User device
Stores the local watchlist experience, device encryption key, trusted-device state and local research-memory checkpoints.
private state layerTechnical architecture
Build useful market research.
Know less about the investor.
Ticker Watch is designed around a simple boundary: the research service needs to know which public company you asked about, not the size and composition of your brokerage portfolio. The current architecture combines local-first preferences, encrypted research memory, optional encrypted device sync, public-market evidence, source-linked interpretation, and browser-generated Research Radio.
System overview
Seven layers, with an explicit data boundary at each step.
The architecture is intentionally easier to explain than a black-box recommendation engine. Each layer has a narrow responsibility, and the user can move from interpretation back to evidence.
Selected ticker request
When the user refreshes a company, the public-market request can be scoped to the selected ticker rather than the user's full financial profile.
minimal request payloadMarket gateway
Coordinates the public information needed for the selected company and returns a normalized research payload to the browser.
public-market servicesEvidence + context
Recent news, SEC filings, direction context and event significance are organized while preserving links back to the underlying evidence.
explainable researchEncrypted research memory
For Plus users, the browser compares current evidence with the prior encrypted per-ticker checkpoint and identifies only newly surfaced stories and filings.
device-local continuityResearch Radio
The browser turns already-rendered research into 3-, 5- or 10-minute target listening formats. Plus can also play a changes-only catch-up from research memory.
browser presentationOptional Plus automation
Whole-watchlist briefing and scheduled workflows use entitlement-gated services without changing the free single-ticker research boundary.
paid workflow layerOne request, end to end
What happens when a user refreshes NVDA?
The most important architectural principle is data minimization before encryption: do not collect information a research request does not need.
User selects NVDA.
browserThe user's full watchlist, holdings, position size and brokerage account are not required to answer the request.
The ticker symbol is requested.
minimal boundaryThe browser sends the selected public ticker to the market gateway when the user asks for a refresh.
Public evidence is gathered.
market servicesThe gateway retrieves the market information needed for the ticker, including recent coverage and filing information supported by the current product.
Evidence is normalized.
gatewayThe result is returned in a shape the client can consistently render and compare rather than exposing provider-specific structures throughout the UI.
Context is shown beside the source.
research layerDirection describes company-news tone; impact describes event significance. The user can open the original story or filing.
Plus research memory computes the delta locally.
device-local AES-GCMIf the user has access to “Since I last checked,” the browser decrypts the previous checkpoint, compares evidence keys, renders newly surfaced items, then encrypts the updated checkpoint again.
Research Radio can build a listening format.
browserThe browser assembles a 3-, 5- or 10-minute target transcript from already-rendered evidence. Changes-only mode uses the local “Since I last checked” result. No extra ShareCapsule content request is required merely to create the single-ticker transcript.
Data boundaries
What each part of the system needs to know.
| Data | Primary location | Market research service needs it? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selected ticker | Browser → market gateway on refresh | Yes | It identifies the public company for which research was requested. |
| Full watchlist | User-device experience; optional encrypted sync | No | A single-company research request does not need the user's entire preference set. |
| Portfolio holdings | Not required by Ticker Watch | No | Company evidence can be presented without collecting share counts or portfolio value. |
| Vault passphrase / device encryption key | Trusted device boundary | No | Research services do not need the finance vault passphrase or readable watchlist/research-memory encryption key. |
| Public news / filings | Market evidence pipeline and browser result | Yes | These are the evidence objects the research experience is built to help the user inspect. |
| “Since I last checked” checkpoint | Encrypted device-local IndexedDB record | No | The current implementation compares the prior evidence set in the browser and does not attach the checkpoint to market requests. |
| Plus entitlement | Billing service | Separate service | Billing verifies feature access without needing the readable research-memory checkpoint or finance vault. |
| Research Radio transcript | Browser-generated from displayed research | No additional request | Single-ticker listening formats can be assembled from content already present in the page. |
Privacy architecture
Minimize first. Encrypt the state that still needs to persist or move.
Local preference layer
Encrypted watchlist
Ticker preferences are part of the privacy-first browser experience. Optional cross-device synchronization is designed around ciphertext rather than a readable watchlist database.
- AES-GCM encrypted sync payload.
- Relay is not intended to read ticker symbols inside the encrypted payload.
- Readable state exists on the trusted device when needed by the UI.
Local continuity layer
Encrypted research memory
“Since I last checked” stores a per-ticker checkpoint encrypted with the existing Ticker Watch device key.
- Prior evidence identifiers remain device-local.
- First check creates an honest baseline rather than labeling everything new.
- Subsequent checks compute only the newly surfaced delta.
- Current version is intentionally not synced across devices.
Trusted-device layer
One-time pairing
Pairing is separated from the public market research request. A short-lived pairing capability is used to connect another trusted device without turning the relay into the keeper of the vault passphrase.
- Short-lived pairing capability.
- Separate sync authorization.
- Revision/conflict handling avoids silent overwrite assumptions.
