One-sided market
Definition · Level 6 · Desk language
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A market that shows only a bid or only an offer, so you can trade on that side only. Also said when all the flow runs one way.
Example
“All I have is a bid: 15.20 for 10k.”
Where Tradecraft teaches it
Level 6 · Desk language, in the lesson “Reading a quote”: Bid first, offer second, sizes the same way round: how a desk reads and says a two-way price.
Related terms
- “20 by 50”Size quote: the first number is the quantity on the bid, the second the quantity on the offer (round lots, contracts or millions, depending on the…
- “20 up”The same size on both sides of the quote: 20 on the bid and 20 on the offer.
- MidThe price halfway between the best bid and the best offer: the usual fair-value reference for arrival prices, spread math and the marks on many…
- Two-way priceA bid and an offer shown together, bid first (“6.5 at 7.5”).
- A buckForeign exchange (FX), rates and bond-desk slang for one million (dollars, euros or any unit traded).
- A yardOne billion, from the French “milliard”: used mainly in FX and rates (interest-rate products) so that nobody confuses a billion with a million on a…