Bid

The price that a market participant is prepared to pay at a particular time to buy a commodity.

Ask

The price that a market participant is prepared to pay at a particular time to sell a commodity.

When a new contract is trading, the bid and ask cells will be highlighted. In this picture, the E-MINI NASDAQ 100 (Composite) for December 2002 is trading.

Bid starts from 1014 and ask from 1017.5. Buyers and sellers will negotiate until bid and ask rich the same value. When bid and ask have the same value the trading will take place.