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Most prolific stock traders in the Senate so far in 2022

Though the United States is home to the two largest stock exchanges in the world—the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq—not all Americans invest in them. In fact, according to an April 2022 Gallup poll, just 58% of Americans own stock. American stock owners tend to be older, wealthier, and whiter than the average citizen—much like the U.S. Congress, which is similarly less diverse than the electorate.

Considering this, it’s perhaps no surprise that some U.S. Senators are investors in the stock market. Unlike the average citizen, however, Senators are subject to extra scrutiny around their investments. The STOCK Act—which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2012—requires Senators to disclose purchases, sales, or exchanges of any stock, bond, commodities future, or other securities above $1,000 within 30 days of the transaction.

Some in Congress are pushing for even more transparency around Congressional investments: a bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed several bills that would require members of Congress to place their assets in a blind trust managed by an outside party during their term, though the bills lack leadership support.

Investigating required Senate stock disclosure data can reveal some interesting tidbits about how each lawmaker navigates the stock market. Stacker examined the data for 2022 to see which lawmakers have been the most prolific traders so far in 2022. The trades—which senators are required to report—were filed between January 2022 and June 16, 2022. Total trades include the number of stocks, bonds, and other securities bought and sold during that time, owned by the lawmaker, their spouse, or (in rare cases) their children.

Because the disclosure forms only offer a purchase range and not a true price, Stacker calculated the total range by adding the minimum and maximum ranges for each trade. In the case of a tie, the dollar range of the lawmakers’ trades was used if applicable. Out of the 100 sitting U.S. Senators, 20 have reported trades above $1,000 so far this year. Keep reading to learn more about their investments.

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#20. Sen. Daniel Sullivan (R-Alaska) (tie)

-Number of trades: 1
-Price range of total trades: $1,001-$15,000

Sen. Daniel Sullivan’s sole reported trade so far this year was a partial sale of common stock in RPM International Inc., a multinational company worth $6.1 billion that produces materials including specialty coatings, sealants, and building materials. Sen. Sullivan included a note in his filing that the trade was made by a third-party investment professional who manages his portfolio as part of a long-term diversification strategy.

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#20. Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) (tie)

-Number of trades: 1
-Price range of total trades: $15,001-$50,000

On May 5, 2022, Sen. John Thune sold stock in Independence Realty Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily apartment buildings across the South and Midwest. Notably, Independence Realty Trust Inc. does not have any buildings in South Dakota, the state Thune represents in Congress.

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#20. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) (tie)

-Number of trades: 1
-Price range of total trades: $15,001-$50,000

In late January 2022, Bitcoin dropped in value, sparking fears of a “crypto winter” of major bear markets in cryptocurrency. During the dip, Sen. Ted Cruz purchased up to $50,000 of Bitcoin via River. Cruz has also recently been a vocal supporter of cryptocurrency in the Senate by speaking out against bills that would create unfavorable tax provisions for crypto firms and brokerages. He also proposed a resolution that would allow vendors serving Congress to accept payments in cryptocurrency.

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#20. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) (tie)

-Number of trades: 1
-Price range of total trades: $15,001-$50,000

Sen. Tina Smith reported her husband Archie’s investment in Northern Lakes Capital IV LP, a private equity firm based in Minneapolis. Northern Lakes Capital primarily invests in Midwestern businesses, likely including businesses within Sen. Smith’s state.

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#20. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) (tie)

-Number of trades: 1
-Price range of total trades: $100,001-$250,000

Sen. Mark Warner sold shares of Construction Partners Inc. that he received through SunTx Fulcrum Fund LP, a private equity fund targeting commercial services. Construction Partners Inc. specializes in construction and maintenance of roadways in several southeastern states that border Warner’s home state of Virginia.

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#20. Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Delaware) (tie)

-Number of trades: 1
-Price range of total trades: $250,001-$500,000

In May, Sen. Coons sold stock in W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., one of the top 200 largest privately held companies in the United States. Headquartered in Coons’ home state of Delaware, Gore creates proprietary technologies with the versatile polymer polytetrafluoroethylene for use in things such as medical implants and fiber laminates.

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#14. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) (tie)

-Number of trades: 2
-Price range of total trades: $2,002-$30,000

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell actually hasn’t made any trades himself in 2022, but his wife Elaine Chao—the former Secretary of Transportation under President Donald Trump—has. So far this year, Chao purchased Wells Fargo & Company common stock twice as part of a dividend reinvestment investment strategy, where you automatically invest a stock’s cash dividends into more of the same stock.

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#14. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) (tie)

-Number of trades: 2
-Price range of total trades: $2,002-$30,000

Both of Sen. Gary Peters’ trades so far in 2022 concerned Fortune 500 companies: IBM and Warner Bros. First, he purchased IBM stock in January, then he received Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. common stock in exchange for stock he already held in WarnerMedia Spinco in April as part of AT&T’s spinoff of WarnerMedia.

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#14. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) (tie)

-Number of trades: 2
-Price range of total trades: $100,002-$200,000

The only two trades Sen. Ron Wyden has reported so far in 2022 were made on the same day by his wife Nancy, the owner of New York City bookstore The Strand. Wyden’s filings list that his wife purchased shares of Apple common stock on Feb. 24 in error, then sold them the same day without any gains.

Wyden is an outspoken advocate for data privacy. He has urged tech companies including Apple to investigate the use of fake legal requests by scammers to obtain users’ personal information, and most recently asked Apple to prevent data mining in its app store to protect users seeking information about abortion services.

