ALL COMEDY IS CONSERVATIVE:

Santa's reindeer at Santa's Village in Jefferson, N.H., are more skilled at selecting stocks than U.S. Senators and members of Congress were in 2020, according to a Dartmouth study. In analyzing the performance of stocks bought and sold by legislators, the researchers found little evidence that confidential information had been leveraged in terms of market timing and stock selection. The findings are reported in a new working paper, and build on the team's earlier results reported in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Papers in April. The new study compares stock purchases by the legislators with those of Santa's reindeer as well as with top picks by U.S. brokerage houses.

"Contrary to what some people may think, U.S. Senators and House members have pretty limited stock-picking prowess but Santa's reindeer seem to have a real knack for it," explains co-author Bruce I. Sacerdote, the Richard S. Braddock 1963 Professor in Economics.

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