r/tradewithcongress

Rep. Josh Gottheimer bought NetEase (Chinese tech) while simultaneously authoring legislation to ban TikTok and DeepSeek over CCP ties. He sits on the Intelligence Committee as Ranking Member of the NSA & Cyber Subcommittee. He decides which Chinese tech companies are national security threats. NetEase isn't on his list.

The timeline:

• October 17, 2025: Gottheimer buys NTES ($1,001-$15,000). Weeks later, the US and China finalize a one-year tariff extension through November 2026. Chinese stocks rally. NetEase jumps on the news as reduced trade barriers directly benefit its global gaming distribution.
• February 3, 2026: Gottheimer leads a letter demanding President Trump crack down on CCP-linked tech companies TikTok and DeepSeek. He calls the CCP a threat that "will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security." He is long a Chinese tech stock while writing this.
• March 5, 2026: Gottheimer sells NTES ($1,001-$15,000).
• March 20, 2026: Gottheimer sits in a classified Intelligence Committee hearing on the 2026 Worldwide Threats Assessment. He presses officials on Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and global economic disruption.
• April 6, 2026: Gottheimer buys NTES again at ~$112.63 ($1,001-$15,000). The stock is 25% below its 52-week high. 31 analysts rate it Strong Buy with a $162 target, roughly 40% upside from his entry.
• May 19, 2026: Trade disclosed. 43 days after execution. The STOCK Act allows 45. Two days before NetEase's Q1 2026 earnings call.
• May 21, 2026: NetEase reports Q1 2026 earnings.

Why this matters: Gottheimer holds dual seats on Intelligence and Financial Services. On Intelligence, he gets classified briefings on Chinese technology threats and knows exactly which companies Washington considers dangerous. On Financial Services, he sits on Capital Markets (jurisdiction over PCAOB, listing standards, and delisting policy) and Digital Assets/Financial Technology/AI. He knows whether delisting for Chinese stocks is real or bluster. He knows the scope of tech restrictions. He knows the trajectory of trade negotiations. The market prices all Chinese stocks with a broad "China risk" discount. Gottheimer can distinguish between companies that face actual regulatory danger and companies where that discount is free money.

His track record: 3,300+ trades since 2017. ~22.93% annual returns vs the S&P 500's ~10%. Sold Silicon Valley Bank stock on March 9, 2023, one day before the bank collapsed. Traded up to $104 million in defense contractor stocks in 2024 while on intelligence committees. Violated the STOCK Act with a 9-month late disclosure. Fine: $200.

Same-day batch trades (also disclosed May 19): He also purchased AMD (semiconductors directly affected by his committee's chip export policy), Goldman Sachs (a bank regulated by his Financial Services subcommittees), Freeport-McMoRan (copper/critical minerals tied to defense supply chains he oversees), CBIZ (professional services), Intapp (AI software for financial firms, the exact sector his Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act targets), and First Watch Restaurant Group (the one trade with no obvious committee overlap).

NetEase reports Q1 2026 earnings today, May 21. Gottheimer bought at $112.63. Whether earnings come in strong or weak, we don't know yet. But a member of the Intelligence Committee and Financial Services Committee who has been cycling in and out of this stock around classified briefings and trade deal announcements probably has a better read on it than you do. Do your own research.

Busy reporting day for Tim Moore and Josh Gotthe. Interesting group of stocks.

Byron Donalds: ~$30K Tony Wied: ~$50K Ro Khanna: ~$15K Charles Fleischmann: ~$15K Josh Gottheimer: ~$15K Michael McCaul: ~$15K

And the fact that Khanna is buying makes it even more compelling

Here's why:

1. He bought SanDisk 8 months ago
2. That stock is up over ~3,000% since
3. ServiceNow "maybe" could be the next SanDisk (we'll see)

The politicians buying:

• Ro Khanna
• Gil Cisneros
• Jared Moskowitz
• Rich McCormick
• Julia Letlow

Beginning in late last year Sen. Tina Smith and her husband have divested over $1M in stocks, which no purchases. Here are some of the stocks divested: GIS, PEP, HBAN, BRK.B, MMM, DXCM, PODD.

He’s either completely oblivious to how this could positively impact the stock that he just bought

Or we may have just witnessed the actual current sitting president attempt to boost their own personal investment

He is +19% so far

So let’s just say we wouldn’t be surprised to hear Trump say something like, “Nobody knows more about Nvidia than I do”

For context, this a feature within a project I've been working on for the past year. I wanted a clean view to keep track of those money-maker politician trades. I'd love to get feedback on the UI/view.

- March 26, 2026: The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation (CITI) held a hearing titled "Information Technology Posture of the Department of Defense." The DOD Chief Information Officer testified on enterprise IT modernization, cybersecurity, zero trust implementation, enterprise cloud, and digital infrastructure spending priorities. Ro Khanna (D-CA) gave the opening statement as the subcommittee's ranking Democrat.

- April 10, 2026: The Department of Justice announced IBM agreed to pay more than $17 million to settle False Claims Act allegations on DEI compliance in its federal contracts. It was the first major settlement under new Trump-era contractor DEI enforcement rules, and it resolved an overhang on IBM's federal contract standing.

- April 13, 2026: A trust associated with Khanna's family purchased IBM shares as part of a batch of roughly 60 stock buys on the same day. Disclosed range: $1,001 to $15,000.

- Today: Position is down roughly 6% from entry. The next catalyst is the FY2027 NDAA markup expected this summer.

