What Is a Quote?

A quote is the most recent price at which an asset traded—the last price agreed upon between a buyer and a seller for some amount of the asset. Quotes are commonly reported as:

• Last trade price: the most recent executed transaction.
• Bid quote: the highest current price and quantity a buyer is willing to pay.
• Ask (or offer) quote: the lowest current price and quantity a seller is willing to accept.

Key Takeaways

• A quote shows the most recent trading price for an asset.
• The bid indicates what buyers are willing to pay; the ask indicates what sellers are willing to accept.
• The difference between bid and ask is the spread and reflects liquidity and transaction costs.
• Historical quotes help investors analyze trends and volatility.
• Quotes may be delayed on free services; real-time feeds are usually available through brokers and paid platforms.
• Investors can use quote-driven alerts and conditional orders to automate trading actions.

Understanding Quotes

Quotes update continuously during market hours as new trades execute and new orders enter the market. While the last trade price is useful for reference, the bid and ask are often more relevant to someone looking to buy or sell because they reflect the prices at which transactions can currently occur.

Example:
* Bid: $10.00 for 500 shares (buyers willing to buy)
* Ask: $10.05 for 400 shares (sellers willing to sell)
The spread here is $0.05; a narrower spread generally indicates higher liquidity.

Using Historical Quotes

Investors examine historical quotes to identify trends, measure volatility, and compare performance across time periods (e.g., same day a year apart). Time-series quote data supports charting, technical analysis, and strategy backtesting.

Sources and Timeliness

Quotes are distributed by exchanges, brokerage platforms, and financial news sites. Free public services often provide delayed quotes (e.g., 15–20 minutes), while brokerages and market-data vendors can supply near–real-time or real-time quotes for subscribers. For active trading, timely quotes are important for accurate decision-making.

Alerts and Automated Responses

Many trading platforms let users set quote-based alerts or conditional orders that trigger when a security reaches a specified price. Common examples include:

• Limit orders: buy or sell at a specified price or better.
• Stop orders: become market or limit orders once a trigger price is reached.
• Conditional automated actions tied to quote alerts (e.g., sell when price drops to a threshold).

Conclusion

A quote provides a snapshot of market activity—the last trade price and the current bid and ask—that helps investors assess pricing, liquidity, and execution possibilities. Understanding the distinction between last trade, bid, and ask, plus the timeliness of quote data, is essential for effective trading and investing.