Thread by @timkmak

I started noticing this trend of TikTokers obsessively following Nancy Pelosi's stock trading disclosures -- and fell into this crazy world where retail investors are mimicking Congressional stock trades:

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…

This isn't a one-off or a fad: people really are buying stocks based on what they see in House/Senate stock disclosures, per research done by a prof at Augusta University.

He found stocks prices got a bump after purchases were disclosed by Congress

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…

There are apps where you can get a push notification every time Pelosi's trading disclosures are released.

"I'm at the point where if you can't beat them, join them," said the app creator.

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…

So far this year, Senate and House members have filed more than 4,000 financial trading disclosures — with at least $315 million of stocks and bonds bought or sold, per @tcarambat

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…

@tcarambat We also spoke to a financial services consultant who was putting together an ETF to automatically track Congressional stock trades.

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…

@tcarambat The surge of interest in retail investing that happened at the beginning of COVID combined with the flurry of stories about alleged insider trading happening in the Senate...

... leading to obsessing over whether members of Congress are trading based on insider info.

@tcarambat There's a deep cynicism that forms the foundation of a trading strategy based on mimicking the stock picks of lawmakers and their spouses.

So the question is before Congress: should lawmakers even be allowed to own individual stocks?

@tcarambat The interesting this is that there is mixed research on whether lawmakers are good stock-pickers. A study in 2004 said yes. More recent research says no.

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…