what is the ask ?
in the over the counter market the term ask refers to the lowest price at which a broker is willing to sell a security e g currency stock index or commodity at any given time the ask price also known as the offer price will almost always be higher than the bid price the highest price a broker is willing to pay to buy a security at any given time brokerage firms typically make money on the difference between the bid price and the ask price this difference is called the ask bid spread 