I‘ve been looking into yesterday’s events more closely. I also connected the dots with a few other curiosities that struck me about the session. The apparent Lotto Basket also included IJJP, ECOX, BTDG and GTEH.
My new working theory is far less spectacular. I suppose, I could get confirmation if I sent an inquiry to OTC Markets. While I currently don’t doubt that these transactions took place, the only likely explanation for why they all coincided is that they shouldn’t have. It looks like a simple glitch. That’s the only way to make sense of timing and price action. None of the affected stocks showed any trades before 11:22:26 h. There must have either been a technical issue that caused all of these securities to freeze, or the issue was with the reporting itself. That leaves two options:
1) They were able to reconstruct the order flow and retraced everything up to that point within one second of action.
2) None of this took place when it seemed to. Without being marked as our infamous SEQ trades, simply all the data was provided at once.
A technical issue is also the only plausible explanation for some of the price action. At 11:22:26 h, some tickers traded at both the Bid and the Ask. It’s not likely that anyone could have cheated their way around the waiting list. A single buyer would have exclusively hit the Ask. He couldn’t have realistically barged in and instantly hit the Bid. Only a seller can do that. While the dealer network does seem to have certain discretionary powers, you generally have to line up to buy at the Bid, and you get your shares by waiting for sellers to hit you, plus everybody in front you. So, it really doesn’t look like a mysterious basket, after all. Even it it wasn’t, the activity in IMJX was momentous enough. GLTA!
Bullish
