If this is not manipulation then what is it?Have you noticed that most of the time, just before market opening the volume of bids and offers is always almost equal or at least within 1 or 2% while the volume of bids and offers just below and above are much lower and not necessarily equal.
Usually, 3 or 4 times, the volume of offers and bids are adjusted by a penny or two but still the volume remains equal. If the offers goes down by one penny, immediatly the bids go down by one penny. Same thing if it goes up. The bids and offer are always very close to each other but this is not the case for bids and offers at other prices when looking at my level 2 data.
This certainly looks that it is the same deep pocket institution selling and buying the same stock at the same price trying to influence other investors and sending false signals.
Obviously, if just before the market opens, a large volume of bids and offers is 4 or 5 cents below the closing of the day before, small nervous investors might be influenced by putting their share for sale at a discount to protect their investments.
I asume most of you have already noticed this. If you have not, check it out in the future.
If this is not market manipulation, I do not know what it is. Obviously, this is only possible to do by someone willing to sell and buy a large volume of shares. This morning, it was about 80K shares. Other morning it might be lower or higher but it is always large quatities.