Paul Ryan traded on insider information to avoid 2008 crash

It should probably come as no surprise to anyone that someone like Paul Ryan would trade on inside information gained through his position as a congressman to line his pockets, but this particular instance is especially egregious. Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 18, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to disclose the coming economic meltdown and beg Congress to pass legislation to help collapsing banks.

Instead of doing anything to help, Ryan left the meeting and on that very same day Paul Ryan sold shares of stock he owned in several troubled banks and reinvested the proceeds in Goldman Sachs, a bank that the meeting had disclosed was not in trouble. This is the guy Republicans want one heartbeat away from the presidency? He seems more than a little shady to me.

Have a look at Ryan's financial disclosure form for 2008--you can click on each page to enlarge them. The "Transactions" section begins on page 12--scroll through and look at all the trades Paul Ryan made on "9-18-08":

www.the-richmonder.com...
www.opensecrets.org...

TLDR Version;

On September 18, 2008, Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and was urged to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. That same day Ryan sold shares in various troubled banks and invested in Goldman Sachs

And people wonder why congress is full of millionaires? Ryan is just more establishment slime just waiting to screw over the rest of America.

Well, maybe, but you don't have a very strong case yet. CNN was reporting in August that there were 90 troubled banks on the list. And that number was up from previous announcements. Everybody knew that the banks were in trouble. Selling off those banks would have been a prudent move for any American. money.cnn.com...

Holy Crap! Another shady, corrupt politician. Who could have seen it coming?

Eh, pretty much par for the course. It's kind of expected at this point. Actually isn't that a requirement to be an elected official now?

But look on the bright side, with the internet it has become very easy to find out that each and every one of them is dirty. Maybe once more people figure that out, things can change.

Good find though.

reply to post by charles1952


The SAME DAY he met with Bernake, he sold them. Not really a coincidence.

BUST!! Sept. 18 2008 was not a day of pure coincidence or exclusive insider trades conducted personally by Paul Ryan. Rest Assured Ryan and thousands of other investors that day had Brokers working on their behalf. Including ME!!!!!

Please Read

On Thursday (Sept 18), at 11am the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the U.S., to the tune of $550 billion was being drawn out in the matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help and pumped a $105 billion in the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic out there.

If they had not done that, their estimation is that by 2pm that afternoon, $5.5 trillion would have been drawn out of the money market system of the U.S., would have collapsed the entire economy of the U.S., and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed. It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it.

We are no better off today than we were 3 months ago because we have a decrease in the equity positions of banks because other assets are going sour by the moment.

zerohedge.blogspot.com...

The SEC got involved
www.sec.gov...

WE all know what came after...

www.creditwritedowns.com...

To be fair lets look at all congressional trades for that day shall we. It may take a while... Specifically , Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers trades...

Just to be fair, heres a list of top 15.

15 Wealthiest Members of Congress

I would assume, all of them have made money off of insider trading, and Tax Loop holes.

Would love to see how they made their money.

Paul Ryan is not the problem in this case and neither is any of the other politicians for that matter, He did what any smart investor would do or would love to do. He had insider information and he took it, because its legal for them to use but not for us the tax payers. So if its legal for him to use and its a huge benefit why not do it, it would be a dumb business decision not to. Of course its morally questionable , but we know when it comes to moral and money who usually wins.

So I don't blame the politicians for legally making as much money as they can by insider trading, hidden loop hole kickbacks,etc.

I blame the ignorant or hopeless mass middle class tax paying Americans who don't demand that the monetary loop holes in Washington for not making that issue number one. Just about every tax payer in America is unpleased with Politicians, are aware of the rampant corruption in Washington, know about the legal insider trading, and yet they want THEIR party and the same people that created the problems for us to fix the issues as well?

Bottom line Paul Ryan did what Nancy Pelosi and her husband have done which makes it two wrongs, but we are allowing them to do it and we are accepting it.

