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Inside trading is specific to a single stock. Most politicians only hold single stock in a blind trust so they can't really perform insider trading. Instead, th

Inside trading is specific to a single stock. Most politicians only hold single stock in a blind trust so they can't really perform insider trading. Instead, the flap over "insider trading" for politicians is when they, supposedly, change entire sectors and then trade broad, sector based funds. However, I don't think that has actually been proven with more than a look at these financial disclosures. Does it look bad? Sure. Is it illegal? Nope.

celticninja 15y ago
That is kind of my point, for them it is not illegal, for everyone else it is. They are also protected from the kind of direct insider trading that the SEC tries to stamp out in the private sector, to say that it doesnt occur is to be a bit naieve really. Here have a read: http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2011/11/16/congress-and-a-16-year-study-of-insider-trading/ http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2011/11/... "In September 2008, Bachus and other congressional leaders were privately briefed by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the economy’s imminent meltdown. The next day, Bachus was buying option funds that would increase in value if the economy tanked.It did."