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Forget Pelosi, Here's The Most Stunning Detail From The Congressional Insider Trading Report
Business Insider ^ | 11/14/2011 | Grace Wyler

Posted on 11/14/2011 9:51:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Washington is buzzing about last night's 60 Minutes report that revealed the startling frequency with which members of Congress financially benefit from inside information they get as legislators.

Most of the focus has been on the ethically questionable trading of House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the two highest-ranking and most-visible members of the House.

But the most shocking revelation actually concerns a lesser-known Congressman, Rep. Spencer Bachus, who shorted the market as the economy collapsed in 2008, at the same time that he was the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.

The 60 Minutes report just touched on the Bachus trades. Luckily, the new book on which the broadcast was based has more details.

Slate's Dave Weigel got an early copy of the book, Throw Them All Out by Hoover Institute fellow Peter Schweizer, and the evidence is pretty damning. According to Schweizer, Bachus and Pelosi got secret briefings from Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who basically told the legislators that it was "a matter of days before there is a meltdown in the global financial system.”

From the book, via Weigel:

The next day, September 19, Congressman Bachus bought contract options on Proshares Ultra-Short QQQ, an index fund that seeks results that are 200% of the inverse of the Nasdaq 100 index. In other words, he was shorting the market. It was an inexpensive way to bet that the market would fall. He bought options for $7,846 on a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 8,604. A few days later, on September 23, after the market had indeed fallen, he sold the options for over $13,000 and nearly doubled his money.

And that's only the beginning

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: 60minutes; congress; corruption; insidertrading; pelosi; schweizer
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To: crosshairs
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong."

Thomas Sowell

21 posted on 11/14/2011 10:57:25 AM PST by B.O. Plenty (Elections have consequences....)
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To: SeekAndFind
Lehman Bros collapsed on Sept 16, and according to the article Bachus met with Bernanke on September 18 and then on September 19 Bachus bought contract options on Proshares Ultra-Short . It seems to me that the financial collapse was well underway on the 19th and for sure had made the paper. I suspect many people bought the same contract options throughout the fall of 2008. I am not sure how this qualifies as insider trading when prior to the meeting with Bernanke the financial system had already imploded.

The MSM seems to want us to believe the Bachus incident excuses Pelosi for her actions in her official capacity in killing legislation and directly profiting .

22 posted on 11/14/2011 10:57:32 AM PST by JIM O
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To: USNBandit
What Pelosi did was one step beyond. Not only was she making seven figure investments in an exclusive IPO, she insured she would make money on it by killing a big piece of legislation that would have hurt that investment.

Pelosi may be criminal but not stupid.

She didn't kill it, she simply delayed it until she and her husband had made the killing.

Note that she can now say with a frozen face and uncoordinated hand gestures that she (eventually) passed consumer protection legislation against VISA and the big banks.

23 posted on 11/14/2011 10:57:47 AM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: vette6387
So we are to blame for allowing them to stay and line their pockets at our expense.

My policy is the DRIP policy;

D on't

R e-elect

I ncumbent

P oliticians

24 posted on 11/14/2011 11:05:48 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Attacking Wall Street because you're jobless is like burning down Whole Foods because you're hungry.)
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To: vette6387

I did not know that Britain barred lawyers from being legislators, but I damn well like the idea.

Wall St.
Big Oil
Mega-Corp.....

All pikers compared to the legal industry in this country. They’ve got the biggest self sustaining, self regulating racket going.

Corrupt to the core.


25 posted on 11/14/2011 11:10:44 AM PST by AFreeBird
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To: SeekAndFind

Is Bachus a Dem or a Pubbie?


26 posted on 11/14/2011 11:10:59 AM PST by no dems (Why do you never see "Obama" bumper stickers on cars going to work in the morning?)
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To: Publius6961; SeekAndFind; tallyhoe
Pelosi tells us what she is with her own actions and words. For just a few examples:

She “resigned” from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, an offshoot of the Democratic Socialist of America, upon becoming Speaker of the House.

She was a role model for many of us…
Speaking at the funeral of Vivian Hallinan who, along with her husband Vincent, was deeply involved with communist activities via association with several U.S. fronts of the Communist Party, a friendship with Daniel Ortega and relations with Fidel Castro.

If we are ever going to protect the American people, we must have an outside independent committee.
Quotesandpoems.com (subsequently removed)

Referred to raids by ICE which were conducted pursuant to procedures established by Congress as, un-American.
March 14, 2009

And, then this warning spoken to a reporter:
Anybody who’s ever dealt with me knows not to mess with me...

27 posted on 11/14/2011 11:17:55 AM PST by frog in a pot (Timely recognition of your enemies is an important element of survival.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The best way to skin the Pelosi cat is to go after the broker that allocated her 5000 shares of a “hot” IPO. The stock was issued at $44 a share and the first trade was $55 a share meaning an instantaneous %55000 profit in her account Having spent a number of years as a syndicate manager allocating IPOs on Wall Street, I can tell you everyone in the world wants a hot IPO but it is very rare for an individual investor unless the investor is Buffet size having produced massive commissions for the broker in the past to get 5000 shares. Pelosi is small potatoes. The best way to get at Pelosi is to embarrass the brokerage house and ask who and in what amounts they allocated their shares to and watch them dance redfaced while they try to explain why this one individual account received a lion’s share of the allocation relative to the other individual investors in their firm subscribing for the stock who were denied any allocation at all.


28 posted on 11/14/2011 11:20:51 AM PST by chuckee
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To: SeekAndFind

Bachus is my rep. Look up “empty suit” in the dictionary and you’ll see his picture.


29 posted on 11/14/2011 11:24:55 AM PST by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
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To: USNBandit
One could also argue that Bachus' investments were chump change

Exactly right. Bachus isn't smart enough to make real money out of an insider tip.

This same book also details how 80% of the DoE green energy loans and grants money went to Obama bundlers, campaign chairs and DNC contributors

And they are the real crooks.

30 posted on 11/14/2011 11:27:38 AM PST by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
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To: no dems

He’s a republican. Not that that makes any difference.


31 posted on 11/14/2011 11:52:31 AM PST by Terry Mross (We need an opposition party. I will only vote for a second party.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Why not stop electing people who are lawyers? Deceit and greed are their stock-in-trade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look up the missing 13th Amendment.


32 posted on 11/14/2011 3:30:59 PM PST by Cockroach (If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever. 1984 G Orwell)
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To: SeekAndFind

Does anyone know when this passed? Is it recent or decades old?


33 posted on 11/14/2011 4:29:07 PM PST by alice_in_bubbaland ( Obama, President of the Democrats and Joe Biden, VP are the top morons of the DNC.)
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