No market data, or prices are delayed in Tradovate

What is causing it

Real-time exchange data is a paid entitlement, separate from your trading account. Without a current CME market data subscription for the products you want, you get delayed data or nothing.

Why this happens

The exchange licenses real-time data per user and charges monthly. Tradovate can only show you what you are entitled to receive, so an unpaid or lapsed entitlement produces exactly the same symptom as a technical fault: nothing on the screen.

Delayed data is a separate state again. Some products may be offered on a delayed basis without a subscription, which is why the chart can look alive but be minutes behind.

The fix, step by step

1. Check the market data section of your account settings and confirm you hold a live subscription covering the exchange group for the products you trade.
2. Check your professional or non-professional classification, because the exchange fees and the entitlement differ, and being reclassified as professional can interrupt access until it is resolved.
3. Remember that CME Group covers several exchanges. A subscription that covers equity index futures does not automatically cover energies, metals or agricultural products.
4. Check whether you need depth of market data as well as top-of-book, since these are usually billed separately, and the ladder will look empty without depth.
5. Confirm the subscription has actually renewed and the card on file has not failed, as exchange data is billed monthly.
6. After a subscription change, sign out and back in so the platform picks up the new entitlement.

How to confirm it is fixed

Prices on a liquid front-month contract move continuously during regular hours and match an independent quote with no perceptible delay, and the depth ladder populates if you subscribed to depth.

Stopping it happening again

Note your renewal date and keep the payment method current. If your employment situation changes, check whether it affects your professional classification.