Stock & Crypto Ticker Screensaver
The Markets Ticker screensaver runs a scrolling tape of stock, index and crypto quotes — or a board of cards with sparklines — across an idle screen. Stock and index prices come from a content file the included pipeline fills from Yahoo, while crypto prices can update live in the browser from CoinGecko. It needs internet for live data and shows clearly labeled sample data when offline. The figures are display-only and delayed, not financial advice; it is free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Markets Ticker screensaver works
The saver loads content/markets.json for symbols, names, prices, percent change and sparkline points — a file the bundled pipeline refreshes from Yahoo. If Live crypto is on, it also calls the public CoinGecko API directly from the browser to overwrite recognised coins (BTC, ETH, SOL and more) with real-time prices.
The Scrolling tape layout draws each symbol with its price and a green or red percent move, then slides the whole strip continuously. The Card board layout shows up to nine tiles, each with the symbol, name, price, change and an optional sparkline of recent movement.
A badge in the corner reads ● LIVE when crypto data was fetched, or SAMPLE DATA otherwise, alongside the update time. The saver re-fetches on the Refresh every interval so scheduled pipeline updates appear without a reload, and falls back to a single labelled sample row if content/markets.json is missing — for instance offline or opened from a file.
A worked example
With the defaults — Scrolling tape layout, scroll speed 4, sparklines on, Live crypto on, and a 90-second refresh — the tape rolls right to left showing each symbol, its price and a coloured percent move; when hosted online a “● LIVE” badge appears as CoinGecko fills in real crypto prices and the tape re-fetches every 90 seconds.
Settings & tips
- Switch Layout to “Card board” to see prices with sparkline mini-charts instead of a single rolling line.
- Turn off Live crypto if you want to rely only on the pipeline's content/markets.json and avoid the external CoinGecko call.
- Lower the Refresh every seconds for more frequent updates, or raise it to ease network use on an always-on display.
Frequently asked questions
- Where do the ticker prices come from?
- Stock and index prices come from content/markets.json, which an included pipeline fills from Yahoo. Crypto prices can update live in your browser from the public CoinGecko API.
- Is this stock ticker financial advice?
- No. The prices are display-only and delayed, shown for ambient decoration only. Nothing here is financial advice or a recommendation to trade.
- Does the ticker work without internet?
- Live prices need internet. When the feed cannot be reached it shows clearly labeled sample data with a SAMPLE DATA badge instead of failing.
- How do I know if the prices are live?
- A corner badge reads ● LIVE with an update time when live data loaded, or SAMPLE DATA when it is showing the offline fallback.
- How do I exit the ticker screensaver?
- Press ESC at any time. The screensaver is free, runs entirely in your browser, and needs nothing installed.