Ron Paul Versus Elizabeth Warren on Investments

When Ron Paul was a member of Congress, he regularly had to fill out a financial disclosure document. Te disclosured showed that he was nearly 100% invested in gold and silver mining and exploration stocks.

Dr. Paul is no longer in Congress but the grand interventionist, Senator Elizabeth Warren is. She recently filed her disclosure statement, and while it shows she has a net worth of between $2.8 and $12 million, not a penny of it is in gold stocks.

Via Mother Jones, here's a list of Warren's biggest investments:

$1-$5 million in a traditional annuity account in which TIAA-CREF assumes the risk for the performance of the underlying stocks, and pays out a guaranteed amount per month later on. 

$250,000-$500,000 in a variable annuity that invests mostly in common stocks of a diversified set of companies, such as Apple, Exxon, PepsiCo, and Wells Fargo. Variable annuities are annuities in which the investor, not the insurance company (in this case TIAA-CREF), takes on most of the risk for the performance of the underlying stocks. That is, their value rises and falls with the market, like a mutual fund.

$100,000-$250,000 in a variable annuity that invests in stocks of foreign and domestic companies, with a focus on companies that are "shareholder-oriented." Some examples: Nestle, BNP Paribas, Royal Dutch Shell, Johnson & Johnson, and Toyota.

$100,000-$250,000 in a mutual fund that invests in various types of real estate around the country.

$50,000-$100,000 in a mutual fund that invests in US companies like Visa, Goldman Sachs, NewsCorp, Monsanto, and eBay.

$15,000-$50,000 in a mutual fund that invests in government bonds and mortgage-backed securities held by government-supported mortgage financiers such as Ginnie Mae and Fannie Mae.

$1,000-$15,000 in a variable annuity that invests in the same things, as well as corporate bonds, including those of GE, Comcast, and AT&T.

$1,000-$15,000 in a mutual fund that invests mostly in US Treasury notes that are tied to the inflation rate.

Bottom line: Warren is mostly invested in crony big business. EPJ is setting up an index of a  rough approximation of her portfolio and also doing the same for Dr Paul's portfolio, based on his last Congressional filing, and we will report back from time to time on which portfolio has the best performance.

Will it be crony America investments, as represented by Warren's portfolio, or protection against crony American price inflation, i.e., gold, that will prove to be the best investment over time?