In a world where “transparency” is often just a buzzword, we’re pulling back the curtain on the stock trades of government insiders. For too long, Senators and House Representatives, armed with insider knowledge, have positioned themselves to profit from information that is inaccessible to the public. But now, the tables are turning. We’re expanding our support for Congress Trading data across the TrendSpider ecosystem. Let’s dig deeper.
The time has come to level the playing field. You deserve to know what the insiders know, to see the moves they’re making, and perhaps even profit from them. To aid in this, we’re introducing several new tools for visualizing and monitoring their trades.
Congress Trading In What’s Happening Now
What’s Happening Now is a trusted tool among TrendSpider traders. It’s used to visualize and discover the most important Unusual Options orders, Insider Actions, Earnings data, and more. Its filtering capabilities allow you to drill down into extensive data sets to uncover the most essential information and we are pleased to announce that you can now visualize and filter all Congress trades directly within this tool.
How Trades Can Be Filtered
While seeing an unfiltered, real-time list of all the most recent trades made by members of Congress can certainly be helpful, where this tool really shines is in its filtering capabilities. You can filter by many metrics, including:
- Transaction Date: When the trade was made
- Report Date: When the trade was reported
- Symbol: The ticker that was traded
- Name: The congressperson who made the trade
- Action: Whether the trade was a sale or purchase
- House: The position of the congressperson within the House or Senate
- Party: The affiliation of the congressperson, Republican or Democrat
- Value, from: The minimum amount spent on the trade
- Value, to: The maximum amount spent on the trade
Visualize The Congress Trades That Matter Most
The purpose of filtering is clear; while there are many trades to analyze, not all of them are equally significant. Remember, we’re hunting for alpha here. Who are Congress’s biggest spenders? Are Democrats buying while Republicans are selling? Are there any sectors that seem to be in focus right now? With filtering, we can find out.
Congress’s Biggest Spenders In 2024
Nancy Pelosi (D-MD) isn’t the only House member making significant investments this year. She faces stiff competition from Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who also appears to be heavily focused on big tech stocks. Notably, House members seem more inclined than Senators to place substantial bets, with seven different House members investing at least $50,000 per position compared to only four in the Senate.
House Dems Whiff On AAPL
Despite being one of the strongest performers this summer, AAPL saw net selling from House Democrats, who largely missed out on its significant gains. Noteworthy are the poorly timed trades by Shri Thanedar (D-MI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who both exited their positions in April, just before its epic 45% surge through July. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), on the other hand, saw the potential of an April bottom and positioned herself to capitalize on it. Perhaps we should keep an eye on Greene’s next moves to see if she can time the top, too.
GOP Senators Dominate Chip Stock Surge
Reflecting on the past year, it’s evident that Senate Republicans led the impressive rally in semiconductor stocks, with sector purchases over $15,000 outpacing those of House Democrats by 75%. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) were particularly bullish, acquiring shares in companies like AMAT, NVDA, AMD, TXN, and more. Interestingly, Senator Mullin is a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which exercises broad jurisdiction over telecommunications, technology, and innovation policies. Conflict of interest, or just a lucky guess?
Congress People To Keep A Close Eye On
Simply put, some congresspeople are better traders than others, and we can utilize filtering to determine who to follow and whom to fade.
Nancy Pelosi Is The Goat
The finance community likes to give House Speaker Pelosi (D-MD) a lot of grief for her stock-picking prowess, but when you outperform all hedge funds in 2023 with a whopping 65% return, there’s probably something to it. This year, she’s taken sizable positions in NVDA, AVGO, and PANW, as well as cut bait on TSLA and V. With the amount of money she throws around, her trades are a must-watch.
Josh Gottheimer’s Suspicious Trades
At the end of April, House Representative Gottheimer (D-NJ) went on a buying spree, acquiring shares in tech heavyweights like GOOG and TSLA, among others. However, one of his new investments raises questions. Gottheimer, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, also took a position in FICO, a credit scoring service. Since his purchase, the stock has surged as much as 48% higher. Insider knowledge, or simply good fortune?
Tommy Tuberville Is A Knife Catcher
A quick examination of Senator Tuberville’s (R-AL) recent trades reveals his knack for timing market bottoms. He perfectly caught the lows on CVX after a year-long 25% decline and bought INTC when it was down over 40% in four months. Since his purchases, CVX and INTC have risen by as much as 15% and 24%, respectively.
Carol Devine Miller Puts Her Money Where Her Mouth Is
Carol Devine Miller (R-WV), a staunchly anti-China congresswoman from West Virginia, serves on the Trade Subcommittee within the House Committee on Ways & Means. She is also a member of several caucuses meant to strengthen trade relations abroad including the Friends of Ecuador Caucus, the India and Indian American Caucus, and the House Baltic Caucus. True to her principles, and perhaps some strategic insider knowledge, she made a well-timed investment in EMXC late last year, perfectly capturing the lows.
Follow Markwayne Mullin & Fade Mike Kelly
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) clearly knows how to time the retest of a breakout, executing this strategy with precision on KLAC late last year. Since his near-bottom entry, the stock has gained as much as 85%. In contrast, Mike Kelly (R-PA) managed to top-tick his CLF entry, and the stock declined by as much as 37% before catching any upside relief. Both gentlemen still hold their positions, which leads us to the conclusion that Markwayne knows when to hold ’em, but Mike doesn’t know when to fold ’em.
Senator Tina Smith Has Diamond Hands
Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), who sits on the Senate Committee on Health, disclosed purchases of up to $200k in medical devices company AORT last November. Since then, the stock has gained as much as 115%, going from a market cap of just $500m at the time, to over $1b. She still hasn’t sold a share, so it’s worth keeping an eye on her trades to see when she does next.
Tracking Congress On The Go
Curious about the moves making waves on Capitol Hill but away from your desk? The TrendSpider Mobile App gives you a front-row seat to the trading activities of Congresspeople. Whether you’re looking to potentially profit from the financial foresight of our nation’s leaders or scrutinize the ethics behind their trades, this tool is your gateway.
With functionality that parallels the desktop version, the app ensures you never miss a beat. Experience seamless access to Congressional trades with all the comprehensive filtering options you need — all at your fingertips, wherever your day takes you.
Why Track Congress Trades?
If the above charts aren’t enough to sway you to keep at least one eye on what these folks are trading, think about it this way; Government officials are akin to insiders at a company. They stand at the forefront of legislation which can have sweeping implications for companies, and therefore, traders like you.
In addition, by monitoring these trades, retail traders contribute to transparency in the financial activities of public figures. This transparency reinforces ethical standards in the financial world and fosters trust among traders.
As always, we hope you find this new functionality helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us via the ‘Contact Us‘ button in the bottom right corner of your chart view.
