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Quote Terms and Price Conventions

Market quote terms for bid prices, ask prices, spreads, ticks, lot prices, and quoted price conventions.

Quote Terms and Price Conventions explains market quote terms for bid prices, ask prices, spreads, ticks, lot prices, and quoted price conventions. For Quote Terms and Price Conventions, the market-structure value is deciding where prices form, how orders interact, and how liquidity or venue rules affect execution.

Use this branch when the reader needs to interpret a quoted price, spread, tick, handle, lot price, or pricing convention before comparing instruments or entering an order. This content is educational and does not say whether a quoted price is fair or suitable.

What This Branch Covers

Area	Use it when the question is about	Evidence to check
Quote Levels, Bid-Ask Terms, and Spreads	Bid, ask, quote size, spread, and level terminology	Best bid and offer, depth, quote size, venue, timestamp, and quote condition
Tick, Handle, and List Price Conventions	Minimum price increments, handles, list prices, and price-display conventions	Tick size, price format, contract specification, exchange rule, listing document, and quote source

Decision Lens

Quote wording matters because a displayed price may be a bid, offer, last sale, midpoint, indicative quote, list price, delayed quote, or convention-specific price. The same number can mean different things depending on venue, instrument, and timestamp.

Move to Quotes, Prices, and Market Data when the issue is data source or quote timing. Move to Order Types and Execution when the issue is how an order uses the quote.

Evaluation Checklist

Identify whether the price is bid, ask, last sale, midpoint, indicative, list, or executable.
Check timestamp, exchange, quote condition, delay status, and instrument type.
Compare spread and quote size together; price alone can hide poor depth.
Confirm tick size, rounding, currency, multiplier, and unit convention before calculating value.
Use the quote convention that matches the actual security, contract, or venue.

Common Mistakes

Treating the last sale as the current offer.
Comparing prices across venues without matching currency, tick size, and quote condition.
Ignoring quote size when evaluating whether a displayed price can absorb an order.
Applying stock quote conventions to bonds, options, futures, or funds without checking the product rules.
Assuming a delayed quote is suitable for a time-sensitive decision.

For broader context, return to Trading and Orders.