Picking Apart Obama's Stock Portfolio

According to public filings, Obama purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of shares in AVI on Feb. 22, 2005, when the stock was trading at just above $2. He then sold his stake on Oct. 28 of that year, when the stock closed at $3.47 that day, suggesting Obama had roughly a 73% gain.

AVI shares had popped in early October 2005 on news that the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations had approved $22 million for AVI's research and development programs as part of a 2006 defense spending bill.

That money was contingent on approval by the full Senate, and AVI ultimately received $11 million from that bill. Last December, the company announced that it was awarded a two-year $28 million research contract to explore treatments for biological warfare and bioterrorism agents. That was a big deal for a company that recorded just $4.7 million in annual revenue in 2005.

AVI's Moede says executives told her that they've had no interactions with Obama and that they were not aware of his buying and selling in AVI shares.

Burton says the Senator recorded a profit of roughly $2,000 on the trade, leaving him in the red for his stock trading in 2005 by $13,000.

Murky Rules

While Obama ultimately lost money on his stock trades, these two moves do raise the question of whether there are ethical issues that should have restrained the senator from investing in shares of such unusual companies at a time when they were benefiting from federal funding.