Why stock API prices differ across apps and which price to use

A stock API does not provide one universal stock price, since returned values may reflect a completed trade, a bid or ask quote, or an aggregated historical bar. The article illustrates this with a synthetic stock whose latest trade, current bid and ask, and prior close each serve a different purpose. Developers should first define what each displayed number represents before comparing figures from different sources. Alerts, spread displays, and historical charts each require a distinct observation type and consistent conventions. Even when definitions are aligned, unexplained discrepancies still warrant investigation, and a quoted price does not guarantee execution.
This is an AI-generated summary. ShortSingh links to the original source for the complete article.
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