Which stocks did U.S. politicians purchase this week?

Hello,

below a summary of relevant events happened in the stock market in the last week

📈 1/ Stocks bought by US politicians last week

This week, the trading activity at Capitol Hill was substantial, with 163 transactions taking place

Hotels, Restaurants & Software were the most invested sectors

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🏦 2/ US Politicians potential insider trading: Silicon Valley Rep. Reports Bullish Cybersecurity Investment

Disclosing a whopping 621 trades on September 09, 2024, Rep. Ro Khanna might have set a new record for trade count among Congress members. With transactional dates stretching as far as early August, a good chunk of these trades were timely reported following bullish price hikes in stock.

One such stock on the list was Fortinet Inc (FTNT). On August 08, 2024, Rep. Khanna’s spouse purchased between 18 - 266 shares of Fortinet, amounting to almost $15,000 in value. Since the purchase, FTNT stock has seen a price hike of around 35.62%.

Around the time of the transaction date, Fortinet reported its Q2 2024 results. The company reported quarterly revenues of $1.43 billion, marking a rise of almost 11% year-on-year. The company anticipates scoring a Q3 revenue in the range of $1.445 billion to $1.505 billion, with revenues expected in the range of $5.800 billion to $5.900 billion for fiscal 2024. Adding to this was the cybersecurity company’s acquisition of Next DLP, a company specializing in insider risk and data protection on August 06.

To wrap it up, Fortinet was one of the few companies that survived the market’s volatility in August 2024, which ended with a gain of 2.3% for the US large-cap benchmark index.

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How to be notified when politicians buy / sell stocks

As seen before, some suspicious trades were made by Congress Members and their relatives

However, the GOOD NEWS is that their moves can be copied (politicians need to disclose their stock positions)

The Seven Lakes Research analyst team provides PREMIUM detailed updates from Monday to Friday with all the relevant fact on: 

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📄 3/ Interesting stock market stories

STORY #1:  Republican Report Blames Biden for Chaotic Afghanistan Withdrawal Amid Rising Congressional Interest in Defense Stocks

A recent Republican report from the U.S. House of Representatives blames President Joe Biden’s administration for the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. The report, released by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argues that the administration prioritized optics over security during the withdrawal, which followed an agreement brokered by former President Donald Trump in 2020. It claims that the Biden administration ignored clear warnings about the fall of Kabul and delayed evacuation plans due to concerns about the optics of an emergency exit.

Texas Representative Michael McCaul, who led the investigation, criticized the administration for not preparing adequately for Kabul's collapse, which could have ensured the safe evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghan allies. In response, the White House condemned the report, accusing McCaul of focusing selectively while downplaying Trump’s role in the withdrawal agreement. Democrats also criticized Republicans for excluding them from the investigation.

Interestingly, despite geopolitical tensions, aerospace and defense stocks have consistently outperformed, with annual returns of 12% over 35 years, compared to the S&P 500's 10%. Congressional investors have shown strong interest, with 38 members trading over $3.6 million in defense stocks, 26 of whom increased their holdings.

If you want to be notified when insiders trade stock, we send daily email alerts here 

STORY #2: Buffett's Berkshire Continues to Trim Bank of America Stake

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/B) has sold $228.7 million worth of Bank of America (BAC) shares, continuing its reduction in holdings of the second-largest U.S. lender. Between September 6 and 10, Berkshire sold 5.8 million BAC shares, bringing the total sold since mid-July to 174.7 million shares valued at $7.19 billion, according to LSEG data. Despite these sales, Berkshire remains Bank of America's largest shareholder, holding 11.1% of the company’s shares.

Berkshire will continue reporting sales until its stake falls below 10%. Buffett first invested in Bank of America in 2011 with a $5 billion purchase of preferred stock. The recent reduction comes over a year after Buffett praised Bank of America and its CEO Brian Moynihan. Moynihan noted Buffett hasn’t discussed his reasons for selling.

A Deutsche Bank analyst suggested Berkshire may reduce its stake just below 10% to avoid additional regulatory scrutiny. Bank of America’s stock fell 0.8% in premarket trading Wednesday and has underperformed since Berkshire began selling.

Representative Ro Khanna recently purchased shares of both Berkshire Hathaway and Bank of America, while Congressman John James sold shares of both companies in September 2024.

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STORY #3:  A Summary of the Main Trades Placed by Politicians and Insiders this Week

• Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) has disclosed new stock trades, many mimicking Nancy Pelosi's (D) largest holdings, including NVDA, PANW, GOOG, and CRWD, all of which have seen declines.

• Greene holds 34 stocks, while Pelosi holds 23, with nearly half of Greene’s portfolio mirroring Pelosi’s investments.

• Senator John Hickenlooper (D) purchased up to $100k in LINE on 7/3/2024, disclosed by his spouse on 9/5/2024.

• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) bought Hecla Mining Company (HL) stock, her only trade in months, while Josh Gottheimer's (D) FICO stock has risen 53% since his May purchase.

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📄 4/ Political Trading Bot

As you may remember, we have a trading bot that buys the same stocks as politicians

The bot is offered by the SEC registered broker QB, which will perform the trades. We will just provide them with the necessary data to execute

This means that every time politicians buy sizable amount of stocks, the bot buys those stocks as well

If you want to learn more about how to get access to the Political Trading Bot, click on the video below.

We assessed its performance, and it has been delivering solid results so far.

• We launched in May 2022 and the performance was +24% return

• Performance since April 2020 was +237% return