How to Track SEC Insider Trading Alerts in Real-Time with Python

How to Track SEC Insider Trading Alerts in Real-Time with Python Institutional investors track SEC Form 4 filings for insider trading signals, but there's no easy automated way. Here's how to do it: The Problem When a CEO sells $10M in stock or a board member loads up on shares before earnings, they're required to file a Form 4 with the SEC within 2 business days. These filings are public on EDGAR, but: The EDGAR full-text search is slow and returns XML There's no webhook or streaming API Parsing the XML yourself means handling dozens of edge cases (amendments, indirect holdings, derivative securities) If you're building a trading signal pipeline, compliance dashboard, or just want alerts when insiders trade, you need structured data — not raw XML. The Solution: SEC EDGAR Insider Alerts API The SEC EDGAR Insider Alerts API scrapes EDGAR in real-time and returns clean JSON with parsed Form 4 data. You get insider name, title, transaction type, shares, price, and total value — no XML par