1. Technology

Suddenly Not Receiving Data, Getting NAs or NM'S

If your spreadsheet or API call is suddenly returning NAs or NMs instead of data, here are some potential causes and solutions.

If you are using Intrinio's Web API, and suddenly stop receiving data, it could be for a variety of reasons. Here are a few of the most common causes and their solutions:

Cause: You hit the data limit for your plan

Intrinio has a subscription model where you can sign up for different products to access different kinds of data. Each product has different plans with specific limits. These data limits are measured by API calls.

If you have hit the data limit for your plan, you will stop receiving data and will see an error message or an NA for all or some of the data you try to pull. 

Remember that you will only receive NAs for data from products where you hit the limit. It is possible to hit the limit of some products without hitting the limit on others.

Solution: Wait until data is reset or subscribe to a plan with more data

Your data usage will reset at around 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can also upgrade to a plan with higher data limits.

If you upgrade your plan, you will be able to start using more data right away. You can upgrade your plan by speaking with our sales team.

Cause: You are not properly connected to Intrinio's database

Intrinio's developer customers need to form their URL and headers properly to receive data.

If you are not properly connecting, you will receive NAs or other errors. This can happen for a variety of reasons including a spotty internet connection, a firewall, etc.

Solution: Troubleshoot your connection

For API users, check the error code you are receiving (429 is the error for hitting a limit). If you are not properly formatting your API requests, check the docs for an example. 

Cause: Incorrect syntax

It's very common for users to make a typo in their API call. This will usually not result in the sudden appearance of NAs, but it's possible if you drag a formula down or loop through some code with incorrect URLs for the API.

Solution: Use correct syntax

Check some examples or use the API Explorer, which will build and test your API syntax for you so you know it's right. 

The meaning of "nm"

NM means not meaningful and commonly results from negative data. For example, a negative earnings number could result in a negative price to earnings ratio, which is considered not meaningful.