Stock Market Glossary
Market makers
Trader who continuously provides buying and selling prices and thus provides liquidity.
In brief: Trader who continuously provides buying and selling prices and thus provides liquidity.
Meaning in practice
Market makers earn money from the spread and take on the risk of taking positions on their own books in the meantime. On Xetra, Designated Sponsors also ensure tradable liquidity for second-line stocks.
Context for investors and traders
For traders, this term is most useful when preparing and executing an order. Its meaning depends on the venue, liquidity, time frame and order type. A single reading is not a reliable buy or sell decision.
How to use this in practice
Use the term first to describe the situation and add verifiable data: time frame, benchmark, costs and liquidity. Only then does it become an assessment that can be connected to an investment objective and risk budget.
What to keep in mind
Avoid false precision. Many market terms describe probabilities or historical patterns; they neither guarantee a return nor replace the review of a specific security.
