Stock trading in the House of Representatives for Quarter 1 was up sharply, up +70% as follows:
Q1 2020 = 3,145 transactions
َQ1 2019 = 1,852 transactions
This data is subject to revision as corrections and late filings are published. Nonetheless, this increase exceeds even the sharp increase we saw in Senate trading activity for Quarter 1. With no significant turnover in Congressional composition, it would be fair to say that Members spent more of their energy moving around their investments this year than last.
Quarterly data is our preferred method for volume comparison because of sharp seasonal variation in trading volume. For example, trading volume is often higher in Q4 as investors “harvest” their capital gains/losses, or in Q1 as investors raise cash to pay taxes.