> That same day, while the stock market remained lofty, Dr. Auchincloss reported selling $15,001 to $50,000 of a stock mutual fund. Days later he sold two more mutual funds and a stock<p>> Dr. Auchincloss disclosed six sales of mutual funds that day, totaling between $111,006 and $315,000 in value.<p>And<p>> The rate cuts hadn’t immediately calmed investors. Stock trading was halted for 15 minutes on the morning of March 16 when the S&P 500 fell 7%, triggering a so-called circuit breaker. The index staggered to the closing bell, down 12%.<p>> That same day, Ms. Chao, the transportation secretary, made three purchases in stock funds that track the S&P 500 and the U.S. stock market broadly, totaling between $600,003 and $1.2 million, according to her financial disclosures.<p>Every time I click on one of these articles, I expect to find some individual stock trading related to specific companies on the receiving end of government action. However, when it ends up being vague examples of officials buying and selling broad-market or S&P index funds, it's much harder to see where the "insider trading" angle comes from. Especially when we have examples of officials trading in March, a full month after the viral panic had already spread through even public forums like Twitter.<p>The line needs to be drawn somewhere, and I'm not convinced that forbidding public officials from buying and selling generic index and mutual funds is really that big of a concern, IMO.<p>Now if someone can find evidence of government officials buying something like Moderna stock ahead of the FDA approval, then by all means let's prosecute with stiff consequences.