Hi Mark; I'll try to explain but I have a bad habit of making simple things....complicated. someone fix this if I do!

On the bid side (left) the TIME shows when the bid was placed. Next we have the broker who placed the bid on behalf of his client. Broker 2 is RBC for instance. Beside that is the size of the bid, in this case the client would like to buy 10,000 shares and then we see price being 72 cents.

So when someone says the "bids" are thin at .72 they mean there are either few bidders (in this case one) or there are few shares bid for (in this case 10,000)

The same applies on the ASK side. when you hear someone say they are "selling into the bid" that means they are looking at level 2 and simply selling for whatever someone is willing to pay. If no one sells and there is a buyer who really wants "in" then they will buy into the ASK or in this case pay the .73 cents that broker 7 (TD securities) is asking.

Buying and selling happens in the order they are placed unless the same broker that has both the buyer and the seller has a simultaeous order then that takes prioity. You'll here that referred to as a "cross". there are several different ways to show level two. this one depicted is the market book. you also have by the orders and by the price. I'll post a piece of each so you can compare. hope this helps.....carry

V:GNH Market Book By Order @15:25:05