House and Senate members must report to the Federal Election Commission any gains or losses from investments that range from Treasury notes to high-tech stocks. Before he pulled most of his money this year, Representative Peter Deutsch, a Florida Democrat, said his campaign had money in such companies as Microsoft, Coca-Cola, General Electric and Cisco Systems. Deutsch called one of his campaign's money managers, Meyer Berman, as a witness last year at a congressional hearing on trading rules. To avoid the appearance of a conflict, the congressman has no control over how his money managers invest campaign funds, a Deutsch aide said. If candidates lose that money in the stock market, they cannot ask the same donors for more.
Many candidates stick to safe investments.
Representative Bill McCollum, Republican of Florida and a Senate candidate, has taken small risks. Cephalon, a biopharmaceutical company, and Diamond Multimedia Systems, which makes portable digital music players. The point wasn't to score a home run or anything.'' Gary Ruskin, director of the Congressional Accountability Project, a nonpartisan group, said lawmakers should disclose campaign investments because they could affect their decision-making.