Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : STOCKS WITH ATTITUDE TEAM - FA/TA AND EVERYTHING ELSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Redhead who wrote (1761)	1/21/1998 12:21:00 PM
From: ChrisJP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2377

Dear Redhead, I will try my best to explain: The short answer: Bid is usually the price you would sell a stock for. If you wanted to buy, you would pay the ask. The numbers you see are in hundreds. They reflect how many shares an MM is willing to buy from the public (at the bid) or sell to you (at the ask). You see, when you buy from them, they are selling to you. The numbers give you a clue to the direction of the stock. If the bid size is high and higher than the ask, that often means that an MM would love to have shares at that price, the logic being that they can sell them at a profit (to a buyer at the ask,) an indication that the stock is going up. When the ask size is higher than the bid, the logic is that MMs are trying to get people to buy the shares, because the MMs don't want to own them anymore, an indication that the price is going down. You can place limit orders and quite often can buy or sell in between the bid and ask. Hope that helps, Chris