What is the bid price?
In one line: The bid price is the highest price any buyer is willing to pay right now. If you sell with a market order, you get the bid.
A simple example
EUR/USD shows:
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Bid | 1.0850 |
| Ask | 1.0852 |
The bid is 1.0850. That's the best price a buyer will pay right now. If you sell with a Market order, you'll get about 1.0850.
The gap up to the ask, 1.0852, is the Spread: 2 Pips here.
How the bid moves your trades
- Selling to get out of a buy trade? You get the bid.
- Opening a short (selling first)? You also get the bid.
- Closing a short? You buy back at the ask.
So a buy trade starts slightly "under water" by the spread. Price has to rise past the spread before you're even.
Why it matters
Your Stop loss on a buy trade usually triggers on the bid. In forex, most charts show the bid, so what you see is close to what triggers.
On a short, the stop triggers on the ask, which you often can't see on the chart. When the spread widens, at news or during quiet hours, a short's stop can fire even though the chart candle never touched it.
A common mistake
Putting a short's stop right on the level you see. If the spread jumps from 1 pip to 8 pips at a news release, the ask can tag your stop while the bid chart looks fine. Leave room for the spread, and size the trade for that wider stop with the position size calculator.
Spreads widen around big releases like CPI and the Fed. See CPI and FOMC days for how to plan around them.
The full picture of both sides is in Bid and ask.
Questions
Is the bid price what I get when I sell?
Yes. A market sell order fills at the best bid, or near it if your order is larger than what's sitting there.
Why is my short stopped out when the chart never reached my stop?
Shorts close at the ask, and most forex charts show the bid. A wider spread can push the ask to your stop while the bid stays below it.
Can I see the ask line on my chart?
Many platforms, including TradingView, let you turn on bid and ask lines in the chart settings. Look for them under the symbol or scale options.
Want the next step? We'll walk you through it.
Four free lessons by email, one every few days — each with a 10-minute exercise on a real chart.
Send Me the Free Lessons 4 short emails · No spam · Unsubscribe anytimeOr see the whole method, step by step:
See What’s Inside the Course Try everything free first. Decide when you're ready. · Open the free chart tool (works in the TradingView phone app)One chart idea a day, in plain English. Follow along: