Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open.

What happens when the bid and ask are the same?
In the world of stock exchanges, the result depends on the market state of the traded stock. There are two possibilities, (a) a trade occurs or (b) no trade occurs. During the so-called auction phase, bid and ask prices may overlap, actually they usually do. During an open market, when bid and ask match, trades occur.