Trading & Markets

Skewing a Quote

Shifting both sides of a market in one direction to encourage trades that reduce your position.

Short inventory? Move the whole quote up, so sellers find you attractive and buyers do not.

Distinct from widening. Skewing shifts the midpoint to manage inventory. Widening increases the spread to charge more for uncertainty. They solve different problems and are often used together.

The interview test. An interviewer trades against you repeatedly on one side and watches whether you skew, and whether you skew in the right direction. Getting the direction backwards under pressure is common and fatal.

Full guide

Inventory Risk and Skewing Your Quotes

Once you hold a position you are no longer neutral. How and why to move your market after a trade.

Related terms

Practise this

Put it into practice

Knowing the definition is not the same as spotting where it applies under time pressure. Work the question bank free.

Start practising free

Browse the full quant interview glossary