Using Signal8/Getting started
How to Use Signal8
A short tour of Signal8: what each main page is for, where to find it, and which parts are free and which are part of Signal8 Pro.
On this page
The short version
Signal8 is a research site for US-listed stocks. It reads SEC filings, press releases, insider and congressional trade disclosures and market data, and lays them out by company and by topic. You do not need to read this whole guide: each section below is one page of the site, one line on what it is for, and a link to open it.
Most of Signal8 is readable without an account. A free account unlocks more of the research cards, and a few deeper surfaces are part of Signal8 Pro, the single paid plan. Where something is locked, you see a preview and a lock icon rather than an empty space, so you can judge whether you need it.
Nothing on Signal8 or in this Academy is investment advice. The site shows documents and data; what you do with them is your decision.
Start on the home dashboard
The home dashboard is the front door. It gives a market overview and links into everything else in the sidebar on the left (on a phone, the menu button opens the same list). If you only remember one thing, remember the search box at the top: type a ticker or a company name and you land on that company's page.
Radar and the Scanner for the premarket
- Radar posts premarket alerts when a stock meets Radar's rules, starting from 5am ET on trading days. Past sessions are free to browse. Live alerts as they happen, with the ticker shown, are part of Signal8 Pro. How Radar works explains the rules in more detail.
- Scanner is the premarket board: the stocks gapping before the open, with price, volume and relative volume side by side. Every column is explained in the premarket scanner guide.
Company pages
Every listed company has a research page at /companies/TICKER, for example AAPL. It brings the main facts about one company into one place:
- the quote and an interactive chart;
- the SEC Filings tab, every EDGAR filing with its form type and date;
- the Dilution tab, shelf registrations, offerings, warrants, convertibles and cash runway;
- the Signal8 Summary, a generated plain-English overview of what is going on with the company;
- insider trades from Form 4 filings and institutional holders from 13F reports.
The company page tour goes through every tab and card.
News, filings and AI analysis
- News is a single feed of market news, press releases and filings.
- SEC Filings is the live feed of new EDGAR filings, from an 8-K to a Form 4.
- Press Releases lists company announcements on their own.
Many filings and press releases carry an AI analysis: a short written read of what the document says, its key figures and any red flags noted in the text. The analysis summarises the document; it does not rate the stock.
Insiders, politicians and institutions
- Insiders lists trades by officers, directors and large holders, with cluster buys where several insiders bought close together. See insider trades and 13F holdings on Signal8.
- Politicians shows trades members of Congress and executive-branch officials disclose under the STOCK Act, plus campaign finance. See tracking congressional trades on Signal8.
- Institutions shows what funds hold, from their quarterly 13F reports.
Dilution research
Dilution is Signal8's deepest topic. Each company's Dilution tab collects the financing it has registered or done, and a Dilution Pressure Score summarises it on a Low to Critical scale. Start with the Dilution tab, card by card and how to read the Dilution Pressure Score. If the subject is new to you, the Dilution & Toxic Financing track starts from the basics.
The Terminal
The Signal8 Terminal is a denser, multi-panel workspace: a chart, a watchlist and company panes on one screen. Open it from the Launch Terminal button in the header, or open AAPL in the Terminal to start with a symbol loaded. The Terminal tour explains each pane.
Alerts, Discord, the app and the extension
- Alerts and your watchlist let you follow companies and get notified when they file. See how to set up stock alerts.
- Discord. The Signal8 Discord server has channels for halts, insider trades, reverse splits and more. See the Discord channels guide.
- Mobile app. Signal8 is on iPhone and Android, with push notifications for your alerts. See the mobile app guide.
- Chrome extension. The free Signal8 extension adds a hover card to cashtags on X, Reddit and StockTwits and opens the company in your browser's side panel. The link to install it is on the Signal8 Pro page.
API and MCP for developers
- The Signal8 API serves the same data as the site over HTTPS. Start with the API quickstart.
- The MCP server connects Signal8 to AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor. See using the MCP server with Claude. Its Academy tools, which search these guides, work without a key.
What is free and what is Signal8 Pro
| Access | What it covers |
|---|---|
| No account | Most pages, quotes and charts, news, filings lists, past Radar sessions, the Academy |
| Free account | Most research cards on company pages, the Signal8 Summary, watchlists and alerts |
| Signal8 Pro | Live Radar alerts, the full dilution snapshot, AI filing and news analysis, Pro Terminal panes, API keys and MCP access |
Signal8 Pro costs $59 a month or $588 a year. Paying yearly works out to $588 ÷ 12 = $49 a month, which is $708 − $588 = $120 less than twelve monthly payments of $59. Exact gating can change, so treat the lock icon on a page as the current answer. Details and checkout are on the Signal8 Pro page.
FAQ
Is Signal8 free to use?
Much of it is. You can browse company pages, quotes, charts, news, filing lists and past Radar sessions without an account. A free account unlocks most research cards and lets you build a watchlist and set alerts. Live Radar alerts, the full dilution snapshot, AI filing analysis, the Pro Terminal panes and API and MCP access are part of Signal8 Pro, $59 a month or $588 a year.
Where should a new Signal8 user start?
Search for a company you already follow and open its page, then read the company page tour to learn what each tab shows. If you trade the premarket, open the Scanner and Radar next. Add a few companies to your watchlist so alerts have something to follow.
Does Signal8 tell me what to buy or sell?
No. Signal8 shows filings, disclosures and market data, and its AI analysis summarises what a document says. None of it is a recommendation, a rating or a forecast. Any decision about a stock is yours.
Is there a Signal8 mobile app?
Yes. Signal8 is available for iPhone and Android, with the same account, watchlist and plan as the website, plus push notifications for alerts. The mobile app guide covers sign-in, notifications and App Lock.
Terms in this guide
- Form 8-K
- A Form 8-K is the SEC current report a public company files, generally within four business days, to disclose material events such as agreements, offerings, executive changes and listing notices.
- Form 4
- Form 4 is 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
- Form 13F is the quarterly SEC report in which institutional managers with at least $100 million in qualifying US securities list their long holdings, filed within 45 days of quarter end.
- Relative volume (RVOL)
- Relative volume (RVOL) is a stock's trading volume divided by its typical volume for the same period, so a reading of 3.0 means three times the usual activity.
Try it on Signal8
See this in live data with Company research pages.
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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.