Less than a month ago, as he received briefings on the coronavirus, Rep. Peter Welch purchased more than $7,500 worth of stock in Qiagen, a German diagnostics company that produces COVID-19 tests and, in the midst of a global economic meltdown, has been a rare company with a rising stock value.
In an interview Tuesday, the Vermont Democrat said the purchase was made by his investment adviser and without his consultation. “I can assure you that I had no knowledge of the purchase,” he said. “I had never heard of the company Qiagen.”
Welch said he sold the Qiagen stocks Tuesday and planned to donate all profits from the transaction — he estimated somewhere between $300 and $500 — to the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS), a Vermont-based charity that helps the homeless.
A spokesperson for Welch said he purchased 210 shares less than a month ago at $36.36 a share, an investment of $7,635.60. Shares sold for as low as $38.81 on Tuesday and closed with a high for the day at $39.86, meaning Welch walked away with between $8,150.10 and $8,370.60, a profit of $514 to $735, depending on what time of the day he sold.
Qiagen has developed a test that can differentiate between the coronavirus and 20 other respiratory ailments with results in an hour.
Welch is not the only person on Capitol Hill who invested wisely in recent weeks. According to Politico, a number lawmakers and congressional aides have recently bought and sold stocks tied in various ways to the coronavirus crisis. The most prominent examples were two Republican senators, Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, who unloaded millions in stocks shortly before the market crashed.
According to federal financial disclosure forms, Welch purchased the Qiagen stock on Feb. 27. That same day, Reuters reported that the House Intelligence Committee, of which Welch is a member, had recently received a COVID-19 briefing from America’s spy agencies. Welch appears to have first publicly expressed serious concerns over the Coronavirus on Feb. 26, in a co-authored letter to President Donald Trump.
Welch acknowledged attending recent intelligence briefings, but said he was barred from commenting on their contents. He contended that congressional briefings do not influence his investment portfolio, and said he was first alerted to the coronavirus threat through public channels. “I know the first information I heard about corona was in the newspaper,” he said.
While Vermont’s two U.S. senators, Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy, are invested in a number of mutual funds, their investment activity is much less active than Welch, the state’s sole U.S. representative.
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In 2019 alone, Welch purchased between $16,000 and $240,000 in investments including stocks in companies like General Mills, as well as purchasing Treasury notes. Welch, whose work on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce often involves oversight into technology and consumer goods, has also invested in a number of tech and consumer goods companies, including Orbotech, Church & Dwight, and Mitek Systems.
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch speaks at a press conference in Barre on March 16, 2020, along with Scott administration officials about the impact of the coronavirus. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
In late October, for instance, Welch purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 of stocks in RegenxBio, a company developing gene therapy treatments. Less than two weeks later, on Nov. 8, Welch sold the RegenxBio stocks shortly after the FDA announced it had put a partial development hold on the firm’s leading gene project, which seeks to treat vision loss.
Asked if he has set specific rules for his investment adviser, Welch answered “no pharma.” Asked if he had ever discussed not investing in companies that could potentially see their business under scrutiny by his congressional committees, Welch said he hadn’t.
In 2018, VTDigger reported that Welch was heavily invested in health care companies while pushing a controversial law that some said curtailed the ability of federal authorities to stem elicit black market prescription drug channels. In 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that Welch held stocks in financial firms as Congress debated new regulations on Wall Street firms.
Welch told VTDigger in 2018 that he did not support a ban on congressional stock trading, but pointed out he had been a proponent of the 2012 Stock Act, which formally banned insider trading in Congress. In 2017, former Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., was investigated for insider trading under the Stock Act. He later pleaded guilty to insider trading.
In an interview Tuesday, Welch pointed out that the Stock Act mandated disclosure of congressional investment transactions. “It’s because of that law that you and others were able to see that purchase,” he said. “Transparency is what is really important here.”
In recent years, a number of progressive lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have floated legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks. In recent days, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York announced plans to draft a House bill that would ban stock trading.
Asked if he would support such legislation, Welch expressed qualified support. “I’m very open to it and I’m going to look at it,” he said.
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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
