what is the difference between a bid price and an ask price 
bid prices refer to the highest price that traders are willing to pay for a security the ask price on the other hand refers to the lowest price that the owners of that security are willing to sell it for if for example a stock is trading with an ask price of 20 then a person wishing to buy that stock would need to offer at least 20 to purchase it at current price the gap between the bid and ask prices is often called the bid ask spread 