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#11. Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) (tie)

-Number of trades: 3
-Price range of total trades: $31,003-$115,000

Sen. Patrick Toomey made two sales (one partial and one full) of stock in Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I, a publicly registered non-traded investment fund that in 2017 changed its name to Phillips Edison & Company Inc. PECO acquires, owns, and operates shopping centers anchored on grocery stores. In late February, Toomey purchased non-public stock in Meddo, a Gurugram, India-based health care technology company that connects patients with doctors and clinics.

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#11. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) (tie)

-Number of trades: 3
-Price range of total trades: $80,003-$200,000

All three trades that Sen. Roy Blunt reported were made by his wife Abigail. In February, she sold Kraft Heinz Company common stock options granted in 2012 just a few days before they were set to expire. In early June, Abigail bought stock in Ardagh Metal Packaging, a leading global supplier of metal beverage cans, and sold an asset listed only as KH.

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#9. Sen. Jacklyn Rosen (D-Nevada) (tie)

-Number of trades: 4
-Price range of total trades: $4,004-$60,000

According to Sen. Jacklyn Rosen’s most recent annual financial disclosures report, she has seven different joint brokerage accounts. All four of her trades so far in 2022 were exchanges of underlying assets of her brokerage accounts. Three cases were exchanges of AT&T stock for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. stock as part of the merger. The remaining case was the exchange of ​​Becton, Dickinson and Company common stock for Embecta Corp. common stock as part of the spinoff of Becton’s diabetes management business.

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#9. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) (tie)

-Number of trades: 4
-Price range of total trades: $32,004-$130,000

Like his colleagues from Nevada and Michigan, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and his wife Sandra also received Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. stock as part of the merger with AT&T. In January, Whitehouse also purchased shares of Target and Tesla—but missed the deadline to disclose the transactions by two days, reportedly due to staff transition within his office.

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#7. Sen. Shelley Capito (R-West Virginia)

-Number of trades: 7
-Price range of total trades: $7,007-$105,000

Sen. Shelley Capito’s husband Charlie partially sold holdings in large companies with household names such as Microsoft, Apple, and Lowe’s so far in 2022. Other partial sales included NextEra Energy Inc., the world’s largest utility company; L3Harris Technologies Inc., a technology company and defense contractor; and WEC Energy Group Inc., an energy company operating in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.

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#6. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida)

-Number of trades: 10
-Price range of total trades: $3,700,010-$7,500,000

Combined, Sen. Rick Scott and his wife Ann made 10 separate purchases of municipal bonds so far in 2022. Other than two bonds for the San Diego County Regional Airport and Washington state, the remaining eight bonds covered counties and facilities in Scott’s home state of Florida—including hospital revenue bonds for Miami Beach, transportation revenue bonds for Jacksonville, and airport system revenue bonds for Broward County.

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#5. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

-Number of trades: 13
-Price range of total trades: $223,013-$645,000

All 13 trades that Sen. Susan Collins reported so far in 2022 were made by her husband Thomas Daffron. He purchased both a Paypal corporate bond with a 2.4% rate and a Portland, Maine municipal security. Daffron also bought and sold stock in 11 large companies ranging from Amazon to 3M to The Hershey Company.

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#4. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) (tie)

-Number of trades: 14
-Price range of total trades: $343,014-$845,000

Sen. John Hickenlooper’s wife Robin Pringle made all of the 14 trades reported so far in 2022, and all but one of them were related to her employer, Liberty Media Corporation, and its spinoff company, Liberty Broadband. She both exercised several stock options and partially sold some of the stock. She also sold Chipotle common stock.

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#4. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee) (tie)

-Number of trades: 14
-Price range of total trades: $8,416,014-$41,065,000

On Feb. 28, 2022, each of Sen. Bill Hagerty’s four dependent children became minority owners of Nashville’s Major League Soccer club, with each of their stakes valued between $1 million and $5 million. All of Hagerty’s children also became co-owners of Liberty Partners LLC, a holding company for their sports and entertainment interests—through which they also invested in CareBridge, a Nashville-based health care startup. Hagerty himself also sold stock in Del Taco Restaurants Inc. and Lemonade Inc. through Roundstone Ventures LLC.

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#2. Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Delaware)

-Number of trades: 123
-Price range of total trades: $207,123-$2,055,000

Sen. Thomas Carper’s wife Martha is a prolific investor, with more than 100 trades reported in the first half of 2022 alone. Her trades included purchases of common stock in large companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Visa Inc., and the Walt Disney Company; sales of common stock in other large companies such as Raytheon Technologies and AbbVie; investments in exchange-traded funds that track a specific index, such as ProShares QQQ and VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF; and popular structured products called auto-callables that pay a high coupon if the underlying asset (Broadcom and Boeing, in this case) closes at or above a specified threshold.

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#1. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama)

-Number of trades: 172
-Price range of total trades: $1,761,172-$6,040,000

So far in 2022, Sen. Tommy Tuberville leads his colleagues in the Senate with the largest number of total trades. Tuberville was also a prolific investor in 2021—although he didn’t always meet the disclosure deadlines required in the STOCK Act, and disclosed 132 trades weeks or months too late.

Not only does Tuberville sit on the Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade subcommittee, but he’s also a keen investor in commodities: His financial disclosures show purchases of cattle, corn, and soybeans futures. Jointly, Tuberville and his wife Suzanne invested in large companies such as PayPal and U.S. Steel, among others. In addition, the Tubervilles purchased shares of Alibaba as part of a strategy called “buying to cover” in order to divest the Chinese e-commerce company from their portfolio after critical press coverage.

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