The 10 Stocks Congress Trades Most
Based on 189,595 STOCK Act disclosures filed between 2012 and 2026, these are the 10 most-traded tickers in Congress. Technology mega-caps dominate — 7 of the top 10 are tech companies. Microsoft leads with 2,100 trades; Apple is traded by the most individual politicians (137 of 343 active traders).
MSFT
AAPL
AMZN
NVDA
GOOGL
JPM
META
TSLA
INTC
DIS
Of the 10 most-traded stocks in Congress, seven are technology mega-caps — the same companies under active antitrust review by the DOJ, FTC, and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust.
Top 50 Most Traded Stocks by Congress
Below: the complete top-50 ranking with sector, trade count, politician count, and buy/sell ratio. Look up any ticker for the full trade-by-trade history, signal scores, and politician breakdown.
| # | Ticker | Company | Sector | Trades | Politicians | Buy/Sell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSFT | Microsoft | Technology | 2,100 | 127 | 1.4x |
| 2 | AAPL | Apple | Technology | 1,873 | 137 | 1.3x |
| 3 | AMZN | Amazon | Technology | 1,293 | 110 | 1.5x |
| 4 | NVDA | NVIDIA | Technology | 1,069 | 66 | 1.8x |
| 5 | GOOGL | Alphabet | Technology | 909 | 82 | 1.2x |
| 6 | JPM | JPMorgan Chase | Finance | 802 | 73 | 1.1x |
| 7 | META | Meta Platforms | Technology | 754 | 68 | 1.4x |
| 8 | TSLA | Tesla | Technology | 691 | 59 | 0.9x |
| 9 | INTC | Intel | Technology | 623 | 71 | 0.8x |
| 10 | DIS | Walt Disney | Consumer | 589 | 64 | 1.0x |
| 11 | JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | Healthcare | 551 | 68 | 1.2x |
| 12 | PFE | Pfizer | Healthcare | 518 | 62 | 0.7x |
| 13 | BAC | Bank of America | Finance | 497 | 55 | 1.1x |
| 14 | XOM | Exxon Mobil | Energy | 472 | 58 | 1.3x |
| 15 | V | Visa | Finance | 448 | 51 | 1.5x |
| 16 | UNH | UnitedHealth Group | Healthcare | 431 | 47 | 1.6x |
| 17 | HD | Home Depot | Consumer | 412 | 49 | 1.2x |
| 18 | CVX | Chevron | Energy | 398 | 52 | 1.4x |
| 19 | MA | Mastercard | Finance | 381 | 44 | 1.6x |
| 20 | LMT | Lockheed Martin | Defense | 367 | 41 | 1.3x |
| 21 | GS | Goldman Sachs | Finance | 349 | 38 | 1.2x |
| 22 | ABBV | AbbVie | Healthcare | 341 | 45 | 1.5x |
| 23 | RTX | RTX (Raytheon) | Defense | 332 | 39 | 1.4x |
| 24 | CRM | Salesforce | Technology | 318 | 36 | 1.3x |
| 25 | COST | Costco | Consumer | 305 | 40 | 1.7x |
| 26 | WMT | Walmart | Consumer | 298 | 43 | 1.2x |
| 27 | GD | General Dynamics | Defense | 289 | 34 | 1.5x |
| 28 | MRK | Merck | Healthcare | 281 | 42 | 1.1x |
| 29 | PYPL | PayPal | Finance | 274 | 33 | 0.8x |
| 30 | NOC | Northrop Grumman | Defense | 268 | 31 | 1.4x |
| 31 | T | AT&T | Telecom | 261 | 48 | 0.7x |
| 32 | BA | Boeing | Defense | 255 | 37 | 0.9x |
| 33 | NFLX | Netflix | Technology | 248 | 35 | 1.3x |
| 34 | AMD | AMD | Technology | 241 | 29 | 1.6x |
| 35 | WFC | Wells Fargo | Finance | 236 | 37 | 1.0x |
| 36 | PG | Procter & Gamble | Consumer | 229 | 41 | 1.3x |
| 37 | TMO | Thermo Fisher | Healthcare | 223 | 28 | 1.5x |
| 38 | ABT | Abbott Laboratories | Healthcare | 218 | 38 | 1.2x |
| 39 | COP | ConocoPhillips | Energy | 213 | 30 | 1.4x |
| 40 | ADBE | Adobe | Technology | 208 | 27 | 1.3x |
| 41 | LLY | Eli Lilly | Healthcare | 204 | 33 | 1.9x |
| 42 | AVGO | Broadcom | Technology | 198 | 24 | 1.7x |
| 43 | C | Citigroup | Finance | 193 | 35 | 1.0x |
| 44 | KO | Coca-Cola | Consumer | 189 | 39 | 1.4x |
| 45 | PEP | PepsiCo | Consumer | 184 | 36 | 1.3x |
| 46 | NEE | NextEra Energy | Energy | 179 | 25 | 1.5x |
| 47 | MS | Morgan Stanley | Finance | 175 | 31 | 1.2x |
| 48 | AMGN | Amgen | Healthcare | 171 | 30 | 1.1x |
| 49 | DHR | Danaher | Healthcare | 167 | 22 | 1.4x |
| 50 | ORCL | Oracle | Technology | 163 | 29 | 1.2x |
Sector Breakdown: Where Congress Puts Its Money
Technology is the undisputed leader in congressional portfolios with more than 30,540 trades filed since 2012 — nearly double the next sector. Healthcare follows with approximately 17,700 trades, then Finance at 14,650. The concentration in Technology reflects both market-cap weighting and the fact that multiple committees — Commerce, Science, Judiciary — have regulatory jurisdiction over tech companies.
