It's possible to base a chart on the bid or ask price as well, however. You can change your chart settings accordingly. Think in terms of the sale of any other asset.
The last price is the result of the transaction—not necessarily what you hoped to get, nor what the buyer hoped to pay. The last price is the most recent transaction, but it doesn't always accurately represent the price you would get if you were to buy or sell right now.
The last price might have taken place at the bid or ask price, or the bid or ask price might have changed as a result of, or since, the last price.
The current bid and ask prices more accurately reflect what price you can get in the marketplace at that moment, while the last price shows the level where orders have filled in the past. The bid price is at the buying end of the bid-ask transaction, while the ask is the selling price. You would buy the stock at the bid. The difference in between is impacted by the supply and demand of the particular asset and is referred to as the bid-ask spread. The last price will be lower than the market price because it will be the result of any haggling between the asking price and whatever bid a buyer places.
Securities and Exchange Commission. Prestige Trading Software. AVA Trade. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance.
Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Trading Day Trading. Table of Contents Expand. Table of Contents. The Bid Price. The Ask Price. The Bid-Ask Spread. The mechanics of the trade vary depending on the type of order placed. However, the general process involves brokers submitting an offer to a stock exchange.
Each offer to purchase includes the number of shares requested and a proposed purchase price. The highest proposed purchase price is the bid and represents the demand side of the market for a given stock. Each offer to sell similarly includes a quantity offered and a proposed sale price. The lowest proposed selling price is called the ask and represents the supply side of the market for a given stock. An order to buy or sell is filled if an existing ask matches an existing bid. If no orders bridge the bid-ask spread, there will be no trades between brokers.
To maintain effectively functioning markets, firms called market makers quote both bid and ask when no orders are crossing the spread. A trade does not occur unless a buyer meets the ask or a seller meets the bid.
Suppose an investor places a market order to buy shares of Company ABC. Stock Trading. Day Trading. Trading Basic Education. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.
These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
I Accept Show Purposes. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance.
Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. What Is Bid and Ask? Key Takeaways The bid price refers to the highest price a buyer will pay for a security.
The ask price refers to the lowest price a seller will accept for a security. The difference between these two prices is known as the spread; the smaller the spread, the greater the liquidity of the given security. Compare Accounts. The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which Investopedia receives compensation.
This compensation may impact how and where listings appear.
0コメント