> Otra de principiante: Spreads

[Naeglerio]

Aunque no sabía exactamente lo que era, por el contexto y la traducción asumía spread = "margen" de negocio, como me ha explicado ktech123. Lo he buscado en google, de ahí a wikipedia, financial spread, bid-offer spread (ya o un poco farragoso o demasiado técnico para mí, os lo podéis saltar hasta mi duda al final del post):

The bid/offer spread (also known as bid/ask spread) for commodities (such as <font color=#002bb8>stock</font>, <font color=#002bb8>futures contracts</font>, <font color=#002bb8>options</font>, or <font color=#002bb8>currency pairs</font>) is the difference between the price quoted by a <font color=#002bb8>market maker</font> for an immediate sale (bid) and an immediate purchase (ask). The size of the bid-offer spread in a given commodity is a measure of the liquidity of the market. <SUP =reference id=cite_ref-0><font color=#002bb8><SPAN>[</SPAN>1<SPAN>]</SPAN></font></SUP>

The trader initiating the transaction is said to demand <font color=#002bb8>liquidity</font>, and the other party (<font color=#002bb8>counterparty</font>) to the transaction supplies liquidity. Liquidity demanders place <font color=#002bb8>market orders</font> and liquidity suppliers place <font color=#002bb8>limit orders</font>. For a round trip (a purchase and sale together) the liquidity demander pays the spread and the liquidity supplier earns the spread. All limit orders outstanding at a given time (i.e., limit orders that have not been executed) are together called the Limit Order Book. In some markets such as <font color=#002bb8>NASDAQ</font>, dealers supply liquidity. However, on most exchanges, such as the <font color=#002bb8>Australian Securities Exchange</font>, there are no designated liquidity suppliers, and liquidity is supplied by other traders. On these exchanges, and even on NASDAQ, institutions and individuals can supply liquidity by placing limit orders.

Y, por último, Stock spread:

<SPAN =mw-line>Example: Stock spread</SPAN>

A customer might place a market order with a broker to buy 100 <font color=#002bb8>shares</font> of Amalgamated Widgets. In response, the broker might attempt to buy 100 shares at $12.50 each, and then sell those shares to the customer at $12.60 each. In doing so, the broker would reap 100 times his $12.60 - $12.50 = $0.10 spread, or $10 on the trade. The broker knows that if he makes his spread larger, the customer might choose to instead find another broker with a lower spread. As a result, spreads are often only what the market will bear.

On <font color=#002bb8>United States</font> <font color=#002bb8>stock exchanges</font>, the minimum spread (also known as the tick size) for many shares was 12.5 cents (one-eighth of a dollar) until 2001, when the exchanges converted from fractional to decimal pricing, enabling spreads as small as one cent. The change was mandated by the <font color=#002bb8>U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission</font> in order to provide a fairer market for the individual investor.

¿Es esto así? Me refiero, cuando uso un broker, además de las comisiones directas que me cobren, ¿pago un spread adicional? Pensaba y casi sigo pensando que no. ¿Está la información de wikipedia mal o esto es así en USA y no aquí? Me he quedado un poco descolocado.