Spread & Bid-Offer Spread

A spread is the difference between offer and bid prices in trade. Spreads set the pricing of both derivatives while trading CFDs.

Brokers, market makers, and other providers use spreads to show prices. This means an asset's purchase price will always be higher than the market.

Selling is always cheaper. Spread is the difference between two prices or rates in finance.

Option spread is another trading approach. Using varying strike prices and expiration dates, buy and sell the same amount of options.

Spread

The bid-offer spread is the spread added to an asset's price. Bid-offer spread illustrates how much people demand an asset.

If the bid and offer prices are close, the market is tight, meaning buyers and sellers agree on the asset's value.

If the distribution is wide, people have diverse ideas. The bid-ask spread can be affected by:

Liquidity is the ease of buying and selling. Liquidity increases an asset's bid-ask spread.

Volume: How much an asset is traded daily. More traded assets have lower bid-offer spreads.

Volatility measures market price changes over time. High price volatility increases the spread.

Many new traders ignore spreads. This post explains market spread and how it can spoil a seemingly solid trade.

No matter what financial instrument we trade, we must find a seller for an asset. We need a buyer to sell an asset.

Markets make buying and selling easier. Supply and demand determine an asset's price. Even liquid markets have ask and bid prices.

Ask price is the lowest price market participants will sell you an asset, and bid price is the highest price they'll buy it from you.

Bid and ask prices rarely coincide. Their spread. Market activity affects the spread.

More people trading means it's easier to make an exchange. Lower spreads on certain markets.

Low-volume marketplaces are "less liquid." Market participants find it harder to deal.

A market with high spreads. Spreads must always be considered when calculating risk-to-reward.

A big spread might spoil a trade for scalpers and day traders. Before trading, check spreads.

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