Why Retail Traders Are Monitoring Paul Pelosi's Stock Moves

Nancy Pelosi’s wealth has increased substantially since she regained her position as the most powerful woman in Congress. Her net worth increased from $114 million in 2019 to $315 million in 2021.

Although Pelosi doesn’t trade stocks, her husband Paul does. Retail traders and brokers are keeping an eye on what Paul is doing in the stock market to help them determine what to do next. Paul is a venture capitalist and his stock picks have been profitable. Should you follow Paul’s stock investment ideas?

Iris’s co-founder Christopher Josephs said that all of Paul's trades have been long-term winners. Since the initial investment, each of Paul's reported positions has increased by 20 percent–30 percent. CrowdStrike led the way in 2020, followed by Tesla, Alphabet, and Nvidia.

Iris is a social investing app that allows retail traders to see which stocks friends, influencers, and professionals are buying. The trades made by lawmakers or their family members must be declared within 45 days of execution.

Paul earned $5.3 million in July by executing call options to buy 4,000 shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, right before the House Judiciary Committee voted on antitrust laws. Retail traders think that it’s a good idea to keep up with lawmakers and see what they’re buying since they're the ones making the rules.

Microsoft owns the enterprise SaaS (software-as-a-service) ecosystem. It's difficult to get things done with any other office software package, especially when your coworkers and partners also use Microsoft SaaS products. Paul executed two call options on Microsoft on March 19, 2021—150 options with a strike price of $130 and 100 options with a $140 strike price. While there were some bumps, it was a well-executed move overall with Microsoft up over 33 percent YTD.

On Feb. 18, Paul bought 15,000 AllianceBernstein shares. On Feb. 23, he acquired 25,000 shares. With a YTD performance of over 49 percent, AllianceBernstein has been one of Paul's best performers. AllianceBernstein is an asset management firm providing investment management and research services to institutional, high-net-worth, and retail investors worldwide.

Paul purchased Netflix stock in June 2020, while the U.S. and the other countries were dealing with the initial devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of shares bought isn’t available, although the cost ranges from $1 million–$5 million. With most people stuck at home, the streaming services stock had no choice but to rise.

Paul also owns Nvidia stock worth $1 million–$5 million. With the global chip supply shortage worse than previously predicted, semiconductor manufacturers might enjoy unprecedented relevance for another year or two. The other stocks that Paul owns are PayPal and American Express.

Pelosi doesn’t own any stocks and the trades are made by her husband. She doesn't have any previous knowledge of or involvement in any of the transactions. Pelosi is the only lawmaker who makes these stock declarations.