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To: Muizz M. Kheraj who wrote (34336)	1/28/1998 12:22:00 PM
From: Darth Trader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58727

Message 3276479

To: Muizz M. Kheraj who wrote (34336)	1/29/1998 1:02:00 PM
From: Esteban	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 58727

Muiz, Just checked in with this thread after a couple of days. Whoah. It seems your question got lost in the tirade. Can someone please clarify what it means when the ask size is much higher than the bid size and vice versa? It seems to me that if the Ask Size is larger than the Bid Size than this should mean that there are many more buyers than sellers, but I think someone once told me that it was the other way around...which doesn't really make any sense. Actually it works opposite of how you are thinking, but for perfectly understandable reasons. If the ask size is significantly greater than the bid, it means there's more shares being offered for sale than bid to buy. If the bid is weak, say 100 shares, then if that 100 shares is accepted by someone the bid price will drop to the level of the next highest bidder. If it's strong say 5000 shares, a 100 share transaction will just change the size to 4900. The key here is not to get confused because you are used to buying at the ask price. The ask side is the side where sellers offer their shares. If the ask size is high and you buy shares from someone offering at the ask price, then the ask size will shrink by the amount of your trade. After more market orders at the ask price go through, the ask size will shrink further, and if the buying pressure continues the price will tick higher, assuming someone doesn't offer more shares at the ask price. If you think of it from the MM point of view I think you'll clear up your confusion, because they buy at the bid and sell at the ask. Hope this helps. Esteban