Congressional Trading Glossary

7-Layer Signal Model #

GovGreed's composite scoring system that fuses seven independent intelligence layers into a single 0–100 master score for each congressional trade. The layers and their weights are: politician quality (20%), herd behavior (20%), bill correlation (16%), technical analysis (12%), sector momentum (12%), campaign contributions (10%), and lobbying alignment (10%).

When multiple layers agree on the same direction, a convergence multiplier amplifies the score: 3 signals = 1.3x, 4 = 1.5x, 5+ = 2.0x. The resulting score determines the signal's tier classification from F (below 20) to S (75+).

A+ Tier #

A signal classification for trades scoring between 60 and 74 on GovGreed's master score. A+ tier represents the second-highest conviction level, just below S tier (75+).

In backtesting across quarterly-deduplicated signal data, A+ tier signals achieved a 72.7% win rate with an average 30-day excess return of +10.7% above the S&P 500 over the same period.

Amount Range #

STOCK Act filings report trade sizes in predefined dollar ranges rather than exact amounts. Common ranges include $1,001–$15,000, $15,001–$50,000, $50,001–$100,000, $100,001–$250,000, and $250,001–$500,000, up to $50,000,001+.

GovGreed uses the midpoint of each range for statistical calculations. Only trades with a midpoint of $50,001 or greater are eligible for signal scoring, as smaller trades lack statistical significance as insider indicators.

Asset Class #

Classification of a congressional trade's underlying instrument. GovGreed categorizes every filing into one of seven asset classes: stock, option, bond, ETF, crypto, other investment, or other. Derived from the STOCK Act filing's ticker type field.

Bioguide ID #

A unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to each member of Congress by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. For example, Nancy Pelosi is P000197 and Tommy Tuberville is T000278.

Bioguide ID is the primary join key across GovGreed's entire database — linking politicians to their trades, signal scores, committee assignments, and profiles. Unlike politician names (which can have spelling variations), bioguide IDs are authoritative and immutable.

Bill-Trade Correlation #

A detected statistical pattern where a member of Congress trades stocks in companies affected by legislation they are sponsoring, co-sponsoring, or voting on. GovGreed's detection engine measures the timing gap between legislative actions and trade execution dates, the sector alignment between the bill and the traded company, and whether the politician holds a committee role relevant to that bill.

Blind Trust #

A financial arrangement where an independent trustee manages a politician's investments without the politician having knowledge of specific holdings or transactions. While blind trusts are permitted under congressional ethics rules, very few members of Congress actually use them. Most continue to manage (or direct) their own portfolios and file STOCK Act disclosures.

Committee Alignment #

The degree to which a politician trades stocks in sectors overseen by their congressional committee assignments. For example, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee trading defense stocks would show high committee alignment.

GovGreed measures this as committee_alignment_pct in each politician's profile, expressed as the percentage of a politician's total trades that fall within sectors their committees regulate.

Convergence Multiplier #

A bonus factor applied to GovGreed signal scores when multiple independent intelligence layers agree on the same trade direction. The logic is that corroborating evidence from unrelated data sources increases the probability that a trade carries genuine informational value.

Multiplier values: 3 layers = 1.3x, 4 layers = 1.5x, 5+ layers = 2.0x. A raw score of 50 with five agreeing layers becomes 100 (capped), reaching S tier.

Copy Trading #

The practice of replicating congressional stock trades after they become public through STOCK Act filings. Copy trading is legal — STOCK Act disclosures are public records. However, the strategy is limited by the mandatory 45-day disclosure delay, meaning the market has already moved by the time most filings appear.

GovGreed's signal scoring system is designed to identify trades that still carry residual alpha after the disclosure lag.

Disclosure Gap #

The number of calendar days between a trade's execution date (trade date) and the date its STOCK Act disclosure was filed. This is one of GovGreed's signature metrics and a key indicator of congressional trading transparency.

The STOCK Act mandates a 45-day filing deadline. Across GovGreed's database of 189,595 trades, the average gap is 49 days, the median is 28 days, and the worst single gap is 997 days (nearly 2.7 years). A total of 23,426 trades (12.5%) were filed late.

Excess Return #

The difference between a congressional trade's return and the S&P 500's return over the same time period. If a politician buys a stock that gains 15% in 30 days while the S&P 500 gains 2%, the 30-day excess return is +13%.

GovGreed calculates excess returns at 7, 30, and 90 days for every trade with available price data. Positive excess returns indicate outperformance relative to the broad market.

Exercise #

The act of converting a stock option into shares of the underlying stock. In STOCK Act filings, exercises are identified by the word "exercise" in the trade description. Despite involving options, exercises carry ticker type ST (stock), not OP — a common data parsing pitfall.

Exercises are excluded from GovGreed's buy/sell win rate calculations because they represent a conversion event, not a new directional position.

Filed Date #

The date a STOCK Act disclosure was officially submitted to the Clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate. Not to be confused with the trade date, which is when the transaction was actually executed.

The gap between trade date and filed date is the disclosure gap. GovGreed's signal engine uses filed date (not trade date) for its lookback window calculations, since that is when the information becomes publicly available.

Greediness Score #

GovGreed's proprietary 0–100 metric measuring how aggressively a member of Congress trades stocks. It is calculated from three components:

Frequency (40%): buy count divided by 50, capped at 1. Volume (30%): total dollar volume (in millions) divided by 100, capped at 1. Recency (30%): decays linearly to zero over 730 days since the last trade.

A score of 100 means a politician trades frequently, at high volume, and has traded very recently. The formula is consistent across every page on GovGreed.

Herd Signal #

Detected when 3 or more members of Congress purchase the same stock within a similar timeframe. Herd signals indicate potential coordinated or correlated insider activity — multiple politicians independently converging on the same trade is statistically unusual and may reflect shared non-public information.

