BID TICK

An indication of whether the latest bid price is higher, lower or the same as the previous bid. Bid ticks track movements of bid prices in an open market for all placed bid offers, giving real-time information to traders and market participants as to the direction of bid prices over any given time period. In contrast, the ask tick would track ask requests over the same time period.

The direction of the bid tick is important to institutional traders, who move large amounts of stock within a small period of time. Day traders also rely heavily on the direction of the bid tick when making their trade decisions. By monitoring bid ticks, traders can look for indications of how the market is expecting prices to move and the general spread between bid and ask quotes.