A trio of Democratic senators wants regulators to look into “President Trump's reckless comments on market-moving economic data prior to their public release.”
Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) sent letters to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers expressing concern over what they see as a violation of federal guidelines.
They asked the SEC and CFTC to investigate whether any person or corporate entity was able to obtain and use market-moving information before official release. The BLS was questioned about the controls it has in place to keep the data confidential.
The senators also pressed the CEA on what additional steps the Administration will take to ensure that no one is taking advantage of the prerelease data for private gain.
On June 1, President Trump tweeted “Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning,” signaling that the employment numbers were positive for the administration and surpassed market expectations.
Financial markets reacted immediately following his tweet with yields on the 10-year Treasury note, the dollar index, and stock futures all increasing.
“The disclosure of this information prior to their official release politicizes economic data and increases the possibility that this inside information could be used for unlawful advantage in the market,” the senators wrote.
“Reports already indicate that strategists and market observers have started to use the President’s twitter feed as a way of preparing for economic data updates,” they add. “This demonstrates a lack of precision in protecting these sensitive data and raises the additional concern that the policy directive may be routinely violated in other ways.”
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