I'll say this again. If you place a buy order, whether it is a limit order or whether it is a market order, it has nothing to do with where the bid is. Your order will not affect the bid. Nor will it affect the ask.
The NASDAQ is not an auction market such as the NYSE. Rather than selling your shares directly to, or buying your shares directly from, another investor, you are buying your shares from or selling your shares to a market maker in the stock you are trading.
The market makers set the bid and the ask, based on their perception of supply and demand. Each market maker in the stock has its own bid and ask, and the highest bid price and the lowest ask price are the ones you see from a quote server. If an individual market maker has set the bid for Valence at $5.5, and there are 2,500 shares available at the bid, that means that market maker is obligated to buy 2,500 shares from an investor wishing to sell stock with a market order, or with a limit order of $5.5 or lower, before moving his bid price.
Similarly, if the best ask is $5.75, and there are 2,500 shares available at the ask, the market maker is obligated to sell 2,500 shares at $5.75, to an individual wishing to purchase stock with a market order, or with a limit order of $5.75 or more, before moving the ask price.
The market makers determine the bid and ask. Your limit order does not directly affect the bid and ask price. |
