TickerCanvas data freshness: sessions, coverage and visual updates
Understand cached end-of-day prices, adjusted-close comparisons, coverage indicators and staggered visual updates.
TickerCanvas · Updated 2026-10-31
Use the trading session, not the animation
TickerCanvas currently displays shared end-of-day snapshots. The session date tells you which trading day the quotes represent. A fresh page load, a glowing tile or a smooth reflow does not mean that a new exchange price has just arrived. The visual effects help present real data that has already been supplied.
The app checks the service cache periodically. The desktop integration also checks while it is running. These client checks do not directly request new data from Marketstack. The provider collection is controlled on the server, with a daily schedule and quota safeguards shared across the service.
Understand the daily comparison
The daily percentage uses comparable adjusted closing prices from distinct trading sessions. Adjustments matter because an unadjusted price can change mechanically after a stock split or another corporate action. The displayed last price and the basis of the percentage comparison are identified separately.
When a comparable prior adjusted close is missing, the change is unavailable. It does not become zero. Likewise, a ticker whose latest available row belongs to an older session does not get a fresh daily-change label merely because another company has a current row.
Read both coverage measures
Price coverage tells you how many expected securities have a price for the snapshot session. Capitalization coverage is different. Company market-cap references come from a dated reference dataset, and some supported companies have no available reference. Missing references use a minimum tile size when you choose market-cap area.
The Nasdaq and S&P projections reuse the same quote object for a company that belongs to both memberships. Switching between the views cannot legitimately give that company two different closing prices for the same shared snapshot. The layout and the set of neighboring companies can change; the underlying quote does not.
Know what happens when data cannot refresh
If the service is unavailable, an app may show its last locally saved snapshot with an offline label. A desktop refresh keeps the previous successful image when it cannot obtain a real snapshot. Weekends and market holidays can leave the latest completed session unchanged. Always read the date before using a screenshot or background as current context.
Staggered updates reveal a newly received snapshot in small groups over roughly 2.4 seconds. The preview control changes the highlighting only. These are presentation choices, not simulated prices, faster provider collection or a real-time market-data promise.
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