← Back to Academy

How Market Makers Actually Work

Wall Street Mechanics — The Insider Curriculum • Beginner Investing • 7 min

Every time you place a trade and it fills almost instantly, at a specific quoted price, someone — or, in modern markets, some automated system — was standing ready on the other side of that trade at that exact moment. That's the core function of a market maker: continuously quoting both a buy price (the bid) and a sell price (the ask) for a security, and standing ready to actually trade at those prices, providing…

2 of 2 free lessons used

Create a free account to keep reading

You have read your 2 free lessons. Making an account is free and gives you 2 more straight away — plus your progress, streak and quiz scores saved as you go.

Learning through your school? Join your class — school students get everything, at no personal cost.