Bids and Offers

[ptcman 10]

Here's something that has always confused me.

If we want to buy at the market we hit the offer (we are buying from a seller) and if we want to sell at the market we hit the bid (we are selling and someone is buying).

 

Sometimes we hear something like - bids are being lifted - which assumes that traders are hitting the offer.

Other times we hear - bids are being hit - which assumes buyers are getting hammered to absorbed all the selling.

 

I never hear this type of descriptions on the offer side. It's all about bids.

Since english is not my main language I have some difficulty in understanding the true price direction when I hear such phrases and I'n not near my charts or DOM.

 

Is there a place where this type of phrases are explained or is there someone here that could explain the true meaning of it.

 

Thank you.

[SIUYA 11]

Dont worry too much, many sayings are more sales pitches said by brokers who dont really understand what they mean either! or are just typos, or phrases that get lost in the wording....

 

Some of these originated from the floors and had specific meanings that had to be relayed back to the upstairs desks, some even had special meanings you had to be careful in how you phrased things.

eg; when negotiating a price and volume in some pits with market makers, you never asked 'How much have you got", because then theoretically you were obliged to take everything they had.....better terminology was to say "for what quantity" - similar but different

 

There are other sayings --

'taking the offer',=== buying at the offer

'lifting the offer', ==== buying every thing that is ron offer

'take the offer bid' ==== buying everything that is currently on offer and then buying more and becoming the offer

or 'take out the offer', 'smash the bid', and my old favorite that was basically designed to trick stops---- 'tick it till they puke'

 

 

a quick search came up with this which you might find interesting Vault Career Guide to Sales & Trading - Gabriel Kim - Google Books

[jpennybags 11]

my old favorite that was basically designed to trick stops---- 'tick it till they puke'

 

 

LOL! I always hated that one... been on the receiving end too many times.