Trade timing vs random
Do politicians time the market?
Do politicians time the market? This ranking scores each member's disclosed stock buys and sells against random days on the same ticker — 50% means average luck, above 50% means trades tended to land on better-than-random days. This is about timing, not total portfolio returns.
FAQ
Do politicians time the market? — FAQ
How this list works and what the numbers mean.
It's the share of scored trades that beat random timing on the same stock. 50% is what you'd expect from luck alone. Higher means buys tended to come before rises and sells before falls, relative to comparable random dates.
No. Performance rankings track buy-and-hold returns. Timing rankings ask a different question — whether the day they traded was unusually good compared with other days on that same stock.
Members with more independent trades across more tickers get higher confidence. A score from a handful of trades can move a lot as new filings arrive.
No. Strong timing can reflect luck, delayed reporting, or public information. We show patterns in disclosed trades — not motives or illegal activity.
Each profile breaks timing into buys and sells separately. This page ranks all members side by side so you can see who stands out across Congress.
More congress stock lists