Definitions
In plain terms
A quote can remain unchanged because the market is quiet or because updates stopped; the detector needs context before classifying it.
Technical
Staleness requires a timestamp owner, comparison clock, expected update model, session state, threshold, instrument activity context, and source-health evidence.
Scope
Unchanged does not automatically mean stale, and thresholds are use-case-specific.
Examples
- A governed dataset records stale data explicitly and preserves the source context needed to interpret it.
Common misconceptions
- Stale Data does not have one universal meaning or policy without its declared source, scope, and data contract.
Concept relationships
Prerequisites
Related
Where this concept is used
Evidence and governance
- FIX Latest Online Specification — Market Data FIX Trading Community · official standard
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition
Limits: Implementations use negotiated profiles; FIX fields do not impose one universal feed, stale-data, deduplication, or reconciliation policy.
- Fintech Builder Glossary Definition Contract The Fintech Builder · internal governed contract
Supports: variant distinction
Limits: Defines governed platform behavior rather than claiming these policies are universally prescribed by external McClellan methodology.
- Reviewed by
- fintech-builder-owner-approved
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-26
- Next review
- 2027-07-26
- Record status
- published