Crossed market A crossed market refers to the traders and market makers given to a situation where bid prices exceed their ask prices. This market is considered an unusual circumstance in comparison to normal market environments in which the ask price is higher than the bid price.   Crossed markets are likely to happen in either extremely fast trading conditions in volatile markets, or extremely slow movement in illiquid markets. Both situations can result in situations where the bid prices are temporarily higher than the ask prices. Locked market A locked market refers to a short-term situation where the bid and ask price for a security is identical. This is an abnormal market condition - the bid price will always be below the ask price in normal trading conditions. It arises due to timing differences in the arrival of price-quotation information from different stock market systems.