Using Politics for Personal Gain and a Question of Ethics

I do not like to talk about politics publicly. We each have our views, believe in what we want to, and support who we feel has our best interests in mind. The reason I do not talk about this stuff publicly is that people cannot just accept that we have different views. Sure, I will listen to what you have to say, but I will not berate you for it. Unfortunately, too many want to berate others so I just keep it out of the public conversation. All of that to say, this will not be a political post, but rather just some thoughts about politicians and using their office for personal gain.

If you have not seen the news, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) both received classified briefings about the severity of the coronavirus currently wreaking havoc on the world and it's economy. Shortly thereafter, they began dumping stocks and profiting millions of dollars ahead of the dramatic downturn in the stock market; a downturn that has slowed down a bit, but may not stop anytime soon. Even after dumping their stocks, they continued to reassure the American people, their constituents, that everything would be fine; echoing President Trump's word. Why, then, sell large portions of your portfolio?

There have been cries about insider trading and calling for these two to resign. But, is this really insider trading? It is really hard to say. As I understand it, insider trading has more to do with executives, like a CEO, selling off large shares of stock because of information he or she knows about the company they lead and that it would have a negative impact on the company's stock price. The information is not readily available to public shareholders and, based on that, it is insider trading. Burr and Loeffler certainly are not CEOs of major corporations; they are senators. Thus, I would be reluctant to say this is insider trading. However, when it comes to ethics, now we have an argument.

I really have not seen much on Burr's transactions, but Loeffler has put hers out on twitter and her senate page for the world to see. Now, here is what is interesting about the transactions in February. There was a gradual sell-off of a few companies over the course of a few days and then they drop a few full sales of all shares and, interestingly enough, this included Exxon Mobil. On the same day as the Exxon Mobil sale, she purchases shares in Centrix and Oracle. On the surface, it may not seem like that big of a deal, but here is where ethics comes into play.

On or around February 13, there was a classified briefing which Burr had attended. I have not been able to find if Loeffler attended the same briefing. The mass sale of Exxon Mobil shares occurred on February 14, the same day as the mass purchase of Centrix and Oracle shares. Obviously, we are seeing that the coronavirus is causing oil prices to plummet. Coincidentally, Centrix and Oracle are two companies that would stand to profit greatly off of the working from home, or teleworking, concept to prevent the spread of the virus. I leave it up to you to make up your own mind. Was this unethical trading? Did the information she obtained from either the briefing or, perhaps, Burr persuade her to make a move?