A tiny Wi-Fi desk gadget that shows live stock prices on a bright color LCD. It rotates through your favorite tickers, shows the day's change and an intraday trend chart, and even tracks pre-market / after-hours prices.
No soldering, no coding, no subscription. Prices come straight from Yahoo Finance (no API key needed). Everything is configured from a simple web page on your phone.
📸 Tip: replace
docs/preview.jpgwith a real photo of your device on a desk — it dramatically boosts interest. See docs/README for the size.
- Live prices for any US stocks/ETFs (AAPL, NVDA, SPY, …)
- Auto-rotates through your watchlist
- Day change in % and $, color-coded green/red
- Intraday trend chart (sparkline) for each stock
- Pre-market & after-hours prices, with slower polling when the market is closed (easy on your network)
- Portrait or landscape — pick in the settings
- Custom boot title — put a name on it ("DAD'S TICKER")
- Touch-free dimming — screen dims after a while; tap the BOOT button to wake / open settings
- Phone setup — no computer needed after the first flash
Just one board and a cable. Total cost is usually under $20.
| Item | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Waveshare ESP32-C6-LCD-1.47 | The brains + the 1.47" color screen, all in one. Get the non-touch version. | Amazon |
| USB-A to USB-C cable | Powers the board and flashes it. |
Amazon |
| 5V USB power adapter (optional) | Any phone charger or a PC USB port works. | Amazon |
💡 The links above are Amazon affiliate links. If you publish your own copy, replace
stockticker-20with your Amazon Associates tag (or remove it).
- Plug the board into any USB power (phone charger, laptop, power bank).
- It shows a title screen, then says "SETUP" with a Wi-Fi name.
- On your phone, join the Wi-Fi network:
- Network:
StockTicker-Setup - Password:
ticker123
- Network:
- A setup page should pop up automatically. If not, open a browser to http://192.168.4.1
- Enter your home Wi-Fi name + password, pick your stocks, tap Save.
- The device reboots and starts showing live prices. 🎉
That's it — you never need a computer.
Only needed if you're building one from a blank board. If your board already runs the ticker, skip this.
Requirements: a Mac/Linux/Windows computer with Python 3 and the USB cable.
git clone https://github.com/dcluomax/stock-ticker-esp32c6.git
cd stock-ticker-esp32c6
# plug the board in, then run (edit the port if needed):
./flash.sh /dev/cu.usbmodem* # macOS
# ./flash.sh /dev/ttyACM0 # Linuxflash.sh will:
- install the host tools (
esptool,mpremote), - download the MicroPython firmware for the ESP32-C6,
- erase + flash the board,
- download the display driver + fonts,
- copy the app (
main.py,config.json) onto the board.
Reset the board when it finishes. It boots straight into the setup flow above.
Windows / manual notes
On Windows, find the COM port in Device Manager (e.g. COM5) and run the
esptool/mpremote commands from flash.sh by hand, replacing the port. You
need Python 3 installed first.
Open the config page any time:
- During setup: join
StockTicker-Setup→ http://192.168.4.1 - After it's online: tap the BOOT button twice (once to wake, once for the CONFIG screen) — it shows the device's IP address. Type that IP into a browser on the same Wi-Fi.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi name / password | Your home network |
| Tickers | Comma-separated symbols, e.g. AAPL,NVDA,SPY,BTC-USD |
| Boot title / subtitle | Text on the startup screen (English/numbers only) |
| Splash seconds | How long the title shows (0 = skip) |
| Rotate delay | Seconds each stock stays on screen |
| Refresh interval | How often prices update while the market is open |
| Closed-market refresh | Slower update rate when the market is closed |
| Screen orientation | Portrait or Landscape (and flipped versions) |
| Brightness | 0–100% |
| Dim after / Dim brightness | Auto-dim the screen after inactivity |
Tap Save & Reboot to apply.
The device has one button labeled BOOT:
- Tap once when the screen is dim → wakes it to full brightness
- Tap again → opens the CONFIG screen (shows the IP to edit settings)
- Tap once more → back to scrolling stocks
The screen auto-dims after a few minutes to save power and screen life.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Screen is black / won't turn on | Use an USB-A → USB-C cable. Some C-to-C cables don't deliver power to this board. Try a different USB port or charger. |
| Stuck on "SETUP" | It can't reach your Wi-Fi. Re-join StockTicker-Setup, open http://192.168.4.1, and re-enter your Wi-Fi name/password (case-sensitive). 2.4GHz networks work best. |
| "no data" on a stock | Check the symbol is a valid Yahoo Finance ticker (e.g. BRK-B, not BRK.B). |
| Setup page won't load | Make sure your phone stayed on the StockTicker-Setup Wi-Fi (turn off mobile data), then browse to http://192.168.4.1 manually. |
| Want to start over | Re-run ./flash.sh to reflash, or push a fresh config.json (see below). |
# pull the current config off the board
mpremote connect /dev/cu.usbmodem* fs cp :config.json config.json
# ...edit it...
# push it back
mpremote connect /dev/cu.usbmodem* fs cp config.json :config.json
# watch the logs
mpremote connect /dev/cu.usbmodem* replmain.py— the whole app (MicroPython): Wi-Fi, web config + captive portal, Yahoo Finance fetch, the display/UI, button state machine.config.json— your settings (also editable from the web page).lib/— thest7789pydisplay driver + bitmap fonts.flash.sh— one-shot flashing helper.
Prices use Yahoo Finance's public chart endpoint
(v8/finance/chart, includePrePost=true) — no account or API key required.
- Display driver: russhughes/st7789py_mpy (MIT).
- Runtime: MicroPython for ESP32-C6.
- Stock data: Yahoo Finance public endpoints. This project is for personal, hobby use and is not affiliated with Yahoo. Prices may be delayed.
- Not financial advice. For fun and glanceable info only.
MIT — see LICENSE. Do whatever you like; no warranty.