AlphaYouReal-Time vs. Delayed Stock Alerts: Why the Lag Matters
"Real-time" describes how fast an alert reaches you, never how fresh the underlying event is. The four disclosure clocks compared, with the median lag we actually measure on each.
Every alert product advertises speed. Almost none of them define which speed, and the difference decides whether an alert is useful or merely prompt.
Direct answerThere are two separate delays and vendors only ever talk about one. The disclosure lag is how long before an event legally becomes public, and it is fixed by law: 2 business days for insider Form 4s, up to 45 days for congressional trades and 13Fs. The delivery lag is how long a product then takes to tell you. "Real-time" only ever refers to the second one.
- Think of any filing-based alert as passing through two gates.
- Medians below are from filings AlphaYou ingests, individually disclosed transactions only.
- Given gate one dominates, does gate two matter at all? For the fast sources, yes, quite a lot.
Two Clocks, Not One
Think of any filing-based alert as passing through two gates.
**Gate one, disclosure lag.** The event happens; the law says when it must become public. Nothing any product does can shorten this. An executive who bought on Monday is not public until the Form 4 posts.
**Gate two, delivery lag.** The filing is now public. How long before it reaches you? This is the only gate a vendor controls, and it is the only one "real-time" ever refers to.
A product can be genuinely instant at gate two and still be handing you a six-week-old fact, because gate one dominates.
The Actual Clocks, With Measured Lag
Medians below are from filings AlphaYou ingests, individually disclosed transactions only.
Read that table once and most alert marketing decodes itself. A "real-time congressional trade alert" is a real-time alert about a three-week-old trade. That is not dishonest, but it is doing a lot of work with one word.
Note the 13F row in particular. The median filing lands on day 45 exactly, which means filers use the entire window rather than filing when ready. The lag is not friction in the system; it is the system.
| Source | Legal deadline | Median lag we observe | What "real-time" can mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government contract awards | Published on award | Same day | Genuinely current |
| Insider Form 4 | 2 business days | 2 days | Nearly current |
| Congressional trades | 45 days | 24 days | 3+ weeks old at best |
| 13F fund holdings | 45 days after quarter end | 45 days | Six weeks old, minimum |
Where Delivery Lag Genuinely Matters
Given gate one dominates, does gate two matter at all? For the fast sources, yes, quite a lot.
A Form 4 is roughly two days old when it posts. If your product batches into a daily digest, you receive it a further day late, which is a meaningful proportion of its remaining freshness. On a 45-day-old congressional filing, another day changes almost nothing.
So delivery speed is worth paying for on Form 4s and contract awards, and close to irrelevant on 13Fs. Any product charging a premium for real-time 13F alerts is selling urgency on the one dataset where urgency does not exist.
The Free-Tier Delay Trick
Watch for products where the free tier carries identical data on a delay. There, the delay *is* the paid product. That is a legitimate model, but check what the delay actually is before deciding it matters, because on slow-clock sources it often does not.
For transparency on our own: AlphaYou's free plan delivers a once-daily digest, and paid plans deliver on filing. On Form 4s that is a real difference. On 13Fs it is close to cosmetic, and we would rather say so than let you infer otherwise.
The Honest Summary
Ask two questions of any alert product. What is the legal disclosure lag on this source? And how fast do you deliver once it is public? A vendor who answers only the second is answering the easier question.
FAQ
What does "real-time" actually mean in a stock alert app?
That the alert fires quickly once the underlying event is public. It never means the event itself is recent, which is set by law, not by the product.
Can any product alert me to a congressional trade as it happens?
No. The STOCK Act allows up to 45 days to disclose, and the median in our data is 24. Nothing exists to alert on before the filing posts.
Which sources are genuinely fast?
Government contract awards, published the day of the award, and insider Form 4s at a 2-business-day median. Those are the two where delivery speed earns its keep.
Is a delayed free tier worth using?
Often, yes. On 13F and congressional data the delay is small relative to the disclosure lag already baked in. On Form 4s it matters much more.
Get the filings this guide is about.
Funds, Congress and insiders, read the moment they file. Free, and one unsubscribe click.