# Reading a market

> What buying and selling mean on an STX market, what a price like $0.68 tells you, and what quantity means.

Source: https://help.stxapp.io/articles/reading-a-market/

Every market is a question with a YES or NO outcome, such as "Will Detroit win?". You can take either side.

## Buy or sell?

- **Buy** if you think the outcome will be YES.
- **Sell** if you think it will be NO. If you sell "Detroit to win", your position pays out if Detroit does not win.

The market's **Rules** tab sets out exactly what counts as YES. Read it before you trade.

## What the price means

For a binary contract with a $1 settlement value, a contract pays $1 if the outcome is YES and $0 if it is NO. The price is what one contract costs, and can be read as an approximate market implied probability of YES: $0.68 is about 68%. It reflects trading interest, not a forecast. See [Pricing](https://help.stxapp.io/articles/pricing/).

- A **buyer** at $0.68 pays $0.68 per contract, and is paid $1.00 per contract if the outcome is YES.
- A **seller** at $0.68 pays $0.32 per contract, and is paid $1.00 per contract if the outcome is NO.

## What quantity means

Quantity is the number of contracts. 20 contracts bought at $0.68 cost $13.60 and pay $20.00 if the outcome is YES, a profit of $6.40 before fees. This example does not predict an outcome.

## My order was rejected or canceled

If an order is rejected, or you cancel it before it fills, the funds held for it return to your [available balance](https://help.stxapp.io/articles/available-balance/). If an order is only partly filled, the filled part becomes a [position](https://help.stxapp.io/articles/positions/).