Congressman Discloses First Stock Purchases Over A Year Later: Investors See Red Flags

Investors are paying close attention to trades recently disclosed by a congressman. Along with the stocks bought being the first transactions ever disclosed by the congressman, the trades happened over a year ago, violating the STOCK Act for filing on time.

Congressman Discloses Stock Trades

Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) recently disclosed his first ever stock transactions, as tracked by the Benzinga Government Trades page.

Walberg, who has been in Congress since 2011, has not previously disclosed any stock transactions. While that would be enough to draw attention to stock picks by a member of congress, the trades are also drawing attention for another reason.

All of the transactions disclosed by Walberg were made on Feb. 7, 2025, or more than a year ago.

Members of Congress are legally obligated to report their trading transactions within 45 days of the transactions. Failure to do so violates the STOCK Act and results in a $200 fee.

NotUs and Quiver Quantitative have both profiled the STOCK Act violations.

Among the notable stocks traded by Walberg included buying $15,000 to $50,000 in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock and buying $1,000 to $15,000 in Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock.

Along with buying up shares of Magnificent Seven stocks last February, Walberg also bought several oil and defense stocks.

The list includes:

• Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in Chevron (NYSE:CVX) stock
• Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock
• Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in Jacobs (NYSE:J) stock
• Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) stock
• Bought $1,000 to $15,000 in Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) stock
• Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) stock

Trades Draw Attention

Benzinga has previously highlighted that congress members who own defense stocks and oil stocks could benefit from continued escalation in the Middle East.

The attack on Iran has led to higher oil prices and oil companies seeing improved financials.

The Trump administration continues to push for higher budgets for defense spending going forward, something that would benefit defense stocks like those owned by Walberg.

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