IMO the only way this is going to get fixed is if :
1. Individual Democrats and Individual Republicans realize that the real issues are not created by Party lines but rather by the legal monetary influences allowed among our legislators from the same people they should be legislating.

2. Individual Democrats and Individual Republicans need to come together and demand that the GOP and the DNC do not talk nor try to concentrate on the symptoms(healthcare,economy,medicare,social security,Safety,immigration ,etc, ....). Those industries are broken because Washington isn't making decisions on what is best for the country, but rather they are making decisions what is best for the lobbyist or special interest groups. Get rid off or minimize the monetary influences in Washington and you might be able to come up with solutions on how to fix those industries.

Until that is done nothing is going to get fix because the lobbyist and special interest groups are using the tax payers money as a pool of money to invest , as an insurance policy, and to purchase their goods and services. The system is working perfectly for them , so why would they want to fix it?

This isn't something exclusive to Ryan. It doesn't make it right by any stretch of the imagination and he along with the entire Congress should be held accountable for it. But to call him out specifically just because he is Romney's pick isn't correct either. While it does put him in a position of greater scrutiny, that resulting scrutiny should be brought to bear on all of them collectively. It isn't a partisan issue both sides have done it and done it with a gleam in their eye and a smile on their face while they made money off the public they should be serving.

reply to post by jibeho


But if he is asking for assistance for failing banks, you don't turn around and aggravate the problem by removing your stocks to invest in a bank that isn't failing. It is a pretty hypocritical move.

reply to post by RealSpoke


Ya, I'm not calling this one Insider Trading. The reason for the meeting in the first place was because of the obvious need for action. In fact, this might be the opposite of insider trading. He may have intentionally left his money in the failing banks longer than he planned in anticipation for the meeting, and when the meeting failed, he did what everyone else was doing, and he moved his money.

Now, if he sits on a Defense Committee, and he buys stocks in some defense manufacturer a month before they award a huge contract to that same manufacturer, then come back with a thread, but if he just pulled all his money out the banks that everyone else was already pulling money out of, I don't see the problem.

Let's talk about insider trading, bring Pelosi, Obama, Reid, Frank, Shumer et al to the party please.

How about the day GS announced earnings, stock began to climb and climb until.... Withing 1 hr Obama was on national TV demonizing banks and specifically targeted GS. By the end of day GS was in the tank as were all the banks. This on top of great earnings.

Coincidence? Sure cost me a bundle. What president in the US history has ever done such a thing? Never!

He also told us, at the very bottom of the market, (well within his term) that things would "get much worse before getting better". Market began to artificially climb for the next 3 years with Geithner and Bernanke's pulling all strings. Tell me that isn't manipulation.

go ahead and let's talk about insider trading.

For one of the most thorough timeline's of All of the events that led up to Sept. 18 and all that followed please read this transcript from Frontline.
www.pbs.org...

Paul Ryan Guilty?? There is no proof whatsoever in the OP or anywhere of anything illegal which is implied in this very misleading title. Where's the proof of insider trading?? Paul Ryan disclosed these very modest transactions. Has the SEC investigated this? Have they filed charges of insider trading against Paul Ryan? NO. It's been 4 years now eh

The Thread title is a HOAX!!!!!

reply to post by nixie_nox


Paulson and Bernake were asking Congress for approval for the TARP bailout. Not Ryan. Ryan and others were just selected to spread the word within congress which tweaked it and voted on it. The first house vote failed to pass it until it was continually tweaked into passage 263 Yes 171 No.

reply to post by RealSpoke


First, lets look at that trade sheet. He had been making transfers ALL year.

So, the title this OP is comepletly misleading!

Now, lets look at who is IN the WHITE HOUSE now!
Obama has his own personal Swiss Banker!

Robert Wolf Top UBS Exec –a major Obama campaign
fundraiser and frequent golf partner of the president bundling the dough for O Regime.

