Key Takeaways
In a recent tweet , Edward Snowden commended Warren Buffett for his exceptional investment track record.
The Russia-based whistleblower and fugitive pointed out the impressive average annual return of 20% on Berkshire Hathaway shares, juxtaposing this with the stock-selection skills of congressional members.
Edward Snowden recently compared the investment returns of Warren Buffett with those of various members of Congress.
He highlighted the investment achievements of Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif), Rep. Donald Beyer (D-Va.), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), with Meuser’s investments yielding an annual average return of 40.3%.
In comparison, the investments of Pelosi, Beyer, and Gottheimer have seen returns of 21.8%, 20.3%, and 25.9%, respectively.
However, when these returns are put into perspective with broader market performance, a different picture emerges. The Invesco Trust Series, which mirrors the Nasdaq 100 index , has outperformed the investment returns mentioned by Snowden, with a one-year return rate of 50.74% and a start-of-the-year return of 7.36%.
An early advocate for the cryptocurrency, Snowden used Bitcoin as early as 2013 to finance the servers used in the acquisition of some classified documents.
Snowden humorously remarked on the exceptional trading performances of certain Congressional members. He suggested politicians were outperforming even the most acclaimed investor in history. His ironic commendation hints at the investing prowess seemingly possessed by these representatives.
The backdrop to Snowden’s commentary is a broader discourse on the stock trading activities of Congress members. The performance of an ETF that monitors the stock trades of Democratic members potentially highlights this. The ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 since its inception in 2023.
https://twitter.com/wsb0dte/status/1770244997519921233
Also, Nancy Pelosi and her husband, a venture capitalist, have been spotlighted for their profitable dealings in stocks, notably with cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks Inc . This even drew the attention of figures like Tesla’s Elon Musk, who engaged with a discussion initiated by Republican broadcasters Tucker Carlson and Tulsi Gabbard questioning the success of Pelosi’s stock selections.