Does copying congressional stock trades work?

Last checked 28 August 2026

Sometimes, for some filers, over some periods — and the honest answer is that the disclosed data cannot prove much more than that. The 45-day reporting lag, the size bands instead of exact amounts, and the absence of any record of what a filer chose *not* to trade all limit how far the numbers can be pushed.

What the data genuinely supports

You can measure what a disclosed portfolio would have returned from the filing date onward, and compare that with a benchmark over the same days. That is a real, checkable figure — and it is what Tracked Money publishes.

What it does not support

Any claim about a filer's actual returns. You do not know their entry price, their exact size, their cost basis, or the positions they hold that never crossed a reporting threshold. A tracker that quotes a member's "portfolio return" as if it were their brokerage statement is inventing precision.

Beware survivorship bias

The filers who look extraordinary are, by construction, the ones at the top of a list somebody chose to publish. Ranking hundreds of people by a noisy measure guarantees impressive names at the top even with no skill involved anywhere. Ask what the median filer did, not the best one.

So what is it actually good for?

Noticing. A committee member accumulating in a sector they legislate on is worth knowing about whether or not it predicts a price. That is a transparency question, and public disclosure answers it well.

Tracked Money tracks public STOCK Act and 13F disclosures. This page explains public rules and is not legal or investment advice. Regulatory details were verified on 28 August 2026 and can change.