Milehigh, the answer is no.
First of all, there is no question that the mm's in this stock (and most) are very good at suckering us all into buying high and selling low. However, think of what you're saying:
You're saying that the mms bought stock during the day at low prices. Of course, this could be the case.
Then, you're saying that they "artifically" raised the bids the last 45 minutes to lure us into buying their stocks at higher prices.
Here's the problem: all day, the volume was pretty light considering how heavy the general market volume was. About 20K shares every 15 minute period. No one was bidding on the shares, so the mms brought the bids down to hose those that "had" to sell, as usual.
However, in the last 45 minutes, 200K shares traded. Now, why would any size buyers ignore the stock all day, only to buy it at higher prices at the close? I'm not talking about retail buyers. And no day traders are going to take positions in the last hour, as you know.
No, what happened is either shorts covered near the end of the day and the mms saw them coming OR a buyer came in and raised the price by buying all asks available.
Note how the spread was $1.50 near the close, yet shares were indeed bought at the ask in volume. This shows that there were few willing sellers at bargain prices and that there were motivated buyers.
Of course, the bid stayed low since there's no reason not to hose those that are desperate to sell at day's end, as you know.
FWIW.
P.S. You are absolutely correct about Tuesday's late buying. The problem with this stock is that the buyers do not mind paying up for it and then waiting for it to come back down the next few days to buy more, more cheaply. To you and me it is annoying but to an institution they could care less. They want the shares cheaper.
Of course, major news obliterates this scenario as you know. But we need some big news to really drive this stock. Until then, you're wise to trade it. |
