Using Signal8 / Alerts & automation
Setting Up Alerts on Signal8
How Signal8 alerts work: tracking companies, insiders, institutions and politicians, choosing event categories, turning on delivery channels, and plan limits.
5 min readLast verified
The short version
A Signal8 alert is a subscription to one entity: a company, an insider, an institution or a politician. You add the entity, choose which kinds of events you care about, and Signal8 notifies you when one happens, for example when a company you track files an 8-K or a prospectus, or an insider you follow files a Form 4.
Everything is managed on the alerts page. Alerts always appear in the app; to receive them elsewhere you turn on at least one delivery channel (email, push or Telegram) in your account settings. A free account can set up three alerts; Signal8 Pro removes the limit.
Step 1: add what you want to track
The alerts page has a tab for each kind of entity:
| Tab | Columns | What you get alerts about |
|---|---|---|
| Companies | Ticker, Company, Notifications, Added, Actions | SEC filings and press releases |
| Insiders | Name, Notifications, Added, Actions | That person's Form 4 trades and filings |
| Institutions | Name, Notifications, Added, Actions | 13F filings and position changes |
| Politicians | Politician, Notifications, Added, Actions | New STOCK Act trade disclosures |
Click Add at the top of a tab to search for an entity. You can also add from anywhere else on Signal8: the bell icon at the end of a company page's tab row, and the watch buttons on insider, institution and politician pages, open the same preferences popover. See the watchlist guide for those entry points.
When adding a company you can start from a preset: All Filings, Dilution Watch, Material Events Only or M&A Watch. Each preset simply pre-selects categories, which you can change afterwards.
Step 2: choose event categories
Each row's Notifications cell is a set of toggle pills. A highlighted pill is on.
Company categories
| Pill | Forms it covers |
|---|---|
| Press | Press releases |
| Dilution | 424B1 to 424B5 prospectuses (see 424B5), S-1, S-3, F-1, F-3, EFFECT, RW, 1-A, S-11 |
| 10-K/Q | 10-Q, 10-K, 20-F, 40-F, 1-K, 1-SA |
| 8-K | 8-K, 8-K/A, 6-K, 6-K/A, 1-U |
| M&A | F-4, S-4, 425 |
| 13D/G | SC 13D, SC 13D/A, SC 13G, SC 13G/A |
| Proxy | DEF 14A, DEFA14A, DFAN14A, DEFM14A, PRE 14A, PRE 14C, PRRN14A, PRER14A |
Hovering a pill shows the same list. The Dilution pill is the one most small-cap researchers turn on first: it catches the shelf registrations and prospectus supplements that come before or with a share sale, and the 10-Q pill catches the quarterly report where share counts and cash are updated.
Insider, institution and politician categories
- Insiders: Buys (Form 4 code P), Sales (code S), Other (option exercises, awards, tax withholding and the remaining codes) and Filings (any Form 3, 4 or 5).
- Institutions: 13F (a new 13F report) and Positions (the institution materially adds to or trims a position).
- Politicians: Trades (a new STOCK Act disclosure).
Step 3: turn on delivery channels
If no channel is on, the alerts page shows a "No delivery channels enabled" banner with a Configure button. That button, and the bell icon at the top of the page, open the notification settings on your account page:
- Email: alerts are sent to your account's email address.
- Push Notifications: browser push, and push to the Signal8 mobile app. In a browser, switching it on asks for permission and registers that browser; the panel shows whether the current browser is registered.
- Telegram: requires linking your Telegram account on the account page's Connections tab first.
Changes take effect when you press Save Settings.
Plan limits
| Plan | Alerts |
|---|---|
| Signed out | 0 |
| Free | 3 |
| Pro | Unlimited |
One alert means one tracked entity, whatever its type, with any number of category pills switched on. A free account tracking three companies has used its allowance; adding a fourth entity opens a prompt to upgrade to Pro ($59 a month or $588 a year). Existing alerts keep working if you are over the limit, and re-adding something you already track does not count again.
What alerts do not cover today
The alerts page code includes price and technical alerts, economic-event alerts and earnings-result alerts, but each is switched off on the public site at the time of writing, so they do not appear. Alerts are about filings and disclosures, not price moves. For price action, use the scanner, which lets Pro accounts arm an on-screen alert for a saved screen while it is open.
How to set up alerts on Signal8
- Open the alerts page and add a company, insider, institution or politician.
- Or start from a company page, for example AAPL, and use the bell at the end of the tab row.
- Watch filings arrive in real time across the market on the live SEC filings feed.
FAQ
How many alerts can I set up on a free Signal8 account?
Three. Each tracked company, insider, institution or politician counts as one alert, regardless of how many event categories you switch on for it. Signal8 Pro, at $59 a month or $588 a year, removes the limit. Existing alerts keep working if you go over the limit; you just cannot add new ones.
Can Signal8 alert me when a company files a prospectus or S-3?
Yes. On the Companies tab, the Dilution category covers 424B prospectuses, S-1, S-3, F-1, F-3 and related registration filings. Turn on that pill for a company, or use the Dilution Watch preset when adding it, and make sure at least one delivery channel is enabled.
Why am I not receiving alert emails or push notifications?
Check that a delivery channel is switched on in the notification settings on your account page and that you pressed Save Settings. For push, the browser or the mobile app must have notification permission and be registered. If no channel is enabled, alerts appear only inside Signal8, and the alerts page shows a banner saying so.
Does Signal8 send price alerts?
Not on the public site at the time of writing. Alerts cover SEC filings, press releases, insider and institutional activity, and politician trade disclosures. Price and technical alerts exist in the code but are switched off. The scanner can alert Pro accounts on screen when a new stock matches a saved screen.
Terms in this guide
- Form 8-K
- The SEC current report a public company files, generally within four business days, to disclose specified material events such as agreements, offerings, executive changes and listing notices.
- Form 424B5 prospectus supplement
- A prospectus supplement filed under SEC Rule 424(b)(5) to document a specific offering made off an effective shelf, stating the securities sold, the price and the use of proceeds.
- Form 4
- The SEC filing that officers, directors and holders of more than 10% must make within two business days to report a change in their holdings of the company's securities.
- Form 13F
- A quarterly SEC report in which institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in qualifying US securities list their long holdings, filed within 45 days of quarter end.
- Form 10-Q
- The quarterly report a US public company files for each of its first three fiscal quarters, with unaudited financial statements, due 40 or 45 days after quarter end depending on filer status.
Put it to work
Try it on Signal8
See this in live data with Alerts.
Also useful: Watchlist · Signal8 Pro
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Educational content only. Signal8 is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security.