Share market basics
The lowest price at which a seller is currently willing to sell a share; the price you pay if you buy immediately with a market order.
The ask price, also called the offer, is the lowest price a seller in the order book is willing to accept right now. When you place a market buy order, it fills at the ask. The other side is the bid, the highest price a buyer will pay. The gap between them is the spread. Suppose SBI shows a bid of ₹800.05 and an ask of ₹800.10. A market buy fills at ₹800.10. The five paise difference looks tiny, but on 1,000 shares it is ₹50 on entry and again on exit, before brokerage. In thinly traded stocks the ask can be far above the bid, and a market order can fill at a surprising price. Checking the ask before buying, and using a limit order when the spread is wide, is a basic habit.
VideoA share is a portion of a company. The share market is where those portions change hands. Here is how it works, what you can trade in it, and why most people who trade actively lose money.
VideoThe share market runs on two activities that look alike and are nothing alike. Investing is owning a business for years. Trading is profiting from price moves over hours or weeks. Mixing them up is behind most early losses.
VideoTrading comes in a few distinct forms, and the one you pick decides how much time, capital and stress it takes. This lesson explains intraday, swing, positional, futures and options trading with Indian examples.
