Real-Time Stock Market Data: Why Trade Ideas Is Different

A custom database under the event engine

Under the event engine sits a proprietary database that Trade Ideas designed and custom-built from the ground up. It is the base the engine runs on: live market data comes in, and the engine works from that database to spot each event as it happens.

We have kept modifying and improving it for more than two decades. Every one of the 310 alerts and 249 filters in our help is computed on it, so the Top Lists that refresh every 15 seconds and the Streaming Alerts that can fire on every trade share one in-house foundation.

In the pipeline above, this is the Proprietary Data Engine step. It is also where the closed loop below begins.

Built for events, not snapshots

Most scanners wait on a static condition. Trade Ideas watches for what just happened and shows it to you while it still matters.

Seeing an event as it happens is a big advantage for active investors looking to apply capital. If you are okay with static non-refreshing data, Trade Ideas is probably not your best choice.

• VWAP crossed — price punched through value at a specific instant
• Volume accelerated — participation spiked, not just “above average”
• New high at a moment — the breakout shows up when it happens, not at the end of the bar

Trade Ideas also monitors unusual options activity across all stocks, with a dedicated channel in TI Pro and in the browser-based Web Dashboard.

Prefer the tape comparison? Super Feed vs Nasdaq Basic →

How the four checks work in practice: see which company has the strongest analytics technology for active investors.

OddsMaker closes the loop

Define the event once. Test how it behaved in the past. Then run the live alert on that same definition, so what you trade matches what you tested.

See OddsMaker →

Holly works from the live event engine

Holly uses the same live event stream as the rest of Trade Ideas. Describe a scan in one sentence and she builds the Top List and Alert window for you.

See AI Signals →

From live data to the next session, and around again

Scanning is only the first use of the data. The same stream feeds a cycle that measures, tests, tunes and selects strategies, and each trading day’s data starts the next turn.

1. Live market data
2. Analytical variables
3. Formula Editoryour own measurements
4. Events and filters
5. Strategies
6. OddsMaker historical testingTI Premium
7. OptimizationTI Premium
8. Nightly strategy selectionTI Premium
9. Holly AI SignalsTI Premium
10. Next session’s data↻ then repeat

Steps marked TI Premium run inside OddsMaker and Holly AI Signals, which both come with TI Premium.

Data and measurements. Live market data lands in the custom database described above, where it becomes the analytical variables behind every alert and filter. In the Formula Editor you combine those variables with math, Boolean logic and if-statements into derived measurements of your own, saved as custom filters that scan like the built-in ones.

Strategies and testing. Alerts and filters, yours included, come together as strategies, which you can save and reload from the Strategies tab of an Alert window. OddsMaker tests a strategy against recent market history, and its Optimization tab breaks the results down by time of day, price, symbol and each filter’s values, so you can see which settings to keep.

Nightly selection. Holly runs the same cycle on her own library of strategies. Each night she backtests and optimizes them, then picks the ones that will trade in the next session, and the morning list appears in the AI/Holly Strategy Window. During the session those strategies produce Holly AI Signals, and that session’s market data feeds the next night’s run.

Past results, including backtests, don’t guarantee future results.

Trade Ideas market data questions

What makes Trade Ideas market data different?

Trade Ideas runs live market data through a proprietary event engine. Instead of taking snapshots of a static condition, it watches what just happened, such as a VWAP cross, a volume acceleration or a new high, and surfaces it while it still matters. Streaming Alerts, Top Lists, OddsMaker and Holly AI all work from that same event stream.

What is the Trade Ideas database?

It is a proprietary database that Trade Ideas designed and built in-house, and it is the base the event engine runs on. It has been modified and improved continuously for more than two decades. Streaming Alerts, Top Lists and every alert and filter in our help are computed on it.

Is Trade Ideas data real time?

Yes. Streaming Alerts can fire on every trade. That can be multiple times per second. Top Lists update every 15 seconds. If you are okay with static non-refreshing data, Trade Ideas is probably not your best choice.

What is the difference between Nasdaq Basic and the Super Feed?

Nasdaq Basic is a best bid and offer plus last-sale product, a cheaper feed built for quote and chart products. Trade Ideas builds its events from premium exchange data instead, so the engine can see what just happened on the tape. See Nasdaq Basic vs the Trade Ideas Super Feed.

Does Trade Ideas cover options activity?

Yes. Trade Ideas monitors unusual options activity across all stocks, with a dedicated channel in TI Pro and in the browser-based Web Dashboard. Top List filters for options volume, call volume and put volume let you screen for it too.