Monster Arts Inc (APPZ)

[Raggedy Man]

We see that all the time. It just means there is low volume for this stock at the moment, shares are tight (liquidity), and the MMs are the only ones making money.

E-trade has it at bid .01/ ask .55. The regular investor could never get any trading done with this big of a spread. It will go back to a reasonable amount in the morning.

IMO

Stock traders pay very close attention to the difference between the bid and ask prices. Some traders may try to place bets so they can make money in a few minutes or hours by trying to bet whether the difference between the bid and ask will get bigger or smaller. This difference is called the bid-ask spread.

But the bid-ask spread can also be worthwhile for long-term investors to monitor. With stocks that are widely traded, such as shares of large U.S. companies or popular exchange-traded funds, the difference between the bid and the ask prices should be extremely small.

If you start to see the bid and ask prices drift widely apart, you should take note. A large bid-ask spread perhaps indicates light trading in a stock, which may indicate the pool of investors interested in trading the stock is dangerously small. Light trading volumes can result in you paying too much for a stock or not getting a very good price when you sell.

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