Bid and Ask

Razvan Mihai

Analyst

Bid is the price at which the trader sells while Ask is the price at which the trader will buy. The Ask will always be higher or during very good liquidity moments may equal the Bid.

In the Market Watch section of the platform, these prices can be seen on the right side of the ticker.

 

Ticker    Bid                          Ask

EURUSD      1.0945                 1.0947

 

Usually charts are drawn using the bid line. Some trading platforms allow users to enable a line on the chart which shows the ask price. This way it is easier for the trader to visualize the distance between the two.

A notable feature to keep a lookout for when a trader enters into a:

  • Buy position, means the trader buys at the ASK price and always exits the trade with an opposite order - sell. There is no consequence if the trader does this manually by simply closing the position *on other platforms traders will have to open a sell order*, or their automatic levels will be hit. If the traders buys in ask, to liquidate the position they will have to consider the bid price.

  • Sell position, means the trader sells at the BID price and always ends the trade with an opposite order - buy. The same applies for this example. Manually or automated the order will be closed at the ask line. 

Usually, because the charts are drawn with the bid price, new traders do not activate the ask level. Therefore, a new trader will see the bid line, and little pay attention to ask line which triggers the stop or limit levels.

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