This is my grossly simplified explanation.
I hope you understand “the bid” process in the card game bridge. Each pair of bridge team players across the table from each other can “communicate” the strengths/weaknesses of their own respectively dealt (not seen by their partner) hand before play begins.
On Level Two, market makers “communicate” with each other with the size and price of the bid and ask.
Setting aside issues of illegal price fixing, market makers create ‘a market’ in a particular stock by posting ‘the spread’ (difference between the bid and ask) before the market opens each day.
When RCCH had a Level Two spread you saw .0001 as the bid and .0002 as the ask. KNIGHT EQUITIES (NITE) (80-90% of RCCH volume last reported period) was buying RCCH at .0001 and selling it at .0002 for a 100% profit margin on each transaction. NITE regularly posted a bid at .0001 and a ask of .0002 on Level Two.
Recently, RCCH has gone through a period of no spread because there are NO bids posted on Level Two by any market maker. Therefore no bid posted.
For the last 4 days there has been no market maker at ask of .0002. VFIN has had an ‘ask’ of 0.5002 on and off for weeks. Because there is no spread (no bid) and the ONLY ‘ask’ posted on Level Two is 0.5002 you see 0.5002 as the ask. Much to the RCCH board’s surprise and amusement.
In my humble opinion VFIN’s ask is a communication ‘ask’ and not a real ‘ask’.
Today, NITE posted ask of 5.01 (that is not a typo) on Level Two. IMHO another communication ‘ask’, not a real ‘ask’. (Gee, I wonder if NITE is breathtakingly short RCCH and “asking” if anyone has shares to sell)
Lol, Mayna, because you are having fun with this anomaly, I hope you get a picture of your computer screen portfolio value with NITE’s ask of 5.01……
