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Lindex confusion revisited

Gnash Rambler
Registered User
Join date: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 26
09-09-2006 18:24
Can any Linden explain to me why the Lindex market data shows the best selling price of L$ to be higher than the best buying price of L$? If I'm selling L$, I want to sell as few L$ as possible to receive a dollar. If I am buying L$, I want to buy as many as possible for a single US$ But what's posted looks backward.

I previously asked this in this forum (August 19), but it was in a much longer message that Torley responded with "we will have information later". So, can I get a simple answer to what I consider to be a simple question?
Torley Linden
Enlightenment!
Join date: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 16,530
09-11-2006 10:51
Hi Gnash, I've asked again about this--I'm no LindeX expert but I hope we can get more info for you.
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Torley Linden
Enlightenment!
Join date: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 16,530
09-11-2006 14:19
I'm also happy to post that Tuach Noh wanted to share this. This is not an official Linden answer but his help is really appreciated on this because I know you've been waiting, Gnash:

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The original poster is confused because Lindex transactions all have two
parties: a buyer and a seller. The "best" rate represents the best
offer you can get if you buy or sell currency right now without using
limit orders (e.g. by clicking the in-world buy button).

The tricky part to understand is that the "best buy" rate is offered by
a seller, and the "best sell" rate is offered by a buyer. That's why it
*seems* "reversed" to him when it is actually not.

In other words, the "best selling rate" is the price of the lowest
current *buy* limit order. The "best buying rate" is the price of the
highest current *sell* limit order. You can see this by going to the
"buy" page and scrolling down to the charts of open limit orders.

If the "best buy" rate were higher than the best sell rate, the "best
buy" seller would immediately sell Lindens to the "best sell" buyer
until one or both orders was cleared. At that point, the "gap" that the
poster noticed would reappear and no more transactions will stop.

Hope that helps; I tried, but there's just no way to get around the use
of terms like "best sell buyer" and "best buy seller." So no one should
feel bad about being confused!
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