Congress WatchWhat Congress trades, and what copying it would have earned
67,210 stock transactions disclosed by 387 members of Congress, filed 2014-01-03 to 2026-11-05. Every number comes from the filings themselves, and every backtest only acts on what was public at the time.
Would copying Congress have beaten the market?
We ran the same experiment for 121 politicians: copy every disclosed stock trade three days after filing. On the days they held stocks, 34 of 121 beat the S&P 500; the median gap was -2.9 percentage points a year.
Most active politicians
| Name | Trades | Buys | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas MacArthur Republican, NJ | 4,123 | 2,118 | 2,005 |
| Josh Gottheimer Democrat, NJ | 3,611 | 1,510 | 2,101 |
| Gilbert Cisneros Democrat, CA | 2,791 | 1,600 | 1,191 |
| Alan S. Lowenthal Democrat, CA | 1,556 | 731 | 825 |
| Lois Frankel Democrat, FL | 1,543 | 677 | 866 |
| Thomas H Tuberville Republican, AL | 1,469 | 580 | 889 |
| Lisa McClain Republican, MI | 1,443 | 733 | 710 |
| Greg Gianforte Republican, MT | 1,427 | 720 | 707 |
| K. Michael Conaway Republican, TX | 1,401 | 673 | 728 |
| Daniel Goldman Democrat, NY | 1,307 | 382 | 925 |
| Susie Lee Democrat, NV | 1,292 | 648 | 644 |
| Bill Flores Republican, TX | 1,030 | 432 | 598 |
Most traded stocks
| Stock | Trades | Politicians |
|---|---|---|
| MSFT Microsoft Corporation - Common Stock | 868 | 128 |
| AAPL Apple Inc. - Common Stock | 785 | 136 |
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation - Common Stock | 435 | 68 |
| AMZN Amazon.com, Inc. - Common Stock | 430 | 108 |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson Common Stock | 343 | 81 |
| HD Home Depot, Inc. | 322 | 68 |
| JPM JP Morgan Chase & Co. Common Stock | 305 | 86 |
| UNH UnitedHealth Group... | 304 | 73 |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. - Class C Capital Stock | 301 | 62 |
| INTC Intel Corporation - Common Stock | 284 | 67 |
| XOM Exxon Mobil Corporation Common Stock | 278 | 72 |
| DIS Walt Disney Company | 278 | 81 |
Most bought and sold, last 30 days
| Bought | Est. amount |
|---|---|
| DDOG Datadog, Inc. - Class... | $75,000 |
| EL Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. | $75,000 |
| BHE Benchmark Electronics,... | $40,501 |
| NXPI NXP Semiconductors... | $40,501 |
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation -... | $40,002 |
| Sold | Est. amount |
|---|---|
| COST Costco Wholesale... | $558,002 |
| AAPL Apple Inc. - Common Stock | $375,000 |
| MSFT Microsoft Corporation... | $375,000 |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. - Class... | $250,001 |
| AMZN Amazon.com, Inc. - Common Stock | $207,501 |
Latest filings
| Filed | Politician | Trade | Stock | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-05 | Josh Gottheimer | Sale | TLK | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Josh Gottheimer | Buy | BHE | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Josh Gottheimer | Buy | AMAT | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Maria Elvira Salazar | Buy | PG | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Maria Elvira Salazar | Buy | PG | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Daniel Meuser | Sale | NVDA | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Maria Elvira Salazar | Buy | NVDA | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Maria Elvira Salazar | Buy | NVDA | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-05 | Maria Elvira Salazar | Sale | CSCO | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-04 | Mike Kelly | Buy | North Carolina Hsg Fin Agy Hom S | $50,001 - $100,000 |
| 2026-11-04 | Mike Kelly | Sale | Fairfax Cnty VA Ser A Go | $50,001 - $100,000 |
| 2026-11-03 | Robert E. Latta | Buy | FMAO | $1,001 - $15,000 |
| 2026-11-02 | Ann Wagner | Sale | American Expr Natl Bank CD | $100,001 - $250,000 |
| 2026-11-01 | Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr | Buy | California CMNTY VAR 11/01/54 | $15,001 - $50,000 |
| 2026-11-01 | John J McGuire III | Buy | MU | $1,001 - $15,000 |