{"slug":"how-do-market-makers-make-money","qid":"spread_costs","label":"Average quoted spread: liquid mega-caps vs a thin small-cap (past week)","post_title":"How Do Market Makers Make Money? The Spread","post_url":"/blog/how-do-market-makers-make-money#q-spread_costs","columns":["ticker","avg_spread_cents","spread_pct_of_price","round_trip_100_shares_dollars"],"rows":[{"ticker":"AAPL","avg_spread_cents":3.4,"spread_pct_of_price":0.011,"round_trip_100_shares_dollars":3.42},{"ticker":"KO","avg_spread_cents":1.6,"spread_pct_of_price":0.018,"round_trip_100_shares_dollars":1.56},{"ticker":"NATH","avg_spread_cents":335.9,"spread_pct_of_price":3.455,"round_trip_100_shares_dollars":335.89}],"shape":"ranking","sql":"SELECT\n  ticker,\n  round(avg(ask_price - bid_price) * 100, 1)                                     AS avg_spread_cents,\n  round(avg(ask_price - bid_price) / avg((ask_price + bid_price) / 2) * 100, 3)  AS spread_pct_of_price,\n  round(avg(ask_price - bid_price) * 100, 2)                                     AS round_trip_100_shares_dollars\nFROM global_markets.cache_stocks_quotes\nWHERE ticker IN ('AAPL', 'KO', 'NATH')\n  AND sip_timestamp >= now() - INTERVAL 7 DAY\n  AND bid_price > 0 AND ask_price > bid_price\nGROUP BY ticker\nORDER BY ticker","computed_at":"2026-08-22T04:13:26.994017+00:00","elapsed":0.761783927}