PDSnet Glossary

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Definition

A broker or bank continually prepared to make a two-way price to purchase or sell for a security or currency. The term is mostly used in reference to stockbrokers of Wall Street who both buy and sell shares in a particular industry. They are "specialists" and they are always prepared to either buy or sell the shares of the companies in their speciality. The difference between the price at which they are prepared to buy and the price at which they are prepared to sell is their "spread" or gross profit on the deal. They literally "make the market" in their chosen shares. In South Africa, stockbrokers are mostly agents who bring buyers and sellers together for a fee (brokerage) - although they can buy and sell from their own stock of a particular company's shares.

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