Quote from: RustyShackleford on May 20, 2011, 05:50:57 PM

If I trade USD/EUR, the spread is usually somewhere between 1 and 3 pips (.0001). Why is the spread on MtGox so much higher, to .01 to .7 or more? What is/are the cause, effects, and remedy (it seems like a bad thing?)

I have no idea myself and and searching for "spread" on the forums did not work out how I had hoped, so sorry if this is a stale topic.

Thoughts? Explanations? Baseless conjecture?

The spread is just the difference between the highest bid and the lowest ask that people offer. Generally more participants means those get closer together. The spread on Mtgox has been getting better over time.