Politician Stock Trackers: How They Work, and What They Miss

Since the STOCK Act of 2012, members of Congress must disclose trades within 45 days. An industry of trackers has grown around those filings. They are useful. They are also more limited than the headlines suggest, and knowing the limits is what separates using this data from being used by it.

What the trackers see

The filed disclosure: who, what, buy or sell, a date, and an amount band. That is genuinely valuable. When several members buy the same stock in the same window, it is worth a look. Microsoft leads the last twelve months with 21 disclosed buys across 5 different members.

The four blind spots

1. Up to 45 days of lag. By the time you read it, the trade is old. Copying it is not the same trade.

2. Bands, not amounts. "$1,001 to $15,000" is a wide range. Every dollar total you see anywhere, including ours, is an estimate built from midpoints.

3. Not always the member's decision. Many filings come from spouses, trusts or managed accounts.

4. Late filings happen. The penalty is small, and the data shows it.

Using it well

Treat congressional trades as a source of questions, not answers. "Why did four members buy this defence contractor in the same month" is a good question. "Copy every trade" is not a strategy, it is a lag.

[SteadyShares's Politician Trades desk](/app/capitol) shows every disclosed trade, flags the late ones, and cross-references where Congress and the 13F funds are buying the same names. Free.

Disclosure data reflects filed reports, which can be late or amended. Educational information, not financial advice.

The bottom line

Tracking congressional trades is legal, free and popular. It also has four blind spots that almost nobody mentions.

Our own analysis of the disclosure data, including who actually files late, is at the 45-day rule. The method and its limits are printed on the page.

This is educational information, not financial advice.