Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the disclosure and investing terms used across the site.
- 13F Filing
- A quarterly SEC report required from institutional investment managers exercising investment discretion over at least $100 million in Section 13(f) securities. It discloses certain long U.S.-listed positions as of quarter-end and is a major public window into hedge-fund and 'guru' holdings.
- Read the detailed guide
- Why 13F Is Delayed
- 13F is a quarter-end snapshot, and the law allows up to 45 days after the quarter ends before it is published. By the time you see it, a manager may already have changed the position — so 13F reflects historical holdings, not current ones, and no site can offer real-time 13F data.
- Form 4 (Insider Trading)
- Company directors, officers and 10%-plus beneficial owners generally file Form 4 with the SEC within two business days of a reportable transaction or ownership change. It is timelier than quarterly 13F, but open-market trades, awards, gifts and tax withholding carry different transaction codes and meanings.
- Read the detailed guide
- 13D / 13G (5% Stake Disclosure)
- An investor who beneficially owns more than 5% of a class of registered equity securities generally must disclose the stake to the SEC. Schedule 13D usually provides more detail about purpose and plans, while eligible passive investors or qualified institutions may use the shorter Schedule 13G. Eligibility and deadlines should be checked against current SEC rules and the original filing.
- Read the detailed guide
- STOCK Act Disclosure
- Under the STOCK Act, members of the U.S. Congress must disclose qualifying securities trades by themselves and covered family members, generally within 30 days of notice and no later than 45 days after the trade. PTR deadline extensions are not permitted. Amounts are ranges, not exact values; executive officials use a separate OGE disclosure system.
- Read the detailed guide
- CUSIP
- A nine-character code that uniquely identifies a U.S. or Canadian security. 13F filings tag holdings by CUSIP rather than ticker, so reading them requires mapping CUSIP back to a ticker — a mapping that can be ambiguous due to historical reuse or corporate changes.
- Crowded Trade
- When many funds simultaneously hold large positions in the same stock or theme. Crowding can be self-reinforcing on the way up, but when sentiment reverses, a rush for the exits amplifies the drop and liquidity risk — so 'how many gurus hold it' is both a popularity and a risk signal.
- Copy Trading
- Building your own positions by mirroring a guru's or politician's disclosed trades. The disclosures are inherently delayed: Form 13F can lag up to 45 days; STOCK Act reports are generally due within 30 days of notice and no later than 45 days after the trade. Their deadlines cannot be extended, but late filings, corrections and publication processing can delay public visibility. Outsiders also cannot see exact cost basis, hedges or exit timing, so copying is usually a step behind.
- Option Legs (Put / Call)
- 13F lists option positions separately. A call option bets on a rise; a put option bets on a decline or is used as a hedge. A put on a stock may be a protective hedge rather than an outright bearish view, so option direction matters when interpreting a holding.
- 13F Excludes Short Positions
- 13F reports only long U.S. equities and certain options — it excludes short positions, most bonds, foreign-listed holdings, and cash. As a result, a 13F is not a complete portfolio, and a manager's true net exposure can differ materially from the filing.
- AUM (Assets Under Management)
- The total value of assets a fund or institution manages on behalf of clients, often used to gauge its size and influence. Note that 13F covers only the long U.S.-equity slice, so disclosed holdings value is typically smaller than the institution's true total AUM.
These definitions are general educational explanations, not investment advice. For full data sources and methodology see About & Data Sources.
Public SEC 13F filings may appear up to 45 days after quarter-end; STOCK Act / OGE trade filings are generally due within 45 days but may be late. Partial data only — research, not investment advice.