The 6 Most Popular Stocks In Congress

The truth will make you sick. Technically it's public knowledge, but I can tell you -- it's Congress' dirty little secret.

Congress is rich. Unbelievably rich. And until just recently, insider trading laws didn't apply to Congress.

I don't know which is worse: The fact that insider trading was legal for some of our nation's wealthiest politicians... or that Congress refused to do anything about it for decades.

"A few lawmakers proposed a bill that would prevent members and employees of Congress from trading securities based on nonpublic information they obtain. The legislation has languished since 2006," according to The Wall Street Journal.

That was, the legislation languished until 60 Minutes -- one of the most-respected investigative journalism programs on television -- dedicated a segment to the issue. Here's a portion of what they had to say...


"In mid-September 2008, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average still above 10,000, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were holding closed-door briefings with congressional leaders, and privately warning them that a global financial meltdown could occur within a few days. One of those attending was Alabama Representative Spencer Bachus, then the ranking Republican member on the House Financial Services Committee and now its chairman.

"While Congressman Bachus was publicly trying to keep the economy from cratering, he was privately betting that it would, buying option funds that would go up in value if the market went down. He would make a variety of trades and profited at a time when most Americans were losing their shirts."

And that was just one example. Also dug up by 60 Minutes:

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her husband have participated in multiple exclusive IPOs -- including that of Visa (NYSE: V). According to one report, Pelosi purchased 5,000 shares of Visa at the IPO price of $44. Just a couple of days later, when the stock was trading to the investing public, it traded at $64 per share.

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) bought shares of healthcare companies days before the public option was pulled from the legislation. The removal of the public option proved to be a boon for private health insurers, making a significant sum for the Congressman's investments.

The report from 60 Minutes led to a frenzy. And a few months after the story aired, the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, which curbed insider trading by Congress, was signed into law on April 4, 2012.

But why was it delayed for so long?

Get this: For the first time in history, more than half the members of Congress are millionaires. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics -- a nonprofit that examines the influence of money on politics -- at least 268 of the 535 members of the 113th Congress need at least seven digits to disclose their net worth. By comparison, about 5% of American households are worth more than $1 million.