Edwards had busy financial year, statement shows

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. John Edwards is a multimillionaire former trial lawyer with wide-ranging investments in mutual funds, stocks of major American corporations, and bonds of North Carolina educational and governmental organizations, according to the North Carolina senator's financial disclosure statement.

Mr. Edwards, tapped yesterday by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry to be his running mate, bought and sold dozens of stocks, bonds and mutual funds last year while he was challenging Mr. Kerry of Massachusetts and other Democrats for the party's presidential nomination.

Mr. Edwards made more than 200 trades of those financial instruments in the past year.

During the buildup to the Iraq war early last year, Mr. Edwards sold between $50,000 and $100,000 of stock in defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., then turned around several months later and bought stock of the same company worth between $16,000 and $65,000. In September, he sold his Lockheed Martin holdings for between $100,000 and $250,000, reporting a capital gain of less than $5,000.

Mr. Edwards also made seven purchases of Microsoft Corp. stock during 2003, each less than $50,000; four purchases of Intel Corp. stock of less than $50,000 each; and seven purchases in similar amounts of stock in the pharmaceutical company Novartis.

Huge financial transactions were common for Mr. Edwards last year. In August, for example, he invested more than $1 million in a municipal bond mutual fund, then turned around and sold it a month later.

Mr. Edwards' largest asset was an outstanding loan of more than $5 million to his Senate campaign fund. He also reported four separate holdings of $1 million each, including a money market portfolio, an American EuroPacific growth mutual fund, and two Atlantic Trust mutual funds.