Supreme Court Justices going long the market

Posted Mar 9th 2008 3:10PM by Zack Miller
Filed under: Cisco Systems (CSCO), Pfizer (PFE), Coca-Cola (KO), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)

As Mel Brooks once said, "It's good to be the king." I often fantasize being a politician just for what it's worth after leaving office. We learned this week that Al Gore is now at least a centi-millionaire -- yes, he's worth over $100 million. That's a lot of global warming tacos.

An interesting exclusive article on Bloomberg.com is titled, "Pfizer, Exxon Find U.S. Justices as Shareholders May Cost Them." The premise of the article is that Supreme Court Justices' ownership of stocks occasionally requires them to side-step rulings, like this week's deadlock that allowed lawsuits over Pfizer's Rezulin diabetes drug. U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts owns the stock and needed to sit on the sidelines.

The same article cited Mark Herrmann, a product-liability lawyer at Jones Day in Chicago, as saying, "If you're on the industry side, it kills you that Roberts recused himself. That's your fifth vote.''

Bloomberg cites stocks either currently held or sold from in Chief Justice Roberts portfolio. They are:

Pretty nice large cap portfolio. Who says with ownership doesn't come privileges?

Zack Miller is the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

Tags: cisco, coca cola, exxon, jnj, john roberts, ko, pfizer, supreme court

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-09-2008 @ 4:58PM

james said...

Not surprised at the abortionist Gore being a mega-rich guy. He has pushed false scienctific reasons for global warming and profits from it. Between him and his wife there's probably not a n ounce of integrity or one moral thread of decency. I personally can't stand BOTH! I despise hypocrites and apparently the folks in Tennessee agree. Voters said NO to Gore for a reason. SKUNKS!

3-09-2008 @ 5:21PM

moonlight417 said...

When I get my $300 rebatee, I"m going to Disney Land !!!!!

3-09-2008 @ 7:01PM

James said...

What about you, you little yellow weasel hypocrit?

Bomb abortion is fine. Murder third world people across the globe to steal their resources.

Your a low life scum bag who will get yours.

3-09-2008 @ 10:05PM

grampz05 said...

Nice job on Chief Justice Roberts. Don't any of the liberal judges own any stock?

3-10-2008 @ 1:04AM

Nohjnogias said...

What a lame article. I've read it several times and it doesn't say ANYTHING. Why not do an article on the relative performances of the justices' stock portfolios. Perhaps we'd find they all need to recuse themselves anytime ANY company is involved in a case before the court. Why? With a broad enough portfolio, any company's legal misfortune might affect the performance of another's stock. Do all the justices manage their own stocks? Should justices with stocks in companies' competitors recuse themselves? Where is the curiosity of this reporter?