Trader donations in the 2008 FEC cycle

Trader as occupation, 2008 as the cycle

Two FEC fields define the cell: occupation TRADER and election cycle 2008. Matching rows sum to $1,447,546, 941 contributions, and 553 donors. 2008 is a markets-title cell from a financial-crisis presidential cycle, still only a string match. The occupation hub rolls every cycle that used this spelling. The 2008 election-cycle hub rolls every occupation that filed that cycle. Neither hub restates this intersection; this tie page exists because the two dimensions meet.

Trader is a one-word markets title as typed. Nearby strings — EQUITY TRADER, COMMODITIES TRADER, BOND TRADER, and MARKET MAKER — sit in other occupation hubs when filers used those words. Do not stack those dollar figures onto $1,447,546 or $11,610,856. A pit trader and a screen trader can share TRADER; the FEC field does not split those uses.

2008’s dollar share is 12.5% ($1,447,546 of $11,610,856). The remainder sits in other cycles on the occupation hub and is not itemized by year on this packet. Correlation between a job title and a two-year FEC window is a reporting overlap, not causation of an election outcome. Itemized individual receipts are the coverage. Unitemized money never appears in $1,447,546.

The Trader string across cycles

Under the exact label TRADER, harvested individual contributions sum to $11.6 million ($11,610,856). The 2008 cell is 12.5% of that occupation total. The FEC file does not verify Series 7, an exchange membership, or a desk assignment. A share in a presidential cycle is a slice, not proof that the remaining dollars sat in any particular other year. Those other years are not in this packet.

Trader is not a 13F, not a hedge-fund census, and not a CFTC registrant file. Open Trader donations for the $11,610,856 roll. Open the 2008 election cycle hub for every occupation in that window. All occupations and All FEC ties place this pair beside other occupation-cycle pages without combining dollar figures.

2008 receipts and donors

Inside the 2008 cell, 941 itemized contributions map to 553 donors. That is about 1.7 receipts per donor in the join — a repeat-gift ratio, not a unique-person survey of everyone who holds a similar job. Dollars per receipt average about $1,538; dollars per donor average about $2,618. Averages hide large and small lines sitting in the same total.

Presidential-year volume can mix primary, general, and other receipts dated to 2008. This packet does not split $1,447,546 by those stages or by party. The 2008 election cycle hub shows the cycle’s full occupation mix; this page shows only the Trader row. 553 donors is a disclosure count for this key in 2008, not a turnout figure.

How to read the two dollar columns

Keep $1,447,546 attached to 2008 and $11,610,856 attached to the occupation string. Adding them would double-count the 2008 dollars that already sit inside the occupation total. Subtracting them does not yield “all other cycles”; it only yields a remainder that this packet does not itemize by year.

Cite FEC.gov. Individual contributions are not PAC independent expenditures and not lobbying registrations. Nothing in the join says donations paid for a federal award, a research grant, or a USAspending obligation. Quote $1,447,546 with both nouns: Trader and 2008.

What the Trader–2008 join does not claim

Occupation labels are filer-entered. Trader is not a 13F, not a hedge-fund census, and not a CFTC registrant file. A person who wrote a nearby title is not in $1.4 million. A person who wrote this string is in it even if the day job differs. LobbyVault does not audit licenses. The public record is the string plus the dollars.

No motive, no vote, no ranking of occupations. Not a FINRA registration extract, not an exchange-seat list, and not a prop-desk headcount. Use All occupations to compare other labels; use All FEC ties for other joins. 941 receipts and 553 donors are the volume facts for this join.

Questions

How much did traders donate in 2008?

Filers who wrote Trader on FEC individual contribution records itemized $1,447,546 in the 2008 cycle, across 941 receipts from 553 donors. That cell is 12.5% of $11,610,856 harvested under the same exact occupation string. Nearby spellings are counted on other occupation pages.

Does Trader mean equities, commodities, or something else?

The stored string is TRADER with no asset class. Equity Trader, Bond Trader, and Commodities Trader are other keys if filers used those words. This page does not confirm a brokerage seat or recode those compounds into TRADER. Figures are FEC.gov individual contribution aggregates. Trader in 2008 is $1,447,546 on 941 receipts from 553 donors.

What is an occupation-cycle join on LobbyVault?

It is the overlap of one self-reported occupation key and one even-numbered FEC cycle. The occupation hub holds $11.6 million for this string across cycles. The cycle hub holds every occupation that filed in 2008. This page reports only the overlapping cell, $1.4 million, so the two dimensions are not restated as one table.

Does the 2008 Trader total include PACs or party committees?

$1,447,546 is an aggregate of individual contributions whose occupation field matches this string. It is not PAC independent spending, not committee-to-committee transfers, and not a party split. This packet has no party field. Open the Trader donations hub or the 2008 election cycle hub for committee-level rows.