Data looks missing or stale

Helious stamps every number with a timestamp and a provenance state, and captures economic releases within seconds of them crossing. When something looks missing or stale, start with the timestamp on the field and the release time on the calendar. One of the two nearly always explains it.

1. The number may not be out yet

Releases land on a schedule and Helious captures them within seconds of the print, never before it. A CPI cell a minute before 8:30 ET is empty because the number does not exist yet. If you are not sure when something is due, the economic calendar has the exact time. Auctions behave the same way. Results post within seconds of the Treasury putting them out, so a 10-year auction cell sits in its pre-result state until they land. Forecasts are the exception. They publish roughly a week ahead, which is why a near-term event can carry a forecast long before there is an actual to compare it with.

2. An old timestamp is not always a gap

Every data point carries a provenance state and an 'as-of' timestamp. A field holding its last known good value under an older timestamp is not broken. It is showing you the freshest confirmed figure and the moment it was captured. We do that on purpose. On a desk you would rather see the honest last print with its age on it than a blank where a number should be. So read the timestamp before you decide a number is lost. The only real gap is a required figure that is not there at all. Our methodology explains how release figures are sourced and stamped.

3. A stale quote usually clears itself

Quotes route in real time and the board stays current to roughly a minute. Every quote carries an as-of time and a freshness indicator. When a single quote's dot reads stale, the upstream tick stream has usually hiccuped, the price is still there, and the next tick clears the dot. A whole board that stays stale is a different problem, and it points at your connection or a dropped socket rather than at any one symbol.

4. Refreshing does not create data

Refreshing re-opens the sockets and re-pulls the latest captured state, so it fixes a stale display or a dropped feed. It cannot conjure a number that has not been released yet. If CPI is not out, no amount of refreshing prints it. The time to refresh is when the timestamp is clearly older than it should be and the calendar says the data is already out. If the release time has passed, you can see the figure published elsewhere, and a refresh still leaves the field empty, that is the case to report.

FAQ

A release cell is blank right at the scheduled time. Is the feed down?

Almost certainly not. Helious captures the actual figure within seconds of the real print and never before it, so at or just before the release time the cell is blank because the number is not public yet. Give it a few seconds past the scheduled time.

Why does a number show an older timestamp instead of updating?

That is the provenance system holding the last known good value and the moment it was captured, instead of showing you a blank. The figure is the freshest one we have confirmed, the timestamp tells you how old it is, and nothing has failed.

My quote board says stale. What do I do?

One stale symbol usually clears on the next tick, since routing keeps quotes current to about a minute. A whole board that has gone stale is more likely your connection than any single price, so refresh to re-open the socket.

I refreshed and the number is still missing. Now what?

Report it from your account panel, as long as the calendar confirms the release is already out, you can see it published elsewhere, and it is still missing after a refresh. A refresh cannot show data that has not been released yet.

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