Source: Washington Post
by Robert T Miller
“Endorsing individual stocks would be unusual behavior for any president, but in Trump’s case it is notable for a different reason: The president has disclosed owning shares in many of the companies he touts. But as troubling as it may seem for the president to own shares in a company, praise it and profit from the rise in price, it is almost certainly legal. Nothing the president has done rises to the level of insider trading or market manipulation, the two crimes most associated with stock trading. … That doesn’t mean retail investors should look to Trump for stock tips. Securities markets today are so efficient that, after the president says something about a stock, flash traders will act on that information in less than a second. By the time any retail investor waddles in, the stock’s price will already reflect Trump’s advice.” (07/06/26)