Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• LOCKED MARKET
  
  A market where the bid (q.v.) equals the ask (q.v., also known as asked, offer, offered). In a normal market the bid is less than the ask, and the difference – the bid-ask spread – would be the market maker's profit on a round trip in the stock. We would not expect to see a locked market with a single market maker. In a market with more than one market maker, one market maker may show the best bid and another the best offer, and these may lock. However, savvy customers would not let the market makers cover their costs, and a locked market could not last, in equilibrium.
  
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