InvestorsHub Logo
Followers 10
Posts 4220
Boards Moderated 0
Alias Born 07/10/2003

Re: N.A.T. post# 99118

Thursday, 07/14/2011 10:33:14 AM

Thursday, July 14, 2011 10:33:14 AM

Post# of 118239
There is not a " no bid - 0.0002 spread".

The 'spread' is the difference between what the MM paid for the shares and what he sells them for.

We often confuse the term with the difference between the current bid and ask but that isn't accurate. In many cases, if you watch level 2, the 'active' bid and ask prices are from two different MMs. The MM on the ask might have a lower bid than the one that is active at the moment, and the MM on the bid might have a higher ask than the active price. In fact the shares being sold at present might have been bought some time ago at a different level entirely and the spread for that particular MM is totally different from the difference between the current bid and ask.

All MMs are maintaining their own specific spread and their own specific inventory. If they have enough shares to sell at their current ask, they have no reason to present a bid. In fact if they have no shares at all they will ONLY have a bid and they won't present an ask until they have sufficient shares to sell.

People see the bid and ask as part and parcel of a single entity and don't realize that it is a conglomerate of entities all with their own specific requirements. The sum total of this activity by all of the participants provides a great deal of the fodder for the conspiracy buffs, but is really quite simple and straight forward.

Join the InvestorsHub Community

Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.