The FX market operates in much the same way as a stock or commodity market; there
is a bid price and ask price for each commodity (or, in this case, currency). A bid price
is the price at which the market is willing to buy a particular currency and the ask price
is the price at which the market is willing to sell a currency. The ask prices are typically
slightly higher than the bid prices for the same currency representing the transaction cost
or the profit earned by the organizations that keep the market liquid.