This official resigned after violating Fed trading rules. Here's how those trades performed.
By Steve Goldstein
Former Fed Gov. Adriana Kugler (left) and Cava, a stock her spouse purchased, according to a filing.
The stock-market trades that former Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler made while serving on the central bank's board violated policy. At least one buy and sale was very profitable.
The Office of Government Ethics on Saturday released Kugler's annual report, which it declined to certify and sent to the Fed's Office of Inspector General. Kugler announced her resignation on Aug. 1, about a month before she submitted her annual public disclosure report after receiving a 90-day extension. Kugler's resignation letter to President Donald Trump did not offer an explanation for her departure.
Kugler violated Fed rules in two ways - one, by buying or selling individual stocks, and two, by making trades during blackout periods when no financial transactions are permitted.
Kugler's filing stated "certain trading activity" was done by her spouse - immigration lawyer Ignacio Donoso - without her knowledge. A different filing from Kugler said that her spouse "did not intend to violate any rules," and that she immediately divested the assets as soon as possible when she became aware of them.
MarketWatch looked at two of the companies that the Kugler family actively traded in, Southwest Airlines (LUV) and restaurant-chain operator Cava (CAVA).
The Southwest trades were almost certainly loss making. Using midpoints of the range of amount Kugler provided, there was an $8,000 purchase of Southwest on March 22, 2024 and another $8,000 purchase on April 17, 2024; the stock was sold on April 29, when the stock had fallen in value below both of those purchases.
Two of the Cava trades, in April 2024, basically cancelled each other out. But another buy-and-sell of Cava, from late April into middle of May, did surge in value, by some 29%.
There was at least one other purchase of Cava stock, on July 25, 2024, Kugler's 2024 disclosure form shows.
Most of the Kugler family's financial wealth is in mutual funds including a Vanguard target date retirement fund and the Fidelity Contrafund FCNKX, her disclosure form says.
-Steve Goldstein
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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11-17-25 0858ET
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