I continue to watch this one, and hold shares.
I really wish I had Level II. The spread on this is nothing short of abusive! Of course, there aren't going to be any buyers when the spread is so ridiculously high. The marketmakers, for reasons only they know, are not really interested in seeing an active market being made in this stock.
In the year and a half I've been involved in stocks, I've *never* seen a spread stay so wide for so long. It's been at 67% of the bid price for a while now. 40% of the current Ask. Very few people will buy anything they know is worth 40% less at the time of purchase. That one 5k purchase yesterday at 50 cents was a cool $625 profit for the marketmakers, assuming they did or will buy those shares at .375.
If I had Level II, I'd take note of who the inside MMs are on this one, and steer clear of any stock that has them at the inside. It looks particular sleazy to me when a group quickly raises their asking price on a sale, but won't raise their bid price to a more reasonable level. Or lower their asking price to entice buyers of the share's they feel aren't worth much.
I really hate it when they're not interesting in either price being a "fair" price. I don't see any reason for more than a 1/16 spread here. If it were .4375 x .50, there'd be plenty of activity on both sides, and they'd still make plenty of money.
Sorry for the long-windedness. First time I've been caught in this particular flavor of the MM games, and it's very frustrating. |
