Jul. 31, 2025 7:30 AM ET3 CommentsWall Street Breakfast5.74M FollowersListen on the go! A daily podcast of Wall Street Breakfast will be available by 8:00 a.m. on Seeking Alpha, iTunes, Spotify.Getty ImagesHONEST ActWhile the congressional stock trading question has played out on Capitol Hill for years, the debate saw some renewed momentum this week. A bill sponsored by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee by an 8-7 vote along party lines, with all Republicans voting against the measure except for Hawley. GOP members cited several different reasons for their disapproval, including rushed legislation, discouraging some from holding office, concessions to the executive branch, or just another way to target the White House.Snapshot: Members of Congress have a lot of privileged and classified information that could move stock prices (think back to COVID pandemic), as well as financial incentives from companies that routinely lobby Congress. Those decisions could also play a role in how much a given stock is worth, and Congress sought to counteract that in 2012 by passing a bill known as the STOCK Act. While the legislation requires lawmakers to disclose trades within 45 days, many say it doesn't do enough to prevent insider trading and conflicts of interest.The new bill by Hawley is similar to the PELOSI Act he introduced in 2023, though that one didn't make it out of committee. While President Trump initially expressed interest in the bill, his tone changed after the partisan divide, as well as Hawley's vote against an amendment that would have investigated Nancy Pelosi's past stock trades. Senate Majority Leader John Thune will now have to decide whether to bring the bill to a floor vote, but the chances of it moving forward are looking slim.What's in the bill: The new measure, called the HONEST Act, would ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks while in office, requiring them to gradually divest their shares. It would also apply to the president and vice president, but that provision would only apply to an elected official's next term (meaning after President Trump and JD Vance leave office). The bill would also seek to close other loopholes surrounding trades, as well as written certification requirements and compliance audits.Big boost from Big TechEarnings are propelling markets again... Check out key takeaways from blowout revenues at Meta (META) and the plans by Microsoft (MSFT) to spend more than $30B this quarter.Here's the latest Seeking Alpha analysisTop 10 Silver Mining DevelopersUnitedHealth: Everything You Need To KnowCoreWeave: Extremely Undervalued With Sub-30 RSINovo Nordisk: Massive Overreaction Presents An OpportunityRealty Income Vs. Essential Properties: My Winner May Surprise YouWhat else is happening...Fed's Powell douses September rate cut hopes, yields jump.Wedbush: Palo Alto's (PANW) CyberArk deal is a home run.Trump announces South Korea trade deal with 15% tariff rate.U.S. crude hits $70 as Trump threatens India over Russia ties.Chinese e-commerce stocks fall as 'de minimis' loophole ended.Carvana (CVNA) eyes 3M annual car sales within 10 years.Ford (F) takes $800M tariff hit, sees bigger impact this year.Trump baby accounts 'a backdoor' for privatizing Social Security?Newsom seeks $18B more for California utilities wildfire fund.Comex copper plunges as tariffs only hit semi-finished products.Today's MarketsIn Asia, Japan +1%. Hong Kong -1.6%. China -1.2%. India -0.4%.In Europe, at midday, London +0.5%. Paris -0.1%. Frankfurt flat.Futures at 6:30, Dow +0.3%. S&P +1%. Nasdaq +1.3%. Crude -0.7% to $69.53. Gold +0.1% to $3,356.90. Bitcoin +0.1% to $118,440.Ten-year Treasury Yield -2 bps to 4.36%.On The CalendarCompanies reporting today include Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN).See the full earnings calendar on Seeking Alpha, as well as today's economic calendar.This article was written byWall Street Breakfast5.74M FollowersWall Street Breakfast, Seeking Alpha's flagship daily business newsletter, is a one-page summary that gives you a rapid overview of the day's key financial news. It is designed for easy readability on the site or by email (including mobile devices) and is published before 7:30 AM ET every market day. Wall Street Breakfast's readership of more than 1 million subscribers includes many from the investment banking and fund management industries. Sign up here to receive the Wall Street Breakfast in your inbox every business day.Comments(3)Recommended For You