What is a Quote?
A quote is an estimate of price or a price at which one party is willing to buy or sell from the other. In the trading markets, a quote is the bid and ask price for a security.
How Does a Quote Work?
For example, a quote for Company XYZ stock includes the real-time bid price, ask price, quote size, price of the last trade, size of the last trade, the high price for the day, and the low price for the day. Quotes are available from the exchanges online, via the media or in financial publications.
Why Does a Quote Matter?
Quotes are necessary to inform investors about the prices of securities. The information contained in a quote is sometimes limited; for example, it may not disclose which market makers are bidding for or offering the security, whether there are limit orders on the security, or the size of potential trades at a particular price. In other words, quotes do not give the viewer access to the "order book" showing who has an interest in a security and at what price. But quotes do give traders and investors a basic idea of how a security is doing.
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