Public research layer
Minimal market requests
Only the company the user asks to research needs to cross the public-market boundary for that request. This is a design choice, not merely a privacy-policy statement.
- No brokerage login required for Ticker Watch.
- No position size required.
- No full portfolio needed to retrieve company research.
Audio presentation layer
Research Radio in the browser
The browser turns already-displayed evidence into a spoken sequence. It prioritizes high-impact and directional items and can include SEC filings in longer formats.
- 3-, 5- and 10-minute target formats for single-ticker research.
- Actual runtime depends on available sourced evidence and playback speed.
- Changes-only Plus mode consumes the local research-memory result.
- Local system voice is preferred when the browser reports one.
Entitlement layer
Free research, paid continuity
The commercial boundary follows the architecture: free users retain useful single-ticker research and audio; Plus adds research memory and automation.
- Billing checks access independently of market evidence retrieval.
- Free research is not hidden behind an entitlement request.
- Plus monetizes continuity and saved time rather than access to basic evidence.
Cryptographic details and limitations are documented separately in the published security model.
Research Radio architecture
Listening is another view of the evidence—not another black box.
Research Radio does not invent a separate recommendation layer. It transforms the same visible research into a prioritized spoken sequence and keeps the source links in the transcript.
3-minute quick scan.
FreeUses the highest-priority stories first and keeps context short. It is designed for fast orientation, not exhaustive coverage.
5-minute research brief.
FreeAdds more context and can include returned SEC filings while preserving source-linked transcript items.
10-minute deep dive.
FreeUses a larger evidence budget and longer context where available. It remains shorter when the page does not contain enough sourced material.
Changes-only catch-up.
PlusReads only the evidence currently identified by the encrypted “Since I last checked” delta instead of replaying the full ticker briefing.
Whole-watchlist briefing.
Plus serviceThe existing Plus workflow can summarize recent developments across tickers from the encrypted device-local watchlist using a short-lived entitlement capability.
Target duration is not a content-generation mandate.The system does not pad a 10-minute format with unsupported commentary merely to reach ten minutes. Runtime expands only when enough sourced evidence is available.
Explainability boundary
Evidence, interpretation and prediction are different things.
Ticker Watch is deliberately structured so that a user can inspect the distinction instead of receiving one opaque “AI score.”
Evidence
A news story, filing or other public-market item associated with the selected company.
Direction
A description of whether the recent coverage appears potentially positive, negative or neutral/mixed for the company.
Impact
An estimate of event significance used to help prioritize reading. High impact does not mean high expected return.
Source
A path back to the original article or filing so the user can verify material information rather than trusting the label alone.
There is intentionally no “prediction” layer in this architecture.Direction and impact help organize research. They do not claim that a security will rise, fall, outperform or generate a particular return.
Threat model
What the design helps reduce—and what it cannot solve.
Designed to reduce
Unnecessary central knowledge.
- Readable portfolio collection merely to research a ticker.
- Readable watchlists sitting in the sync relay.
- Readable research-history checkpoints stored by the market service.
- Ad-tech dependence on a detailed financial profile.
- Unexplained interpretation detached from evidence.
- Silent last-writer-wins assumptions during trusted-device sync.
Not solved by architecture alone
Endpoint and source risk still exist.
- A compromised device or browser can expose information while it is readable.
- Malicious extensions, malware, keylogging or screen capture remain endpoint risks.
- Public data can be delayed, incomplete or wrong.
- Interpretive labels can be wrong and must not replace source review.
- Research memory is device-local today, so another device may have a different checkpoint.
- Independent security review remains important before broad production-hardening claims.
Current product boundary
Free evidence. Paid continuity and automation.
The architecture supports a business model in which users can evaluate the research quality before paying. Plus monetizes repeated effort that the system can remove.
Free
Single-ticker research remains useful.
- Market snapshot and recent ticker-linked coverage.
- Catalyst direction and impact context.
- Returned SEC filings and original source links.
- Encrypted watchlist and optional encrypted sync.
- 3-, 5- and 10-minute single-ticker Research Radio formats.
Plus
Pay for memory and saved time.
- Encrypted “Since I last checked” device-local research memory.
- Changes-only Research Radio catch-up.
- Whole-watchlist briefing.
- Scheduled briefing, history and advanced alert workflows.
Why this architecture matters commercially
Monetize research value, not a user's portfolio profile.
The same boundaries that support privacy can become product differentiation. A paid research product can charge for continuity, synthesis, alerts, timelines and workflow—not for harvesting detailed holdings to build an advertising profile.
Future architectural direction: the normalized evidence and provenance layer can later support encrypted cross-device research-memory sync, team research views, developer APIs or enterprise integrations. Those capabilities are not represented here as currently available, and each should preserve the minimum-data boundary appropriate to its use case.
See the architecture in use
Start with one ticker.
Open Ticker Watch, select a public company, inspect catalysts and SEC filings, create an encrypted research-memory baseline if you have Plus, and listen through Research Radio.