Bid Formula in Excel

The Bid formula in Excel (with MarketXLS) retrieves the current price at which a market-maker or dealer is willing to purchase a security. This function is particularly useful for traders, analysts, and investors who want to quickly see bid quotes for various assets—such as stocks, ETFs, options, indexes, and cryptocurrencies—right inside their Excel worksheets.

Understanding Bid

• Purpose: The Bid function provides the latest available bid, offering insight into market demand.
• Use Cases:
  • Monitoring intraday bid prices to gauge real-time interest in a stock or ETF.
  • Evaluating bid-ask spreads for options, indexes, or cryptocurrencies.
  • Integrating real-time or delayed bid data into custom analysis or dashboards.
• Key Benefits:
  • Quick retrieval of accurate bid prices directly in Excel.
  • Seamless integration with existing MarketXLS workflows.
  • Allows traders and analysts to make more informed decisions.

Syntax and Parameters

=Bid(Symbol)

?? Note:
Ensure you have an active MarketXLS license. If your license is invalid or the symbol is incorrect, the function will return "NA".

Return Value

• Returns a numeric value representing the current bid price.
• May return "NA" if no valid data is found or if you are not licensed.

Special Cases and Limitations

• The function handles various symbol types, including:
  • Stocks/ETFs: "MSFT"
  • Indices: "^SPX"
  • Options: "@MSFT 110122C00020000"
  • Cryptocurrencies: "BTCUSD:DEFAULT"
• For erroneous inputs or missing data, "NA" is returned.
• Performance may vary if pulling large volumes of data or relying on slower network connections.

Examples and Usage

1. Basic Stock Bid Price

   =Bid("MSFT")

   Retrieves the current bid price for Microsoft stock.

2. Index Bid Price

   =Bid("^SPX")

   Returns the bid price for the S&P 500 index.

3. Option Bid Price

   =Bid("@MSFT 110122C00020000")

   Provides the most recent bid price for a specific Microsoft option contract.

4. Crypto Bid Price

   =Bid("BTCUSD:DEFAULT")

   Retrieves the bid price for Bitcoin against the US Dollar, using the default data source.

? Pro Tip: Combine the Bid function with other MarketXLS formulas like Ask, OpenPrice, or LastPrice to get a complete picture of each ticker’s market data.

Common Questions

1. Why do I get "NA" when using the Bid function?

   • You may have an invalid license, an incorrect symbol, or the data might not be available for that particular ticker. Verify symbol spelling and check your MarketXLS license status.

2. Is the Bid data real-time or delayed?

   • Bid data can be real-time or delayed depending on your MarketXLS subscription plan and the data sources you have access to.

3. How do I refresh bid data?

   • You can either use Excel’s “Refresh All” feature or configure MarketXLS to automatically refresh data at specified intervals.

4. Can I reference symbols in cells rather than typing them directly?

   • Yes. Simply reference the cell containing the symbol:

     =Bid(A2)

     where A2 might contain something like "MSFT" or "^SPX".

5. Do I need any additional formula for date inputs?

   • The Bid function does not require a date parameter. It automatically fetches the latest data. If you need date-specific prices, consider other MarketXLS functions that support historical or specific data snapshots.

?? Note: For extensive bid quote lookups across many tickers, remember that pulling large data loads could slow Excel’s performance if you refresh everything simultaneously.