Guides
Guides
How to read the filings behind this site, written for investors and not for lawyers.
21 plain-language guides explain the public records on this site: how members of Congress and company insiders disclose stock trades, what donation, lobbying and contract filings show, and how Treasury rates work. Each guide answers one question, links to the official source, and is checked against the site whenever the site changes.
Congress trades
What members of Congress must disclose, how to read a report, and what the numbers can and cannot tell you.
- Can members of Congress trade stocks?Members of Congress may trade stocks but must report each trade within 45 days. What the STOCK Act requires and where a ban stands.5 min read
- How to read a congressional trade reportWhat each column of a congressional trade report means: owner, type, dates and the dollar range, with House and Senate codes.5 min read
- Why congressional trade amounts are rangesCongress reports trades in ten dollar ranges, not exact amounts. How to read them and how totals are built from them.2 min read
- Late congressional trade disclosuresWhen a congressional trade report is late, what the penalty is, and how lateness is counted.3 min read
- House and Senate disclosures: how they differHouse and Senate members follow the same law but file trades in different systems. How the two differ.2 min read
Insider trades
Form 4 from the ground up: who files, what the codes mean, and why most insider selling is routine.
- What is SEC Form 4?Form 4 is the SEC filing company insiders make within two business days of trading their company's stock. What it shows.5 min read
- Form 4 transaction codesEvery Form 4 transaction code in plain words, and which ones are real market trades.3 min read
- Rule 10b5-1 trading plansA Rule 10b5-1 plan lets an insider schedule trades in advance. How the plans work and why they matter when reading Form 4.4 min read
- Insider buying vs insider sellingInsiders sell far more than they buy because most are paid in shares. What a purchase and a sale each tell you.4 min read
- Options and derivatives on Form 4Form 4's second table covers options and other derivatives. What the rows mean and why they are kept out of totals.3 min read
- 10% owners and joint filingsFunds owning over 10% of a company file Form 4 too, and related funds often report the same trade. How to avoid double counting.3 min read
Washington money
Campaign donations, lobbying reports and federal contracts: what each record is and where its limits are.
- Campaign donations: how to read FEC dataWhat FEC campaign donation records show, why companies cannot donate directly, and what an employer total means.4 min read
- Lobbying disclosure reportsLobbyists report clients, amounts and issues every quarter. How to read a lobbying report and what it leaves out.3 min read
- Federal contracts: how to read USAspending dataWhat USAspending contract records show: award value, obligations, outlays, and why Defense data runs behind.3 min read
Rates
I Bonds, the Treasury yield curve and TIPS in plain words, tied to the live figures on this site.
- How I Bond rates workAn I Bond's rate combines a fixed rate with an inflation rate that changes every six months. How it is built and when it resets.4 min read
- The Treasury yield curve explainedThe yield curve plots U.S. borrowing costs from one month to 30 years. What its shape and an inversion mean.3 min read
- TIPS, real yields and breakeven inflationTIPS are Treasuries that rise with inflation. What a real yield is and how breakeven inflation is calculated.3 min read
Using this site
How to read the trade map, and the limits of what public filings can show.
- How to use the trade mapOne dot per stock, placed and coloured by buying and selling. What each trade map filter does.7 min read
- What disclosure data cannot tell youTrade filings show what was traded and when it was reported. They do not show motive, knowledge or profit.4 min read
- How to cite and reuse Spot the MoneyHow to credit Spot the Money, cite the original filing, and stay within the legal limits on reusing the records.6 min read
- How to follow members, insiders and stocksFree watchlists for members of Congress, insiders, stocks and companies, and how new trades show up.5 min read
Not investment advice. The guides explain public records and how this site presents them. They make no recommendations.