For context on what IBM does for the Pentagon: in February 2026 the Missile Defense Agency selected IBM for the SHIELD program under an IDIQ contract with a $151 billion ceiling. That same month, IBM won a $112 million Defense Commissary modernization contract covering 235 military commissaries worldwide. IBM's Granite large language models are integrated into Lockheed Martin's AI Factory, used by more than 10,000 defense engineers, and its dedicated Defense Model is built for deployment in classified, air-gapped environments. IBM is the single largest IT contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Where his work overlaps this trade:

Khanna sits on three bodies that touch IBM's federal business. He is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services CITI subcommittee, which has direct jurisdiction over DOD cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, information technology, and digital innovation. He sits on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation. And he sits on the Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China. The CITI subcommittee's jurisdiction is not adjacent to IBM's federal product line. It is IBM's federal product line.

The March 26 hearing put the Pentagon's Chief Information Officer in front of Khanna's subcommittee to discuss the exact contract categories where IBM is the incumbent. Eighteen days later, the family trust bought IBM. A retail investor reading IBM's 10-K gets the company's version of its government pipeline. Khanna gets the Pentagon's version, with follow-up questions.

The forward-looking piece is the FY2027 NDAA. Khanna's CITI subcommittee writes the cyber, AI, and IT funding sections of next year's defense authorization bill, and drafting was entering its early phase in April 2026. The FY2026 NDAA already directed DOD to establish a cross-functional AI assessment team by June 2026 and ordered Cyber Command to produce an AI industry collaboration roadmap by August 2026. Those provisions feed IBM's federal segment directly, and Khanna has input into whether they get expanded, funded, or cut in the next cycle.

Through his Oversight seat, Khanna had early visibility into the April 10 IBM DEI settlement before it resolved publicly. That settlement removed a regulatory overhang from IBM's federal contract standing. Three days later, the family trust bought IBM.

Khanna has also been one of the most vocal members of Congress on the ongoing military conflict with Iran. He introduced a bipartisan War Powers resolution and pressed the Defense Secretary on costs. Wartime environments accelerate IT and cybersecurity procurement as DOD expands operations, and IBM is a primary beneficiary of that spending cycle. Khanna sees both the operational tempo and the supplemental defense spending implications before the public does.

This is not an isolated pattern:

Khanna's family trust reported more than 3,000 trades last year totaling nearly $50 million. A 2022 New York Times investigation found that more than 15% of his family's trades overlapped with the companies his congressional duties touched. From January 2024 through April 2026, his family's trading returns outperformed most other members of Congress, including Nancy Pelosi.

The IBM purchase was one of roughly 60 stock buys his trust executed that day. That is consistent with a diversified portfolio rebalance. But when one of those 60 stocks happens to be the Pentagon's top IT vendor, and the buyer happens to run the subcommittee that controls that vendor's funding pipeline, the batch context does not make the trade routine. It makes the signal harder to isolate, not absent.

On the public stance:

Khanna has long maintained that his family's trades are managed by his wife's trust without his involvement. He has also positioned himself as one of Congress's loudest voices calling for a ban on Congressional stock trading. The position is small ($1,001 to $15,000) and currently down about 6% from entry. The thesis is multi-year, anchored on the FY2027 NDAA markup expected this summer. This isn't a victory-lap post about a printed alpha trade. It is pointing out that the informational asymmetry is real regardless of where the mark sits today.

The timeline:

- March 31, 2026: NVIDIA announces a $2 billion strategic investment in Marvell Technology ($MRVL) and names it the primary design partner for custom AI accelerators under NVLink Fusion.

- April 1, 2026: The Commerce Department opens applications for the American AI Exports Program, a federal initiative bundling US semiconductors, cloud services, and networking into export packages for allied governments.

- April 2, 2026: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) buys MRVL through his IRA at Moran Wealth Management, the Naples firm where he previously worked as associate VP of investments and a partner. Disclosed range: $1,001 to $15,000.

- April 9, 2026: Donalds' own Oversight subcommittee announces a roundtable titled "Artificial Intelligence and American Power," examining how semiconductor manufacturing constraints are limiting US AI dominance.

- Today: MRVL is trading around $182, up roughly 70% from his entry.

Where his work overlaps this trade:

Donalds sits on two subcommittees that touch Marvell from different sides.

The first is the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence, where he is the eighth-ranking Republican. This subcommittee handles the regulatory and investment framework around AI companies, takes testimony from regulators, and reviews legislation that shapes the environment companies like Marvell operate in. Donalds is not a passive seat on this subcommittee. The STABLE Act and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act both moved through or were shaped by its work, and he co-introduced the Financial Freedom Act with Sen. Tommy Tuberville in April 2025. He is actively writing the rules of the environment he is also trading inside of.

The second is the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, which has spent the past year running hearings on AI infrastructure, data center energy demand, and semiconductor supply chains. In April 2025 the subcommittee held a hearing titled "America's AI Moonshot: The Economics of AI, Data Centers, and Power Consumption." One year later, on April 9, 2026, it announced the roundtable on semiconductor manufacturing constraints. This is a multi-year program, not a one-off interest.

The policy push around AI semiconductor companies extends beyond Donalds' two seats. H.R. 6996, the Full AI Stack Export Promotion Act, which would codify the American AI Exports Program into law, advanced through the House Foreign Affairs Committee on a 37-7 vote in late April 2026. The federal push into AI infrastructure is not just an executive order that the next administration could reverse. It is being legislated.

Most members of Congress with any AI policy exposure sit on one such committee. Donalds sits on two, covering both the financial side and the infrastructure side. Whether the April 2 trade was driven directly by that exposure, or executed independently by his advisor at Moran Wealth, is not something we can prove from the public record. What we can say is that the timing and the committee proximity point in the same direction.