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Non-Tech : Quote.com QCharts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: wayne who wrote (7695)	5/21/2000 3:49:00 PM
From: brec	Respond to of 17977

When we see a trade at Ask we do not know if it is a limit order (which probably would be to sell) or if it is a market order (probably to buy). The question is this, for any given time period, are there more limit orders going off at, say Bid, than market orders? If so, I would say there is buying pressure. I'm not sure what is meant by "it" in the first sentence above: each trade has two sides, a buyer and a seller. When a market is in equilibrium, there is a highest bid and lowest ask and a spread between them with no trades. When someone, which could be either a new participant or a previous bidder or offerer, hits a bid or lifts an offer the spread closes to zero for an instant and a trade occurs. When that someone hits a bid it represents increased selling pressure relative to the previous equilibrium, and vice-versa when an offer is lifted. So when trades go off at the bid, as a general rule it means that that the outlook of the new participants or the change in outlook of the previous participants is more negative; when at the offer, more positive.