About the data
Where every number in Centband comes from, how fresh it is, and what Centband does with it. Last updated: November 10, 2026.
Bring your own key (BYOK)
Centband does not sell or host market data. You connect your own free key from a market-data provider, and your browser asks that provider directly. Wood Between Studio has no shared market-data key, never proxies quotes, and never passes one person's data to anyone else. Your use of the data is under your plan with that provider (free plans are generally for personal, non-commercial use) and that provider's terms.
Supported providers
| Provider | What Centband uses it for | Free-plan limits | Freshness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Vantage (terms) | A market snapshot of U.S. stocks that are most active by volume, plus names with large up or down moves: last price, change, and volume. Centband keeps names priced at $5 or less with enough volume and shows up to 50 rows. | 25 requests a day on the free plan. Centband uses one call for the whole list and waits at least 15 minutes between refreshes. | Typically as of the last U.S. session close. The list shows the snapshot's "as of" time. |
| Finnhub (terms) | Last price, change, day range, prior close, company profile and listing, 10-day average volume. Finnhub's free quote does not include today's volume. | 60 calls a minute (Centband stays under 50) | Finnhub describes free U.S. quotes as real-time. Centband doesn't guarantee that and always shows each quote's own time. |
| Twelve Data (terms) | Today's volume, 20-day average volume, 20 days of daily closes (for volatility), and price if you have no Finnhub key. | 8 credits a minute, 800 a day on the free Basic plan; 1 credit per symbol. Centband keeps a reserve and paces the day. | Depends on your plan and the exchange. Each quote's time is shown. |
| U.S. SEC EDGAR | Listing exchange (from the SEC's ticker file) and filing-based risk flags. | No key. Fetched by Wood Between Studio's filing service, which identifies itself to the SEC and stays well under its 10-requests-a-second limit. | Filings appear as the SEC disseminates them. Centband checks each ticker at most once a day (or when you press "Check filings"). |
A free Alpha Vantage key is enough to open the table already filled with U.S. stocks under $5 that are most active by volume. Company name, market cap, and the 52-week range come from an optional Finnhub key. With only Finnhub (no Twelve Data), the volume-based rules (part of Unusual volume + move and Meets 3+ checks) show as "not checked". Add a free Twelve Data key to fill them in. Centband shows "No quote" rather than guessing when a provider has no data for a symbol, which is common for OTC and Pink names.
Attribution and timestamps
Every list shows the providers it uses, with links, and when it was last updated. Every row shows its quote time and which provider gave its price and its volume. If a refresh fails, Centband keeps the last good quote, marks it stale, and slows down before trying again.
How the tags work
The same published rules run for every user. Each tag lists the exact rules that fired and their numbers. Tags are descriptive, not advice. Default thresholds (you can change most of them in Settings > Tag rules):
- Unusual volume + move, all of: last price under $5; volume today at least 3× the stock's own average volume; and at least +5% versus the prior close (or −5% or worse, shown as "Unusual volume + drop").
- Meets 3+ checks, at least 3 of these 5 checks: volume at least 3× the stock's own average; at least +5% versus the prior close; average dollar volume at least $100,000; listed on Nasdaq or NYSE; no hard risk flags in recent SEC filings. Hidden when a hard risk flag is on (you can change that). The count of 3 is fixed so the name always matches the rule.
- Risky, any of: OTC/Pink listing, or listing unknown after an SEC lookup; a one-day move beyond ±25%; 20-day volatility in the top 10% of your list or above 150% annualized; low float when your provider gives float (under 10M shares); average dollar volume under $50,000; going-concern language, an 8-K Item 3.01 delisting notice, or a mention of a reverse stock split in an 8-K in the last 90 days (hard flags); a late-filing notice, Form 15, no annual or quarterly report in 15 months, or not found in EDGAR; missing, stale or contradictory price data. A stock can carry Unusual volume + move and Risky at the same time.
Unusual volume in a penny stock can be the result of promotion or manipulation. Read the SEC's investor alerts on pump-and-dump schemes.
Known gaps
- Trading halts are not detected yet. Check the exchange or your broker.
- Float isn't available on the free plans Centband supports, so the low-float rule usually shows as not checked.
- Filing flags come from text search and filing types. They can miss things or flag boilerplate; open the linked filing.
- Market hours follow the regular U.S. session and full-day holidays; early closes are treated as normal days.
- OTC Markets tier (OTCQX, OTCQB, Pink) isn't shown. Use the OTC Markets link on each stock.
Not endorsed
Centband is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SEC, Alpha Vantage, Finnhub, Twelve Data, OTC Markets or any exchange. Always confirm quotes and filings with your broker and official sources.