About Capitol Tracker

Capitol Tracker turns public filings into something readable: who in Congress, in the boardroom and at the big funds is buying and selling, as soon as the paperwork lands. Everything here comes from public records, and nothing is estimated or made up.

Where the data comes from

Insider trades, planned sales, 5% stakes, executive changes and fund holdings come directly from the SEC's EDGAR system. Congressional trades come from the official House and Senate financial disclosures. Each figure links back to its source where we can.

How fresh is it?

The SEC datasets are checked automatically through the day. The times below show when the newest record in each dataset was added.

Quiet periods are normal: filings only arrive on business days, and some datasets (like 13F) update quarterly.

What the signals mean

Congressional trades

Stock trades by members of the US House and Senate, reported under the STOCK Act. Members have up to 45 days to disclose, and amounts are reported as ranges, not exact figures.

Insider trades (Form 4)

Purchases and sales by a company's officers, directors and 10% owners. Filed with the SEC within two business days. We show the dollar value from the filing.

Cluster

Several different insiders at the same company trading the same direction within 30 days. Clusters of purchases are often more meaningful than a single trade.

Planned sales (Form 144)

A notice an insider files before selling restricted or control shares. It shows an intention to sell, not a completed sale. We match these to later Form 4s to show whether the sale happened.

10b5-1 plan

A pre-arranged trading plan. Sales under a plan are scheduled in advance, so they tell you less about the insider's current view than a discretionary sale.

Big stakes (13D / 13G)

Filed when someone crosses 5% ownership of a company. A 13D usually signals intent to influence the company; a 13G is a passive holding.

Executive changes (8-K Item 5.02)

Company notices of senior departures, appointments and compensation changes. We pick out CEO, CFO and other senior roles from the filing text.

Whale holdings (13F)

Quarterly holdings of large funds we track. 13Fs are filed up to 45 days after quarter end, so they show where a fund was, not where it is now.

Checks and limits

Posts and highlights are checked against the original SEC filing before they are published. Filings can contain errors, be amended later, or be filed late, and we can occasionally mis-read one. Funds, shells and filings with no real ticker are filtered out of the headline lists. If you spot something wrong, tell us.

Capitol Tracker reports what was filed. It is not investment advice, and a filing is not a prediction. See the terms and privacy policy.