How Does trading on the Exchanges Work? Pardon my Ignorance but can somebody explain the basics 

Of how trading (Bid Buy/Bid Sell) works of the common exchanges 

www.mtgox.com
www.btc-e.com

Aslo some of the common ways people or conditions suppress or raise the price of LTC &amp; BTC

Thanks In Advance
Currency exchanges are implemented through programs called order-matching engines. When a new order is entered, a buy order for example, the matching engine checks to see if there is a match on the other side, a sell order at the right price.

Bid is the price a user is willing to pay and Ask is the price at which a seller is willing to sell. The difference between the two is called the spread. Most exchanges try to minimize the spread. The price often quoted is midway between the highest bid and the lowest ask.

Here are some examples of matching engines: https://github.com/jordanbaucke/Limit-Order-Book