How to read a periodic transaction report

The fields that matter

Transaction date

When the trade happened. This is the date to reason about — not the filing date, which can trail it by weeks.

Notification date

When the filer says they learned of it. It starts the 30-day clock and is self-reported.

Filing date

When the document was received. The gap to the transaction date is the compliance figure.

Owner

SELF for filer, SP for spouse, DC for dependent child, JT for joint. A trade marked SP was not necessarily the member’s decision.

Asset and type

The issuer, plus a code: [ST] for stock, [OP] for options, [MF] for mutual fund. Only some of these identify a single company.

Amount

Normally one of ten brackets; rare amended reports state an exact amount. Preserve the source form instead of turning a range into an exact value.

Transaction labels

Purchase

The filing reports acquiring an asset. It does not establish that the filer personally made the decision.

Sale

The filing reports disposing of an asset. It does not provide cost basis, proceeds, profit, or proof that no position remains.

Partial sale

The source explicitly labels the disposal as partial; it still does not establish the current quantity held.

Exchange

The filing reports one asset being exchanged for another. It should not be counted as a purchase or sale unless the filed label says so.

Two things that mislead

And a filing under a member’s name may describe a spouse’s trade in an account the member does not direct. The Owner column is the only place that distinction appears, and it is the field most often dropped when a filing is summarised elsewhere.

Sources

• U.S. House Clerk — Financial Disclosure search
• U.S. Senate — Electronic Financial Disclosure search

Keep reading

• How congressional disclosure amounts are reportedThe standard form uses ten brackets; rare amended filings can state an exact value. Here is what the source says and what must be estimated.
• The 45-day rule, and what a late filing actually costsHow the 30-day notification and 45-day transaction deadlines interact, what the House late-fee rules say, and why a timing flag is not a penalty record.
• The STOCK Act, explainedWhat the 2012 law actually requires members of Congress to disclose, who it covers, and the three things people most often get wrong about it.