Headlines and filings move stocks before the OHLCV bar closes. A press release at 4:01 p.m. and an 8-K filed at 8:00 a.m. can reprice a name faster than any chart pattern. Researchers and surveillance desks need streams that push news and filing events as they publish, not polling loops that discover catalysts minutes late.
Vantafin does not stream order book depth, bid-ask ladders, or a quotes channel named "quotes." What we provide are the N and F WebSocket channels: N delivers live news and press releases, and F delivers live SEC filing metadata (not full document text). This tutorial wires both into a catalyst dashboard for symbols in your coverage universe.
Subscribe to news and filings
After connecting with your API key to wss://socket.vantafin.com/v1/stocks, subscribe to the channels you need. Use {"action":"subscribe","params":"N.AAPL"} for live news on Apple, and {"action":"subscribe","params":"F.AAPL"} for SEC filing metadata. You can pass a channels array to batch subscriptions for every ticker in your watchlists.
N messages carry press release and news headline fields as items publish. F messages carry filing metadata (form type, accession number, filed-at timestamp) as submissions hit EDGAR. Full filing text is not included in the F stream; open the filing in the app via semantic search or call search_filings through the MCP server when you need the body.
Review connection and symbol limits on pricing before scaling to a full sector watch. News and filing streams are lighter than high-frequency OHLCV but still benefit from disciplined subscription lists: subscribe to names you cover, not the entire exchange.
Build the catalyst feed
Maintain a unified timeline that merges N and F events sorted by timestamp. Tag each row by source, news versus filing, and link to the company page for context. When an F event arrives, check the form type: 8-Ks deserve immediate attention, 10-Qs can queue for batch review, and Form 144 notices feed into your planned sales workflow.
Cross-reference news on Microsoft with the same symbol's SEC filings page when a headline lacks detail. The N stream tells you something happened; the filing viewer and transcript search tell you what management actually said.
Set email alerts for filing and news events on top of the WebSocket feed so you have asynchronous notification even when the dashboard is closed. Alerts and streams are complementary: the feed gives continuous context for the symbols you are watching; alerts catch events on the long tail of your universe.
Combine with other channels
Pair N and F with the H channel for trading halts and LS or LM for live OHLCV on the same symbols. A news pending halt on H that coincides with an N headline and an F 8-K filing is a high-confidence catalyst chain worth logging for post-mortems.
For batch news history, use GET /news over the REST API or get_news via MCP when you need to research a window rather than stream live. Full channel schemas and edge cases live in the WebSocket docs. Catalyst streaming rewards a clean timeline UI) get the merge and sort logic right once and every downstream feature becomes easier.
Live news and filings over N and F
Real-time context for a ticker often arrives as headlines and SEC metadata before prices fully reprice. Vantafin streams both over the same WebSocket at wss://socket.vantafin.com/v1/stocks: subscribe to N.AAPL for live news and press releases, or F.AAPL for filing metadata the moment EDGAR indexes a new submission. Use N.* and F.* when you want market-wide coverage instead of a watchlist-scoped feed.
Unlike LS and LM quote channels, news and filings stream around the clock. They are not gated to 4:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern. Each N message carries headline, body text, publisher, canonical URL, publish time, and a newsType of either stockNews or pressRelease. Each F message carries form type, filed date, accession number, CIK, and EDGAR base URL; pull full document text through REST or semantic search in the app when you need exhibits.
Authenticate with your API key per the WebSocket overview, then load symbols from watchlists. A desk panel that shows the last ten headlines beside the last five filings for active names gives operators a faster read than refreshing three browser tabs.
Building a catalyst dashboard
Sort incoming N messages by recency and highlight publishers you trust for your universe. Pair the stream with email news alerts filtered by publisher or general news rules so material headlines reach you when you are away from the terminal. News alerts and the N channel complement each other: the socket gives continuous context; alerts catch the one headline you would have missed during a meeting.
For filings, route F messages into the same UI tier as material 8-K monitoring. Metadata arrives instantly; deep reading happens in the filing viewer or through search_filings in the MCP server. When an 8-K lands, chain search_filings with get_quotes so the agent returns both the triggering paragraph and the current mark in one pass.
Cross-reference burst filing activity with the calendar. Earnings, splits, and dividend dates explain many after-hours 8-K clusters. A filing without calendar context looks idiosyncratic; with context it often fits a predictable disclosure window.
Production pairing with quote streams
Most desks run N and F alongside LM on the same socket for catalyst names: headlines and filings explain why quotes moved, while per-minute quotes show magnitude. Throttle UI repaints with requestAnimationFrame when N.* traffic spikes on a macro morning; filing bursts are lower volume but still benefit from deduplication by accession number.
Reconnect with resubscribe on socket open, and log when either channel goes quiet unexpectedly during market hours. Confirm entitlements on pricing before subscribing N.* and F.* market-wide in production. Sector watchlists usually suffice. For end-of-day summaries, get_news and list_filings over MCP often beat maintaining overnight sockets when you only need a once-per-day digest.