Share market basics
The highest price a buyer is currently willing to pay for a share; the price you receive if you sell immediately with a market order.
The bid price is the highest price a buyer in the order book is offering right now. When you sell with a market order, your shares go to that buyer at the bid. The ask, or offer, is the seller side. On a liquid stock like SBI, bid and ask sit a few paise apart, for example ₹800.05 bid and ₹800.10 ask. On a small-cap with few traders, the bid might be ₹98 and the ask ₹101, and selling at market means accepting ₹98 even though the last trade printed at ₹101. Watching the bid tells you what your shares are really worth this second, not what the screen's last price says. If you want a specific price, place a limit sell above the bid and wait for a buyer to come to you.
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.
