Why are members of Congress so good at picking stocks?

The stock market has been performing well of late. Members of Congress are doing better than most when it comes to picking stocks. A lot better. An analysis shows the portfolios of members of Congress have seen significantly better returns than the average investor. Are our men and women in Congress just better at selecting individual stocks? Or are they benefiting from insider information? It is hard to say for certain. But there are plenty of examples of members of Congress writing rules that benefit certain industries, only to profit from that knowledge. A law called the Stock Act is designed to tamp down on congressional trading. It requires that any stock transaction be reported. But it doesn’t seem to be cutting down on stock trading by members of Congress. In fact it has spawned its own cottage industry, with some financial companies even offering investment packages that mirror the trades of members of Congress. When the average investor buy the same stocks as our elected officials, members of Congress profit from what other people invest. That is why Congress should pass the ETHICS Act which would prohibit lawmakers and their spouses from trading stocks in individual companies. Reforming lawmakers’ stock trading could help restore some level of confidence in Congress.