About this page
WallStPal explains public SEC filings and congressional stock trade reports in plain English. Nothing is for sale; the site is free and supported by ads.
How to read it
- Form 4
- The form a company insider (officer, director or owner of more than 10%) must file with the SEC within two business days of buying or selling the company's shares.
- 13F
- A quarterly list of U.S. stocks held by an investment manager with more than $100 million, filed within 45 days after each quarter ends.
- STOCK Act
- A 2012 law that requires members of Congress to report stock trades by themselves, a spouse or a dependent child within 45 days.
A real example
In January 2016, when bank stocks were falling, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon bought 500,000 JPMorgan shares with his own money, worth about $26 million. His Form 4 made the purchase public within days, and investors read it as a strong sign of confidence.
Explain it like I'm 13
We read the long, boring forms that grown-ups file with the government and tell you what they say in normal words.
Data from public SEC filings and congressional reports. Information, not investment advice. Check every number against the filing linked on the page.
Bill Gates
Co-founder of Microsoft; the Gates Foundation Trust files a 13F
- Full name
- William Henry Gates III
- Born
- 1955, Seattle, Washington
Who is Bill Gates?
Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975 and led it as CEO until 2000. He left Microsoft’s board in 2020 to focus on the Gates Foundation, which has said it will spend its money and close by 2045. The foundation’s trust reports its U.S. stock holdings every quarter on Form 13F.
Gates Foundation Trust: what the fund holds
| Top holdings | Value | % of fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRKB BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC DEL | $7.35B | 21.4% | trimmed |
| CAT CATERPILLAR INC | $6.77B | 19.6% | same |
| CNI CANADIAN NATL RY CO | $6.18B | 17.9% | same |
| WM WASTE MGMT INC DEL | $5.96B | 17.3% | trimmed |
| DE DEERE & CO | $2.26B | 6.6% | same |
| ECL ECOLAB INC | $1.45B | 4.2% | same |
| WMT WALMART INC | $950.3M | 2.8% | same |
| FDX FEDEX CORP | $746.6M | 2.2% | same |
| KOF COCA-COLA FEMSA SAB DE CV | $660.3M | 1.9% | same |
| HD HOME DEPOT INC | $352.7M | 1.0% | new |
New positions: HD, FDXF.
Examples
Founders often sell stock on a schedule set months in advance (a 10b5-1 plan) to pay taxes or diversify, so a sale is not always a sign of doubt. A large open-market purchase with their own money is rarer and usually says more. In January 2016, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon bought 500,000 JPMorgan shares, about $26 million, and the purchase was widely read as confidence in the bank.
Explain it like I'm 13
Imagine the founder of your favorite game company owns a giant pile of its shares. Each time they sell some, give some away, or buy more, they must tell the government within two business days. This page adds up those notes so you can see how big the pile is and what they have been doing with it.
From public SEC filings. Information, not investment advice. Values are estimates at the latest weekly price.