How to read your TickerCanvas stock market heatmap

Start with the three separate signals

A TickerCanvas canvas answers three different questions: which companies are included, how much space each company receives, and what its color means. Keeping those questions separate makes the map easier to read. A large red rectangle can be a large company with a modest decline; it does not automatically mean the largest decline in the market.

The market selector chooses S&P 500 or Nasdaq-100. The area setting controls rectangle size. Color keeps the sign of the percentage change even when you change the sizing method. This lets you keep your bearings while comparing different views of the same snapshot.

Read the default view

The default layout groups companies by sector and uses dated market-cap references for area. Green indicates an advance and red a decline in the classic palette. A neutral unavailable value is different from a measured zero change. Select a company to inspect its price session, percentage change and available capitalization reference.

Check the coverage indicator before drawing conclusions. Price coverage and market-cap coverage are separate: a company can have a current closing price while its capitalization reference is unavailable. Missing references use a minimum visible tile size, so the canvas is a practical overview rather than a precise reproduction of official index weights.

Make a second view for a different question

Open Customize and change area to absolute percentage movement to emphasize the biggest moves in either direction. A +5% move and a −5% move receive the same movement weight; their colors still distinguish the direction. Use positive or negative movement when you specifically want to emphasize advances or declines.

A sector selection, ticker search, custom watchlist or Top N setting can narrow the map. The summary describes the companies left in that view. Use Reset filters to return to the full selected index without losing your theme or sizing preference.

Keep the timestamp in view

TickerCanvas currently shares cached end-of-day snapshots. The visible session identifies the trading day represented. Refreshing the page or watching staggered tile highlights does not turn those closing prices into a live quote feed. Use the map to get perspective, then check a suitable trading source when you need a current executable price.