About PublicTradeLens
PublicTradeLens is a free, nonpartisan transparency tool that tracks mandatory stock trade disclosures filed by members of the U.S. Congress under the STOCK Act.
To make congressional stock trading data accessible, searchable, and understandable for every American citizen — without requiring a law degree or data science background.
Members of Congress write the laws that govern industries. Understanding when they buy or sell stocks in those industries is a matter of public accountability.
We source data from House Stock Watcher and Senate Stock Watcher — two volunteer-operated projects that parse official government disclosures into structured data.
Congress members are required to file disclosures within 45 days. Data may lag reality. We display what's been officially filed — we cannot know what hasn't been disclosed.
What Is the STOCK Act?
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was signed into federal law on April 4, 2012, by President Obama. The law explicitly prohibits members of Congress and their staff from using non-public information obtained through their official duties for personal financial gain in the stock market.
Before the STOCK Act, congressional insider trading was technically legal — there was no law explicitly banning it. The act was prompted by a 60 Minutes exposé in 2011 that revealed members of Congress were trading stocks in industries they were actively regulating, raising serious conflict-of-interest concerns.
The STOCK Act requires disclosure of any trade over $1,000 within 45 calendar days of the transaction. These reports are filed with the appropriate chamber and are publicly accessible. PublicTradeLens makes these disclosures searchable so citizens can hold their representatives accountable.
Data Sources
- House Stock Watcher:An open-source project that scrapes and structures House of Representatives STOCK Act filings. Available at housestockwatcher.com
- Senate Stock Watcher:The Senate equivalent, tracking Senate STOCK Act disclosures. Available at senatestockwatcher.com