So, the stock price of Diebold (yes, voting machines, ut really ATMs and the like) is up 60% premarket today. A little investigation shows that this is the result of one single trade of a whole 10 pieces of stock. A $110 million change in recorded value for a $40 transaction.
It’s umm, likely that the price will revert.
“a $40 transaction”: market manipulation or just a dividend reinvestment?
Given the price it was at, a manipulation. Not that I can say that formally, have to present it as a possibility….
In the early days of the Betfair betting exchange there was someone who, at the moment each market opened, would place £2 on every horse, team, etc. at the basement price of 1.01 (100 to one ON). The result was that every graph of price movements became illegible.
It was never clear what the motivation was, other than just making life difficult for in-and-out or momentum traders. Basically restricting markets to those who had a view on the outcome of the event itself rather than on how other people might bet on it.
《But if someone had a derivatives position open and was able to close that out at this manipulated price? That could well be worth losing a handful of dollars over.》
So, is this a case of derivatives conditioning the underlying’s price? Might someone have had OTM calls that came in the money and they sold to the market maker, who is likely hedged six ways from Sunday?