Paul Ryan’s Smashing Stock Picks

It’s a well known fact that there are no reliable ways to make money quickly in the stock market. If there were, everyone would be doing it. However, this is not the case with newly chosen VP candidate Paul Ryan. According to Ryan’s 2011 financial disclosure statements released by “The CRP”, the majority of the large-cap stocks he owned in 2011 are on a tear and solidly beating the broader market in 2012.

Ryan also not only owns a wide range of stocks, including the “B” shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), Starbucks (SBUX), Procter & Gamble (PG), Estee Lauder (EL), Ralph Lauren (RL), Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA), but also has stakes in a variety of bond and mutual funds from Fidelity Investments, Edward Jones, Hartford Financial Services and Janus Capital Group.

Usually, the best stocks can be predicted by the Buffetts and Icahns of the world who have observed and studied the stock market for many years. Considering Ryan’s double-digit investment returns, and those of his colleagues in the Senate – who are beating the market by 12 percentage points, every year — if the vice presidential thing doesn’t work out, maybe the Wisconsin congressman can think about a career in investment banking.

Some interesting data. The net worth of the average American has dropped 8% during the past six years, while members of Congress got, on average, 15% richer, according to a New York Times analysis.

Quoting Dr. Alan J. Ziobrowsky: “In beating the market by 12% per year, the chance that they [our elected politicians] merely are lucky is very small.”