If there is no bid, but there are people at the ask willing to sell SEVERAL million shares. What to you think will happen if somebody wants to buy a mil or 2? Of course the buy will happen but then there is nobody wanting to buy anymore so the bid goes away. Pretty simple.
no you can buy at the ask so they aren't phony trades. You can' sell without a bid. I actually tested it and bought a tiny amount just a couple of weeks ago