14 of the top 50 stocks are in Technology — more than any other sector. The remaining 36 are split across Finance (8), Healthcare (9), Defense (5), Energy (4), Consumer (7), and Telecom (1). This concentration mirrors market-cap weighting but also reflects the regulatory reach of tech-focused committees.
Congress has filed more than 30,540 technology trades since 2012 — nearly double the next-largest sector. Five different committees (Commerce, Science, Judiciary, Senate Commerce, Energy & Commerce) hold regulatory jurisdiction over the companies in that pile.
Party Comparison: Do Democrats and Republicans Buy the Same Stocks?
Congressional stock trading is a bipartisan practice. Both Democrats and Republicans load up on MSFT, AAPL, and AMZN. The divergence appears in secondary preferences: Democrats trade more healthcare and biotech, while Republicans favor energy and defense. Below is a side-by-side comparison of trading patterns by party.
Democrats
Republicans
Bipartisan overlap: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and JPMorgan appear in the top 10 holdings for both parties. The #1 sector — Technology — is the same for Democrats and Republicans. Where the parties diverge is in secondary holdings: Democrats trade more Pfizer (PFE) and UnitedHealth (UNH), while Republicans prefer Exxon (XOM), Chevron (CVX), and Lockheed Martin (LMT).
Trends and Patterns in Congressional Stock Trading
Several patterns emerge when analyzing 14 years of STOCK Act data across 189,595 trades. These patterns are consistent enough to be statistically meaningful and shed light on how Congress approaches the market differently from retail investors.
| Pattern | Observation | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Mega-Cap Concentration | Top 20 stocks account for a disproportionate share of all trades | Congress trades what they know — and regulate |
| Buy Bias | Buy/Sell ratio is above 1.0x for 42 of top 50 stocks | Congress is overwhelmingly bullish on the market |
| Committee-Sector Alignment | Armed Services members trade defense stocks; Energy Committee trades oil | Bills with committee-aligned trading pass at 5.4x the base rate |
| NVDA Surge | NVIDIA jumped from rank #12 to #4 during the AI boom (2023-2026) | Congress follows — and sometimes leads — sector momentum |
| Herd Behavior | When 3+ politicians buy the same stock within 14 days, it signals convergence | GovGreed detects 31 active herd signals across the database |
| Late Filer Premium | 12.5% of trades are filed after the 45-day STOCK Act deadline | Average gap: 44.9 days. Worst: 997 days (nearly 3 years) |
Key Takeaways
1. Technology dominance is structural, not cyclical. Tech has been the #1 traded sector in every year since 2012. Multiple committees regulate tech companies, giving more politicians both exposure and informational advantage.
2. Congress is a net buyer. Across the top 50 stocks, the average buy/sell ratio exceeds 1.0x. Congress adds to positions more than it sells, particularly in mega-cap names like NVDA (1.8x), UNH (1.6x), and COST (1.7x). For analysis of whether this buying translates into outperformance, see do politicians beat the market.
3. Breadth varies wildly by stock. MSFT has the most total trades (2,100), but AAPL is traded by the most politicians (137). Some stocks like NVDA have high trade counts but relatively few traders (66), suggesting concentrated buying by a smaller group — including high-profile traders like Nancy Pelosi.
4. Sector leans map to committee assignments. According to GovGreed's analysis of 256,112 bill-trade correlations, politicians on the Armed Services Committee trade defense stocks at higher rates, Financial Services members concentrate in bank stocks, and Energy Committee members trade oil and gas names.