How Markets Work Globally

The mechanism under the quotes — order books, spreads, the open, market hours and circuit breakers.

The mechanism under the quotes. Every price you see is the output of an order book — a live list of every bid and ask queued at an exchange. Eight lessons on how exchanges match buyers and sellers, what a spread really costs you, how the opening auction sets the first price of the day, when the world's major markets are open, and the safety plumbing that slows a panic.