Embarrasing media reports reveal that Swiss Banking Giant UBS top exec
was also one of the Obama campaign’s top bundlers —
So Obama has his hands in deep pockets.

Mr. Wolf; “A ‘Fat Cat’ with the President’s Ear.”

In fact, Obama has bundles ( yes, of money ) and bundlers!

a word that one UBS executive said “makes people’s hair
stand on end” inside the bank — the Swiss banking giant
has decided to take an unusual step.

The bank’s powerful group executive board in Zurich recently
presented Mr. Wolf with an edict directing him to report all his
media inquiries to the firm’s press office. Since then, most of the
requests to speak to Mr. Wolf have been rejected, according to people
briefed on the situation, resulting in a much dimmer limelight for Mr. Wolf.

freebeacon.com...

In fact, after the Times reported the buddy buddy relationship between Wolf
and Obama, Wolf was forced to resign!

One of the biggest banks in the world wants the president’s favorite banker muzzled.

The banker, Robert Wolf, a top UBS executive in New York, is among President Obama’s leading fund-raisers, building more than $500,000 for his re-election so far this year.

A regular presence at big campaign fund-raisers, Mr. Wolf, who is 50, golfs and vacations
with Mr. Obama and is known for e-mailing friends photos of himself with the president.
dealbook.nytimes.com...

Show me Paul Ryans personal Swiss Banker please.

edit on 13-8-2012 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

Originally posted by jibeho

The Thread title is a HOAX!!!!!

Yes, I would agree, its slander.

reply to post by burntheships


Fortunately, the "Guilty" tag has now been removed from this thread title. Now someone has to prove that he actually traded simply based on insider information. Or did his broker work in his best interest?? Any time stamps on these trades. Still waiting on the SEC investigation????

ETA
One small snag with all of this. The now famous Paulson/Bernake meeting was held in the evening of Sept 18 2008. After the Markets closed for the day.

It was a room full of people who rarely hold their tongues. But as the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, laid out the potentially devastating ramifications of the financial crisis before congressional leaders on Thursday night, there was a stunned silence at first.

Mr. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had made an urgent and unusual evening visit to Capitol Hill, and they were gathered around a conference table in the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“When you listened to him describe it you gulped," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

www.nytimes.com...

Attendance at closed door meetings are not tracked by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, which keeps records of voting by members.

We've reached out to Paul Ryan's Congressional office to see if he was also at the meeting.

Other representatives have come under scrutiny for trading on non-public information during the crisis.

Earlier this year, Spencer Bachus of Alabama, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was cleared of insider trading by the Office of Congressional Ethics after it had opened an investigation of his dealings in financial securities.

Below, Ryan's schedule 4 financial disclosure forms showing financial movements (arrows added to point out transactions in question). S's on the document represent sales by Ryan, while P's indicate purchases.

Read more: www.businessinsider.com...

reply to post by RealSpoke


Well, there ya have it. They make a great couple.

Crook/Crook 2012

reply to post by RealSpoke


Nancy Pelosi did the same thing. It would really be nice if you gave a fair look at how both Democrats and Republicans and a bunch of crooks. Do not make out that one party is some innocent group and the other is a low down crook. For once just tell the truth. All congressmen and senators have used their position to do inside trading. It was in the news over a year ago and it is not against the law. I do not know why other than they are the 1% that get to do anything they want. All of them yes all of them are scumbags and we send right back to rip us off some more. I think that makes us all stupid. Its is time to clean house but voters are a bunch of sheep and you will be like a moth and run to the flames over and over getting burned. Then cry about it.

Well, he was in Congress and it was explicitly legal at the time I believe (which is actually unbelievable that Congress would exempt themselves from the law of the land).

Yeesh.. that's some damning info for sure. Not that I'm at all surprised, just that this info should get out there.

Forgive me if I overlooked it, but can his meeting with Paulson and Bernanke be cited to any verifiable source?