(plural materializations) 1  The conversion of something into a physical form. ( 2 physics) The conversion of energy into mass.
Market Order-- to sell Hutchison: sell Hutchison now at whatever prevailing market price. Usually one will get the stock at the ask price of the moment when the order reaches the exchange. Sometimes, one gets a series of partial trades (partially filled orders) at different prices, the shares of which add up to 2000.
But if you went to the dealer to buy the same car, the dealer would sell it to you for $2,220. That's the ask price. The spread is the difference between the two: $1,545 in the case of the car. The same goes for stocks. If you're looking to sell a stock, a broker will offer to buy it for one price, the bid. And if you're looking to buy it, the broker will offer to sell it to you for another, higher ask price. The spread is the broker's profit. Luckily for everyone, other than brokers, the difference between bid and ask prices has gotten quite small. For instance, the bid on General Electric stock recently was $32.77 and the ask $32.79. The more frequently a stock trades, the closer the bid and ask get. In other words, the spread gets smaller.