Each herd signal is scored by politician count, quality-weighted count (accounting for each politician's profile score), and net direction (bullish vs. bearish). The herd layer carries a 20% weight in the 7-Layer Signal Model.

Late Filing #

A STOCK Act disclosure submitted after the 45-day legal deadline. According to GovGreed's analysis of 189,595 congressional trades, 23,426 filings (12.5%) were submitted late. The statutory penalty for late filing is $200 — a fine widely criticized as toothless. No member of Congress has been prosecuted for repeated violations.

The worst single offender by late-filing percentage is Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), with 86.4% of trades filed late and an average disclosure gap of 396 days.

Lobbying Alignment #

A detected pattern where a politician trades stocks in companies whose lobbyists have been actively lobbying that politician's committees. GovGreed cross-references Senate LDA (Lobbying Disclosure Act) filings with congressional trade data and committee assignments to identify these correlations.

Lobbying alignment carries a 10% weight in the 7-Layer Signal Model.

Master Score #

GovGreed's composite 0–100 signal score for a specific trade. Computed by combining all 7 intelligence layers with their respective weights, then applying the convergence multiplier when multiple layers agree. The score is capped at 100.

Average S-tier (75+) master scores sit around 86. Scores determine the signal tier classification, which is used for filtering recommendations and setting alert thresholds.

Owner #

The person who executed a disclosed trade. Under the STOCK Act, members of Congress must report trades by themselves, their spouse, joint accounts, children, and dependents. The owner field distinguishes between these parties.

For example, many of Nancy Pelosi's highest-profile trades list "Spouse" (Paul Pelosi) as the owner.

Perfect Storm #

GovGreed's highest-conviction convergence event. A Perfect Storm occurs when all 7 signal layers simultaneously agree on the same trade direction. This triggers the maximum convergence multiplier (2.0x), often pushing the master score into S tier.

Other convergence types include: Quad (4 layers), Triple (3 layers), Dual (2 layers), Single (1 layer), and Weak (no clear directional agreement).

Political Alpha #

Excess investment returns potentially attributable to informational advantages held by members of Congress. The concept is rooted in academic research (notably Ziobrowski et al., 2004) showing that congressional portfolios historically outperformed the S&P 500.

GovGreed measures political alpha by calculating excess return (trade return minus S&P 500 return) at 7, 30, and 90 days for every trade with available price data. Whether this alpha persists after the STOCK Act's disclosure lag is a central question in congressional trading research.

Politician Profile #

GovGreed's comprehensive quality assessment of each politician as a stock trader. Profiles score each member on a 0–100 quality scale with tier assignments (S, A+, A, B, C, D, F) based on buy win rate, sell win rate, options usage, trading consistency, and committee alignment percentage.

Quality tiers use higher thresholds than signal tiers: S requires 90+, A+ requires 80+, A requires 70+.

Quality Tier #

Classification of a politician's overall trading quality from their politician profile. Uses stricter thresholds than signal tiers: S (90+), A+ (80+), A (70+), B (60+), C (50+), D (40+), F (<40).

The politician quality layer carries a 20% weight in the 7-Layer Signal Model, meaning high-quality traders receive a scoring boost on every trade they file.

Sector Momentum #

A scoring layer that measures whether a sector is currently experiencing elevated congressional buying or selling activity. Sectors are classified as HOT, WARM, NEUTRAL, COLD, or BEARISH based on the ratio of congressional buys to sells over the last 30 days and average 7-day returns.

Sector momentum carries a 12% weight in the 7-Layer Signal Model.

Signal Tier #

The classification system for GovGreed signal scores, ranging from the highest-conviction S tier to the lowest F tier:

S (75+): Exceptional — multiple layers in strong agreement.
A+ (60–74): High conviction. 72.7% backtested win rate.
A (50–59): Solid multi-layer signal.
B (40–49): Moderate evidence.
C (30–39): Weak signal, limited corroboration.
D (20–29): Minimal evidence.
F (<20): Noise — insufficient data.

STOCK Act #

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, signed into law on April 4, 2012. The STOCK Act requires all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to publicly disclose stock trades over $1,000 within 45 calendar days of execution.

The law explicitly affirms that members of Congress are not exempt from federal insider trading prohibitions. However, enforcement has been limited: the statutory penalty for late filing is $200, and no member has been prosecuted for repeated violations. GovGreed's entire dataset of 189,595 trades exists because of the STOCK Act's disclosure requirements.

Trade Date #

The date a stock trade was actually executed by a member of Congress (or their spouse, child, or dependent). This is not the same as the filed date, which records when the STOCK Act disclosure was submitted.

The gap between trade date and filed date is the disclosure gap. When evaluating congressional trades, the trade date determines the market context (prices, news, legislative calendar) at the time of the decision.

Trade Classification #

GovGreed's system for categorizing every STOCK Act filing into one of six types: STOCK, CALL, PUT, EXERCISE, DONATION, or OPTIONS_OTHER. Classification is determined by parsing the trade description and ticker type fields.

Importantly, exercises have ticker type "ST" (not "OP") despite involving options. Buy win rates are calculated on stock purchases only, excluding calls. Total volume includes all trade types.

Triple Signal #

GovGreed's strongest corruption indicator. A Triple Signal fires when three independent conditions align on the same trade:

(1) The politician sits on the congressional committee that controls a specific bill.
(2) That politician trades stocks in companies directly affected by that bill.
(3) That politician received campaign contributions from the same industry the bill regulates.

Bills flagged with Triple Signals pass into law at 5.4 times the normal rate, according to GovGreed's ML validation on held-out data from the 117th and 118th Congress sessions.