencies to award billion-dollar contracts to Google Cloud. Or for Brandon to issue an executive order to alleviate the chip shortage by shoveling money to Micron.

Disney seems like a wise investment on the merits though. Maybe Roblox too. Perhaps she and Brandon sniffed out an opportunity to piggyback on the kiddies' fave.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 07:58||   2021-12-31 07:58|| Front Page Top

#5 Oh, wait. Now we see the Roblox connection: clearly Roblox founder David Baszucki of Santa Cruz CA must now be a Democrat donor. Why else would Nancy and her pals allow him to game a ridiculous fake "small business" loophole in order to avoid taxes on his $7B fortune?

Wonder what material inside info Baszucki is passing to the Pelosis... is Roblox going to be acquired at a substantial premium before 9-16-2022?
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 08:08||   2021-12-31 08:08|| Front Page Top

#6 They're very selective and savvy investors who are almost certainly trading on inside information -- which as Nancy notes is entirely legal for her and the rest of our kakocrats.

Notice that they're NOT buying call options on Microsoft or Amazon. Just those companies' rivals Google (for Cloud) and Salesforce (for collaboration) plus Disney and the obvious acquisition play, Roblox, also Paul's domain of real estate.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 08:14||   2021-12-31 08:14|| Front Page Top

#7 The tech regulation angle isn't the play here. Facebook is tthe biggest beneficiary of any "slow walk" on that front, yet Nancy and hubby Paul are not buying call options on Facebook.

The drivers here are very likely their access to inside info from their pals on the Pacific Heights / Napa Valley social circuit + access to inside info about federal contracts and executive orders.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 08:25||   2021-12-31 08:25|| Front Page Top

#8 Risky play then (which I don't see them making.) After Nov. 2022, Bidet misadministration will be totally handcuffed. EOs will be limited to how much sugar people are allowed to put in their coffee in the press pool bullpen.
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 08:29||   2021-12-31 08:29|| Front Page Top

#9 The Micron pick is fascinating. Semiconductors is not an industry that outsiders or amateurs can play successfully.

Wonder what's in the works in Washington.... have to think there's some kind of "shortage"-based emergency legislation or executive action coming down the pike in 2022
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 08:39||   2021-12-31 08:39|| Front Page Top

#10 Also Roblox (!) for fux sake. These geezers know nothing about MMOGs. There must be some inside info being passed on that one.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 08:41||   2021-12-31 08:41|| Front Page Top

#11 After Nov. 2022, Bidet misadministration will be totally handcuffed.

Ah, Grasshoppa, note expiration date: SEPT 16, 2022.

These are call options, the insiders' favorite trading vehicle.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 08:43||   2021-12-31 08:43|| Front Page Top

#12 So they buy shares that take a crap a 2 months later? Doesn't seem likely.
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 08:49||   2021-12-31 08:49|| Front Page Top

#13 Once again reinforcing the REAL reason people spend $10m to $20m to get elected to a beltway position that only pays $250,000 per year.
Posted by Besoeker 2021-12-31 09:02||   2021-12-31 09:02|| Front Page Top

#14 ^ This
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 09:04||   2021-12-31 09:04|| Front Page Top

#15 The point is, they're NOT risky. She's just trading on inside information. These are all companies based in her backyard. She and her husband mingle with the executives of these companies.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 10:47||   2021-12-31 10:47|| Front Page Top

#16 Like insiders know when the crash is coming. Comon, man.
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 10:49||   2021-12-31 10:49|| Front Page Top

#17 "Yes, yes, madame speaker, you should buy our stock!" Right about the same time I (insider) am selling mine.
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 10:51||   2021-12-31 10:51|| Front Page Top

#18 What, exactly would PeeLousey do? Screech that insiders had lied to her?
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 10:55||   2021-12-31 10:55|| Front Page Top

#19 Suppose you just found out these people you spent years sucking up to were "retiring" and actually going to be out of power due to an electoral shift. What would you do?
Posted by M. Murcek 2021-12-31 11:01||   2021-12-31 11:01|| Front Page Top

#20 Her husband made $5 million in June when he exercised 4,000 call options on Google.

Do you seriously believe that Paul Pelosi was not privy to material inside information from the people who send millions of dollars each other to his wife and her DNC?

Two weeks ago she actually publicly defended the insider trading exemption for herself and the rest of Congress. It's blatant, obvious. She and her husband clearly have access to inside information and they trade on it for millions in profit.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 11:57||   2021-12-31 11:57|| Front Page Top

#21 I hate every 1 of these crooked bastards.
Posted by Chris 2021-12-31 13:52||   2021-12-31 13:52|| Front Page Top

#22 Nancy and Paul may not know anything at all about tech. But I think they have a very good idea what the federal budget and regulatory regime will look like,.
Posted by Tom 2021-12-31 13:58||   2021-12-31 13:58|| Front Page Top

#23 A simpler explanation is that they schmooze with these people, who give them material inside information about future events that will move the stock.

This is consistent with Pelosi's trading strategy: he favors in the money long-dated call options on companies located in his & Namcy's backyard.
Posted by Merrick Ferret 2021-12-31 16:08||   2021-12-31 16:08|| Front Page Top

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