Ask.
In plain English
The ask, sometimes called the offer, is the best price a seller will take right now for a stock, bond, or other security. It sits opposite the bid, the highest price a buyer will pay. The difference between them is the bid-ask spread, a small cost baked into trading. When you buy at the market, you generally pay the ask price. The lowest ask among competing sellers becomes the quoted ask. For heavily traded securities the spread is tiny; for thinly traded ones it can be wide.
01Why it matters
The ask is the price you actually pay to buy right now, so understanding it explains the small, often overlooked cost of getting in and out of a position.
02The math, step by step
A stock shows a bid of 49.98 dollars and an ask of 50.02 dollars. If you buy at the market, you pay about 50.02 dollars per share, the ask.
03What this is NOT
The ask is NOT the bid. The ask is the lowest price a seller will accept; the bid is the highest price a buyer will pay. You usually buy at the ask and sell at the bid.