Bid

Definition

Bid in plain English

The bid is simply the highest price anyone is currently willing to PAY for a stock right now — it's the best offer on the buying side. If you wanted to sell instantly, this is roughly the price you'd get, because you're selling to whoever is bidding highest. It's like the top price a crowd of buyers is waving at a swap meet for your item: the best you can unload it for on the spot. Markets always show two prices at once — the bid (what buyers offer) and the ask (what sellers want) — and the bid is the buy side of that pair.

Learn these first

• Spoofing
• Tick Size

Related Market Microstructure terms

• Amihud Illiquidity Measure
• Ask (Offer)
• Bid–Ask Bounce
• Bid–Ask Spread
• Dealer
• Depth
• Effective Spread
• Inventory Risk
• Lee–Ready Algorithm
• Liquidity